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Japanese PM Shanae Takaichi attended the budget committee meeting in Parliament on November 7. To prepare for this, he had called a meeting at 3 in the morning.
In Japan, after the new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called a meeting at 3 pm, the debate on work life balance has again intensified in the country. Takaichi has been in the news for his “work, work, work and only work” attitude since day one. She even said that she works 18 hours a day and does not believe in work life balance. She wants people to “work like horses.”
Japan has also been infamous for its harsh work culture. During the rapid economic growth after the Second World War, work pressure increased so much that many people started dying suddenly due to heart attacks and stress. These deaths were called – Karoshi i.e. death due to overwork.
To prevent corruption, the government had to make strict rules to limit overtime and provide rest to employees. But Takaichi’s working style has now increased the fear that the same old culture of overwork may return again in Japan.
Former PM said- It is madness to call a meeting at 3 o’clock
A budget-related meeting was scheduled to be held in the Japanese Parliament on November 7. At 3 in the morning the PM called his advisors and started the meeting.
This meeting was described in the Japanese media as ‘3 A.M.’ It was called ‘study session’. Former prime minister and main opposition party leader Yoshihiko Noda described the decision as “madness”.
Noda said that when he was the Prime Minister (2011-12), he used to start work at 6 or 7 in the morning. Noda said, “No matter how much work he does, he should not involve others in it. At that time everyone is sleeping. This attitude of the country’s PM is very disappointing.”
After this controversy, he clarified that the fax machine in his house had broken down. So she went to the Prime Minister’s residence, because she had to make necessary preparations for the budget session of Parliament at 9 am.
Japan’s new PM Sanae Takaichi is famous for working 18 hours a day.
Consideration is being made to extend the overtime limit.
This dispute has come at a time when the government is considering increasing the upper limit of overtime. Takaichi himself has supported this proposal.
The standard working limit in Japan is 8 hours per day. At the same time, the limit of overtime is 45 hours per month. That means, if a lot of work is required in the office, then the staff can be made to work for 9:30 hours a day.
Media reports have claimed that the government is considering further increasing the overtime limit. Criticism of PM Takaichi has started in the country regarding this. Critics say that she is setting a wrong example and this will increase unnecessary pressure on the staff.
How did the culture of overwork increase in Japan?
Japan was completely devastated after the Second World War in 1945. The industry here was ruined. The government advised to do more to save the country.
During this period, Japanese companies started the ‘Lifetime Job Model’. In this, people were given lifelong employment. In return, ‘complete loyalty’ and ‘long hours of work’ were expected from employees.
The result was that employees stayed in the office working late into the night. Its advantage was that Japan became the fastest economy in the world. But working for 100 hours a day was beginning to affect people’s health.
In Japan, the work pressure had increased so much that people used to sleep at any place while traveling.
Death due to overwork, named – Karoshi
In Japan, in the 1960s–70s, work pressure increased so much that the number of people falling down and dying in the office, fainting while getting off the train, and dying started increasing.
Japanese doctors noted a common factor in these deaths—overwork. Then it was named Karoshi i.e. ‘death due to too much work’.
According to media reports, in 1969, a 29-year-old man died of a brain stroke. He worked in the shipping department of a big newspaper company in Japan. Then for the first time, people’s attention was paid to the death caused by overwork.
In the 1980s, a manager of a large company died after working 80–100 hours of overtime. This was Karoshi’s first high profile case. After this the word Karoshi became quite popular.
International Labor Organization (ILO) case studies mention some classic karoshi cases. A famous case is that of 58 year old Miyazaki. He worked 4,320 hours in a year. He died from brain storage.
By 1978, 17 such cases were reported in which overwork was considered the cause of death. In 1988, doctors and lawyers together started ‘Karoshi Hotline’ to collect data on deaths due to Karoshi. Received 2500 phone calls in 3 years. Most of these belonged to widows.
Government made law after suicide of a girl
Then came the year 2015. A 24-year-old girl named Matsuri Takahashi committed suicide. She had tweeted before her death – I work 20 hours or more every day. I don’t remember what I live for.
His posts went viral across Japan. Matsuri’s death sparked debate across Japan. Japan’s labor office also acknowledged that Matsuri’s death was caused by overwork. Dentsu company was at fault in this. He worked overtime illegally and tried to hide the work log.
After this, action was taken against many officials of Dentsu Company. The CEO even had to resign. After Matsuri’s death, the government admitted that the main reason for youth suicides was stress caused by overwork.
After cases like Matsuri Takahashi (2015) in Japan, public pressure increased so much that the government had to bring the Work Style Reform Law in 2018. It came into force in April 2019. In this, a provision was made for maximum 45 hours of overtime in a month. This reduced Karoshi significantly. Now due to PM Takaichi’s overwork, people fear that the culture of Karoshi is going to return in the country.
