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Karoshi: Why do people in Japan Work themselves to Death? | Investigate Asia

Investigate Asia

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The Hardest Workers In The World? | Deciphering Japan EP 2 | Investigate Asia

Japan's work ethic famously propelled it into a first-world nation, and the Japanese are known to work some of the longest hours in the world. Ironically, it is among the least productive economies today and one that has remained stagnant for over two decades.

Washington-based journalist Yumi Araki returns to her home country to find out why the Japanese work so hard. As the nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and ever-growing economic pressures, Yumi also explores whether that unbending dedication to work is changing. She meets people across a spectrum of the nation’s workforce: from overworked salarymen at their wits' end and the therapists trying to keep them sane, to farmers obsessed with growing the perfect fruit and university students preparing for Japan's notorious job hunting season.

Episode 1: Deciphering Japan here: The Role of Women in Japan: Why Is the Gen...

This documentary first aired in 2020.

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18 Comments

@aejiongco 4 weeks ago

Behind Japan’s polished image is a culture that can be suffocatingly rigid. Obsessive etiquette rewards appearances over honesty; conformity punishes individuality; hierarchy discourages questioning; and indirect communication lets problems fester. People are pressured to maintain a socially acceptable façade, leaving many feeling they can never be fully authentic. Its glorified work ethic normalizes unpaid overtime, exhaustion, family neglect, and even death from overwork. The result is burnout, loneliness, emotional repression, social withdrawal, strained families, and silent suffering. Tradition may preserve beauty and order, but it can also protect sexism, exclusion, and a system that values fitting in over personal well-being.

@chigal0926 3 weeks ago

This was really good. Understanding Japanese work culture makes me think about American work culture and the systemic issues present. I am underemployed and dealing with elder care.

Our whole hiring process is out of wack, with ghost jobs, ghosting after interviews, or just the lack professionalism from HR departments. There’s going to be a serious reckoning now that AI is involved. In the end, just like in Japan, the U.S. will have an increasingly stagnating economy.

@thousandmilejourney-c6s 7 days ago (edited)

It is the winnowing process by which the true characters are formed. The results then clearly define the structure of the Japanese society.

@stanleykubrick8786 3 weeks ago (edited)

In Costco melons like that cost about $6 Cdn. The musician is very talented and courageous, it takes strength of character to believe in yourself as he does and inspire others to do so also.

@Ariautoace 3 weeks ago

The melon is amazing. I had it in Japan and was not prepared for the taste. Just wow. Recently I found it in another Asian country, and it was heaps cheaper and tasted the same.

@dablackdon 3 weeks ago

Didn't they just make movie about this very same thing almost they do in Japan? @12:00 Rental Family - Starring Brendon Frasier

@dfsx7934 2 weeks ago

i’m glad i spawned in the uk

@thousandmilejourney-c6s 3 weeks ago

Different people solve the problem of “Hard Work vs. Efficient Work” differently. But to solve this problem, each individual must go through the process of “hard work”. This is the winnowing process of achieving “Success”, whatever that may mean for any given individual. This is not a Japanese only phenomenon, it is universal. Japan is currently profiled as the “Employee Killing Hell”, but if you do an in depth study you’ll find that this is a universal phenomenon. How can it not be? Maybe “Communism” could be the exception, who knows.

@Dodoma2026 4 weeks ago

Black companies are not just a Japanese phenomenon. I experienced that very same type of treatment in sales training in a consulting firm in the U.S. I regularly worked 80-100 hours a week and my daughter who does the same work today for a different firm is expected to bill a MINIMUM of 50 hours a week. Let’s not pretend this kind of exploitation is just a Japanese phenomenon.

@LAWTONHAKARAIA 3 weeks ago

High workload does not equate to high productivity. Japan has ranked the lowest in labour productivity among G7 nations for over 50 years, despite a culture known for long working hours.

@SeymoreCrescent-wl5hm 3 weeks ago

Seppuku and Kamikaze were Japanese rituals. They have a leaning towards (extreme) sacrifice. Not really that surprising it's passed onto work.

@ragsSENSEI 1 month ago (edited)

I worked with the Japanese engineers and businessmen for over 40 years. through my own company.
It's a tough life.
I got a lot of respect from people all over the world.
Even the Japanese engineers and businessmen admired me.
These guys are highly respected by all the rich countries except for China and Korea who hate them no matter what amends the Japanese try to make.
However I am glad that I am from India.
We can keep quitting companies.
Indians start a lot of new businesses.
However life here can be brutal.

@CrudeOYL007 3 weeks ago

Work Smart not Hard

@MC-hl2yx 3 weeks ago

The play acting for the "black companies" of japan looks a lot like how some u.s. companies can operate. Some will use certain "positive" phrases though. Also happens at pyramid schemes. There might not be any yelling, but that's the vibe i got from the the playacting. If you don't meet criteria, you are immediatelyh let go. However, in the U.S., i've seen companies keep bad employees just so they have enough people. I once worked with an alcoholic. Always drank on his break and lunches. Always spelled like alcohol but they kept him because there aren't enough quality candidates because Gen Z don't want the same types of jobs as Millenials or Gen X. They aren't willing to put up with the status quo. A good thing in a lot of ways. Their mental health matters and will call out more often to take a personal day.