Karoshi, meaning “death by overwork,” originated in Japan in 1982 when doctors noted young, healthy men dying from heart attacks and strokes after working over 60 hours a week. Japanese Production Management (JPM) is blamed for high stress and job expectations leading to karoshi. Despite anti-karoshi policies, Japan still has long working hours.
In Japan, karoshi means “death by overwork.” The term is said to have originated in 1982, when three Japanese doctors published a book called Karoshi which noted many victims of overwork and included research into their deaths. The victims were young men who were otherwise healthy but worked an average of more than 60 hours a week and had died on the job from heart attacks and strokes.
Between the mid-1940s and mid-1970s, a disproportionate number of Japanese men in their thirties and forties were dying of cardiovascular problems. The first publicized case didn’t occur until 1969, when a 29-year-old man working for Japan’s largest newspaper died of a stroke. Public outcry since then has resulted in monetary compensation being awarded to the families of karoshi victims, and some workplace changes have been made. However, many Japanese believe that most of the so-called anti-karoshi policies are not effective as the Japanese labor system is still conducive to overwork and job stress.
Karoshi is attributed to the workplace management style known as Japanese Production Management (JPM). High production is JPM’s main focus, and studies have found that JPM has contributed to sudden deaths due to high job expectations and high stress. The Japanese call these kinds of deaths karoshi, and one study found that 46 percent of 500 corporate workers studied at top Tokyo companies feared becoming victims of karoshi.
One of the main features of JPM is that you shouldn’t waste your time. It is a stressful work system because even wasted seconds are considered unacceptable. Another main feature of JPM is the teamwork approach. If even one worker takes seconds longer than what is considered the most efficient time to complete a task, the whole team becomes slower, which slows down production. There can be a lot of pressure not to be the person responsible for slowing the team down.
In Japan, there are several groups opposing the JPM and supporting karoshi prevention, as well as karoshi hotlines. In 1988, a group of lawyers formed the National Defense Council for Karoshi Victims. While much has been done to help prevent karoshi and to help families of karoshi victims financially, Japan is still a country with long working hours. Japan is known for having the longest working hours of all industrialized countries as its workers average at least 60 hours a week.
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