IANS Tokyo Japanese workers, known to be workaholics with frequent cases of "
karoshi" or death by overworking, will from Saturday begin an unprecedented 10-day break with special days off combined with traditional Golden Week.
On Monday, Japan passed new laws setting a legal cap on long work hours following a rise in cases of
karoshi - or death through overwork.
i wsp.: Overwork is a silent killer of Chinese doctors: a review of
Karoshi in China 2013-2015.
The Japanese work culture has a unique quirk of expecting a lot from its employees, such that the word '
karoshi,' or death by overwork, was coined to refer to instances wherein office workers would just drop dead from exhaustion or commit suicide due to stress.
More recently, English dictionaries have also begun to include
karoshi, the Japanese word for death caused by overwork.
In: Sir Arulkumaran S,
Karoshi M, Keith LG, Lalonde AB, B-Lynch C, (eds).
(2.) Yoong W, Sivashanmugarajan V, Mcmonagle M, Hamilton J,
Karoshi M, Lodhi W.
Overwork is a major problem in Japan, and death by overwork is a recognised phenomenon that even has its own word in Japanese--"
karoshi."
Even after acknowledging the seriousness of the problem, curbing the forces underlying
karoshi poses a real challenge for leaders.
(2.) Nama V, Gyampoh B,
Karoshi M, McRae R, Opemuyi I.
Despite having a term to describe death by overwork ("
karoshi"), the average Japanese worker does 1,713 hours per year - below the OECD average.