This is One Way We Do Not Want to be Like the Japanese
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The Japanese - an efficient, healthful group of people. People rooted in culture. People who cherish their elders. People who keel over from being overworked.
Say what?
Yes, it’s true. While America is sometimes looked at as slovenly and over-privileged, our Japanese pals are working so hard, they’re launching themselves into the grave. This has become such an epidemic, in fact, that it even has a name: karoshi.
For example, there was a poor fellow, a 45-year-old chief engineer for Toyota, who worked an additional 114 hours of overtime per month (overtime!). That’s equivalent to about 2.85 weeks a month. Can you even imagine?
Not surprisingly, the man died of heart failure, and now the Japanese government will need to uphold a law that gives money to the widow and children of this man, since we worked himself into an early karoshi for the good of his company. Amazing.
The Japanese government also has a national karoshi hotline, and a karoshi self-help book.
So, the lesson to be learned here? While a strong work ethic is admirable indeed, working yourself into an early karoshi is not. As with everything in life, let there be balance.
Special thanks to my friends at the American Cancer Society for this head’s-up. Be sure to give them a visit.
Tags: Death at Work, Health Hazards of Working, Healthbolt, Japanese Lifestyle, Karoshi, Over-workedRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Across the Pond, Death, Extreme, Prevention, Stress, Weird News, Your Body, men's health
2 opinions for This is One Way We Do Not Want to be Like the Japanese
Sara
Jul 17, 2008 at 8:49 am
Call be a bitter post-call intern, but we’re “only” allowed to work 80 hours a week. If you’re calling a 40-hour work week a normal week, then that works out to a whopping 160 hours of overtime a month, and there are many old timers who call us spoiled for keeping such “light” hours. That guy with all that overtime worked, on average, about a 13-hour day. That’s what I do on my light days. A heavy day? Well, that’s like yesterday, or today - I went to work at 5:30 am Wednesday, and left work at 9am Thursday. I had the amazing luxury of about three hours of sleep.
I know, I know - physician, heal thyself. If only it were that simple…
Lynette Summerill
Jul 17, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Love the post. As wonderful as the Japanese people are, they have always been rote –and thus less innovative than many other industrialized countries. Now we know why. It is difficult to be innovative when you are so darn tired you can think straight;the old brain (and apparently other necessary organs) just shuts down. They need some good old-fashioned Nerf Office Wars, and more time to sleep.
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