Filed under: Etc., Japan, Toyota
Japanese court rules Toyota employee died from too much work
We've all heard the horror stories of life in middle management. In Japan, the ill appears to be especially acute. So many Japanese workers die from simply being overworked that there's a name for it: karoshi. Wikipedia says, "The major medical causes of kar?shi deaths are heart attack and stroke due to stress." From March 2006 to March 2007, 303 people were claimed to have died of it with 147 of those cases acknowledged as accurate by the government.Thirty-year-old Kenichi Uchino worked 60 hours a week for five months for Toyota in Japan, and then worked 70 hours a week for a month -- and then he died. His wife, Hiroko, filed for workman's compensation benefits after the death of her husband, and her claim was denied. The Labor Ministry said the death didn't come from overwork.
A court in Nagoya, though, had a different opinion, and has ordered the Ministry of Labor to pay benefits. His work schedule sounds brutal, although we know of people who put in the same kind of hours in the US. However, unlike in America, it's common practice in Japan not to pay for overtime. We don't know if that was the case here, but regardless of whether he was being paid, the operative word for any employee putting in those kinds of hours should be: help.
[Source: Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
darkmastyr 1:21PM (11/30/2007)
Not to be an ahole or to diminish this man's passing, but 60-70hrs a week is not that bad. Jobs such as investment banking and management consulting typically work this much. Hell even graduate students work that much for years on end.
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zamafir 2:05PM (11/30/2007)
Yup, considering my mom worked 80 hours a week for a decade to support my family, I'm sharing your view, a little odd.
Frylock350 2:49PM (11/30/2007)
60-70hrs a week is bull****. Why are we such a country of workaholics here? If free time worth nothing?
paul34 2:53PM (11/30/2007)
Well, I mean, its not really the hours, its the stress that you get during those hours. One hour of a bomb squad man's job when he actually has to do it near a bunch of schools where they can't evacuate the children is probably going to be equivalent to maybe 40 hours of a "regular" office job.
It just all depends. In Japan, they are pretty much crazy with their work ethic. I watched this PBS documentary a long time ago about the children crisis in Japan - namely, that they're not having enough children to continue the population, mostly because no one has any *time* to raise children! It's not uncommon for the man of the household to leave at somewhere around 4-5 AM, and only come back home at 11 PM -12 AM. Everyday.
What a sad day in our development, wouldn't you say? Despite all our advancements, we are working *more* than when we didn't have electricity, running water, computers, supermarkets, etc.
Working so much that we are dying from it.
tekdemon 8:03PM (12/01/2007)
60-70 isn't that bad for my chosen profession either, lol. I mean they had to pass a law to limit residents to 80 hours, and it's still widely ignored.
Not that we're not miserable =(
EMC 6:36PM (12/02/2007)
That that is probably 70-80 hours that he is *supposed* to work.
You need to realise that in japan, almost no one actually arrives or leaves their job when they are supposed to. Most workers would be "expected" to arrive at least 1-2 hours early, and leave anywhere from 1-4 hours *after* their work day is supposed to be over.
So when it says he worked 70 hours, it probably means that he was *at* work for about 90+
Mary Jewell 9:03AM (2/04/2008)
Just a comment to respond. My husband works for Toyota building cars. The employees that work on line, work at a constant, fast pace. They do not have extra guys walking around looking for work to do. They run a very lean ship. They have very strict quality controls. They run the line very quickly with no time to talk to your buddy beside you or go for a walk just to get a change of scenery.
Shift work is extremely hard on the body. The change from days to nights is too hard to adapt to and therefore it can cause severe health issues. Sleep apnea(which can cause death when you stop breathing,right?), Gaining weight(irregular eating habits eg. on nights they eat at 11:00 pm),inability to sleep because of your inner clock being confused and all of these cause the functioning of one`s body to be very stressed. These are actually Doctor documented conditions in my home. AND it does make them cranky as they usually get really just about 3-5 hours of sleep as a rule. I know it is a hard job, so yes, I totally believe Kenichi died from working too hard. No disrespect to anyone and I am not trying to attack anyone BUT this is just my opinion. Thanks for listening
Hank 1:21PM (11/30/2007)
why do people willingly put their health and wellbeings at such high risk just for work? I understand if you're the owner of a small business and you're the one that keeps your livelihood afloat, but work yourself to death being middle management for a corporate giant like Toyota? I don't understand at all...
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Justin 3:43PM (11/30/2007)
the same reason anyone does any job.
security and welfare for their family.
DesiAuto 4:42PM (11/30/2007)
It seems you don't know what it is like to be poor or live in lower-middle class condition.
You need to become poor to understand this ...
UH2L 5:07PM (11/30/2007)
It's not just people who are poor who work long hours. I sympathize with them as even working long hours doesn't mean you'll get by.
