Working less, dying more may be the latest trend in Japanese labor.
The ranks of weary Japanese businessmen, red-eyed shop owners and worn out professionals being worked to death shot to a record high last year, according to government figures released this week.
But in a land where hard work is a virtue and dedication to the company often means midnight overtime, people are actually working less than ever because of Japan's sagging economy, which is quagmired in its third recession in a decade.
Companies are cutting back on shifts to trim labor costs and streamlining their assembly lines to churn out more work in less time. Yet rising unemployment has only increased the onus of making ends meet -- and more people are becoming aware of cases of overwork and reporting incidents.
"It's a vicious circle," said Masahiko Okudaira, a doctor who advises victims of overwork. "It's not only a medical problem, but a social problem partly related to the economy."
Since first being recognized by the Health Ministry in 1987, death from overwork, known here as "karoshi," has steadily increased from 21 cases then to 143 last year.
From brain aneurisms to strokes and heart attacks, karoshi strikes a wide range of people, but factory workers, doctors and taxi drivers are hit the hardest. It is sometimes triggered by logging as many as 50 overtime hours in one week.
Last year saw a 68 percent increase in deaths over the 85 logged in 2000, but Health Ministry officials say that's not all bad news.
The jump was due largely to a redefinition of karoshi to encompass up to six months of accumulated work-related stress and fatigue instead of the previous standard of just one week.
"We thought more victims needed to be helped, that's why we relaxed the standards," said Health Ministry official Kazuyuki Matsumoto, adding that it would be easier to spot victims before their conditions turned fatal.
Even by the old standard, however, last year would have been a record with 96 deaths.
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