Japan, Titanic, & Karoshi: A Warning 🚨💔

World News

Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, has pledged to “work, work, work,” even if it means as little as two hours of sleep, a stance drawing criticism and raising concerns about a potential revival of toxic overtime culture and a reversal of progress aimed at reducing deaths from overwork. Japan has historically struggled to achieve a healthy work-life balance, with many workers enduring significant pressure within the workplace. Takaichi has long cited Margaret Thatcher as a key political influence, mirroring the late British Prime Minister’s staunch conservative views on economic policy, national security, immigration, and numerous other right-of-center positions. Famously, Thatcher was known for her demanding work ethic and her reported need for only four hours of sleep per night. Now, Takaichi echoes this dedication, stating she intends to “discard the term ‘work-life balance’ for myself. I will work, work, work and work.” Following her appointment last month, Takaichi summoned key aides to her office for a 3 a.m. meeting ahead of a budget committee meeting scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., further fueling anxieties about a return to excessive working hours.

This morning, she conceded that her sleep has been limited to “about two hours now, at most four,” and joked that it’s “probably bad for my skin.” Furthermore, Minister of Labor Taro Takaichi requested an examination of restrictions on overtime work, currently capped at 720 hours annually, in an effort to stimulate economic growth. Tomoko Yoshino, the first female head of Rengo, Japan’s largest labor union group, highlighted that this figure already approaches the threshold associated with “karoshi”—the Japanese term for death from overwork. “We cannot allow the upper limit to be eased,” Yoshino stated to reporters in Tokyo. “We are still only halfway in terms of bringing down ‘karoshi’ to zero and pushing for work-style reforms.” A group of lawyers representing families of individuals who have died from “karoshi” issued a statement, calling Prime Minister Takaichi’s remarks “not helpful” given Japan’s longstanding culture of excessive working hours. Victims of “karoshi” directly appealed to Takaichi to cease efforts to reverse recent progress on fostering a healthier work-life balance and to withdraw the “egregious” comments. According to Japanese government statistics, a record 1,304 cases of overwork-related deaths and health disorders were reported in the 2024 financial year, a 196-year-on-year increase. Of those, 1,057 were directly linked to work-related mental health issues.

Concerns are mounting regarding health disorders within Takaichi’s administration, specifically encompassing “abuse of power from superiors or others” and “customer harassment.” Health Minister Takamaro Fukuoka has voiced these concerns, stating that the ministry “believes that losing one’s life or health due to overwork must not happen.” Adding to this perspective, Teppei Kasai, an officer with Human Rights Watch in Tokyo, suggested the issue transcends a purely Japanese phenomenon. “I don’t think this is a particularly Japanese phenomenon, as there are toxic workplace cultures and norms in many other countries,” he noted. “However, Japan’s corporate culture does tend to overemphasize presenteeism rather than productivity, which can lead to workers feeling obligated to show up at work even if they’re ill or know they won’t be productive because of some other reason.” Despite some positive developments in workplace culture since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, anxieties remain that pressures on workers could increase, potentially leading to a new spike in “karoshi” cases – instances of suicide or death linked to workplace stress. Kasai emphasized the importance of adhering to United Nations standards on work hours, established in 2016, which stipulate that “states should set minimum standards that must be respected and cannot be denied or reduced on the basis of economic or productivity arguments.”

Prime Minister Takaichi has once again brought Japan’s long working hours into the public spotlight, a debate now amplified by salarymen and women sharing accounts of 18-hour workdays on social media platforms. “It’s crucial to understand that deregulation of working hours can increase the risk of labor exploitation, particularly in certain sectors,” Kasai pointed out. Twenty-seven-year-old Issei anticipated a swift transition to a stable job after graduation, but instead, he has bounced between numerous companies that consistently demanded excessive overtime and fostered a challenging environment for anyone seeking a reasonable work-life balance. He described these companies as “black companies,” recalling a particularly difficult experience in sales where he accumulated significant debts despite working full-time. “There were days when I was definitely down,” Issei admitted, “but I read about people dying of ‘karoshi’ – from overwork – or committing suicide. While I would have preferred to quit, I recognize that some individuals feel they cannot, and simply continue working under these conditions.”

Continue until it is too late.

The fire, which began at approximately 9:17 PM local time, quickly spread through the historic textile mill, fueled by strong winds and the building’s aged wooden structure. Firefighters responded to the scene, receiving their first call at 9:23 PM and arriving within ten minutes. Despite this rapid response, the blaze proved exceptionally difficult to control, with flames reaching significant heights and substantial smoke billowing across the surrounding area. Initial reports indicate that the fire originated in the mill’s northwest corner, specifically within a storage room containing cotton yarn. As of 11:58 PM, the fire was still actively burning, with over seventy firefighters and fifteen trucks from multiple jurisdictions battling the blaze. No injuries have been reported, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.