However, many of the people who work really long hours do so because they want to get promoted so that they can make more money and buy more stuff without regard to having quality free time with family and friends. That's what's really sad about our modern society. And companies expect this or else you don't move up. Additionally, they lay off people and give the remaining people more work. This lines the executives' pockets and makes shareholders happy. (I do own stocks so that's how I get in on some of that.) But there are diminishing returns; when people have almost no life outside of work, they become less productive.
UH2L
http://www.thingsivenoticed.com
Heydn 11:26PM (11/30/2007)
I think it's less about livelihood for Japan and more about your role in society. In an individualist society like the United States, you work hard less because you want to impress society or complete strangers, but more because you need to for your own benefit. This is logical. In a group society like Japan, you work more because society and those above you expect you to. Sure, you need money, but it really is more than that. A job is both a "right and obligation" in Article 27 of the Constitution of Japan (http://www.sangiin.go.jp/eng/law/index.htm). An obligation?
So people work that hard here because that's just the way it is. My friends here are always tired. I'm studying in Osaka and it's shocking how people just collapse on their homework in the school library, or how many people sleep while riding busses and trains. I've even seen people close their eyes while standing up. A friend in Tokyo says four hours a night of sleep every day is normal for her. I get annoyed if I can only get five. And as for overtime pay, you have a right to it, but no one accepts it because it makes you look like a total douchebag. And then after all your overtime work, you are expected (again, this a group decree, not really a choice in Japan) to go out and socialize with your coworkers and your bosses. It's all about what the group wants and expects--it's the concept of "saving face". As a member of a non-group-based society, I can say "no, thanks, I'd rather go home and sleep" and not worry about any repercussions. My classes here have been teaching me all semester about this crazy social network Japan has which keeps people 'in line'.
Just two days ago (coincidentally), the school sent us a survey asking us about our sleeping habits. At the end, they attached this Japan Times article about Japan's lack of sleep:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20050417x4.html
Alan Thomas 1:27PM (11/30/2007)
When I was a teacher I worked easily 60-70 hrs a week plus the stress of dealing with teenagers. I worked from about 7:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night two-3 days a week, and 7:30-4:30 the other days plus brought work home and worked nights and weekends. - for about 6 years. I KNOw you can't DIE from that.
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Hank 1:31PM (11/30/2007)
your 70 hours of work is probably not nearly as stressful as his 70 hours of work
these guys take their jobs much more seriously than us Americans, I think they put their job ahead of their family.
Mr. Oak 2:15PM (11/30/2007)
Silly comment. Numbers of hours worked has no correlation with the degree of stress of a given job.
See folks in the profession of Air Traffic Controllers (ATC). In most professions if you screw-up, you may get fired. As an ATC operator, you screw-up hundred of people could die. Also depending on the findings of an investigation by the FAA, not only could you get fired, you could also go to jail. Heck you could screw up and no one dies, and you could still posibilly go to jail.
Another stressful profession? Anesthesioligist. Not much margin for error here, that is very stressful.
The Japanese culture places unwarranted stress on an individual regardless of your profession. Yes, people can die from stress induced illnesses.
Not even going to bring Hari-Kari into this discussion.
Jason 1:28PM (11/30/2007)
Japan also has the largest suicide rate of any country in the world, and most of this is due to work related stress. This isn't really surprising at all.
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wmesserle 1:31PM (11/30/2007)
I think that this is far more common in the US as well. It is not uncommon for people here to work 60+ hours a week for months on end (especially on special projects). Additionally, unless you are an hourly worker - I think that most salaried employees do not get paid for overtime.
As far as why you would do that... not everyone is blessed by rich families or are independently wealthy. Some people actually work hard for a living and are interested in succeeding - moving forward, promotions, success. Different people define this all differently. Some times, this means working hard for a large corporation.
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Leaf 1:34PM (11/30/2007)
One could write volumes on the Japanese work ethic and it's cultural and societal implications. It's fascinating and crazy... just like so many aspects of Japan.
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Truckchamp 1:37PM (11/30/2007)
I used to work 70 - 112 hrs a week. Thats 16hr shifts, 7 days a week. The only thing i suffered from was lack of sleep and excess money from all the overtime. I think it's just another person digging for an excuse and a free handout!
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Frylock350 2:57PM (11/30/2007)
He was probably salaried and thus wasn't paid overtime. Th e issue here is corporate workers who work beyond 40 hours a week without compensation. I'd jump at some overtime pay, but I can't understand why people do it for free. Even the 9 hour day (which is 10-11 with commute + lunch) with only 10 days off is restrictive. You barely have time to do chores, hit the gym, and prepare meals in a day. God forbid somebody should want to interact with their family and friends.