Current Events > Japanese reporter dies after logging in 159 hours of overtime.

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http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/05/news/japan-work-overwork-woman-dies-karoshi/index.html

NHK said that labor officials had concluded that the 31-year-old political reporter died from heart failure caused by spending long hours on the job.

Japan, known for its 'salaryman' culture and punishing work hours, has struggled for years to tackle the impact of overwork on employees' health. A government study published last year found that one in five workers is at risk of working themselves to death.

Excessive hours are such a big problem that there's even a Japanese word for death by overwork: karoshi.

According to a news story published by NHK, Miwa Sado had worked 159 hours of overtime in the month before her death.

The circumstances of Sado's death in 2013 had not been made public until this week.

NHK said it was taking the death of its employee very seriously. The broadcaster has pledged to reform the way its reporters work.

Related: Japan needs more workers but can't find them

The 2015 suicide of another Japanese worker, Matsuri Takahashi, had previously been linked to overwork.

Japanese regulators found that she had been forced to work excessively long hours at an advertising agency, clocking about 105 hours of overtime in the month leading up to her death. The extreme schedule resulted in her suicide, they ruled.

The CEO of the ad company resigned over the issue.

I wonder what it will take for them to realize their work culture is unhealthy.
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jborgan posted...

The CEO of the ad company resigned over the issue.

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No wonder why some choose hikikomori instead.
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They release the same thing every time someone dies. "We're going to reform the culture". I've been hearing this for a decade.
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mirage_004 posted...

No wonder why some choose hikikomori instead.

In Japan you either become an over-worked drone in a society of super conformity or a shut-in NEET

Japan needs to open its borders and become culturally enriched to solve its aging workforce
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80 hours a week really isn't that crazy. I've done it for 6 months straight. It sucked but it was doable, and I was doing far more difficult work than reporting.
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Let the pissing contest commence!!
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159 hours in a month? That's... not even that much, that's an 80 hour week. We have people working that here in hard labor. He probably had some other condition, or didn't eat/drink/something.
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Hope you people working 60 to 80 hours a week are getting overtime for it.

Otherwise you're a sucker.
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fenderbender321 posted...

That's not even 80 hours a week of work. I work like 65 hours a week, and have been doing so for years. It ain't hard. People are just getting soft.

shut the fuck up
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Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

80 hours a week really isn't that crazy. I've done it for 6 months straight. It sucked but it was doable, and I was doing far more difficult work than reporting.

Oh boo hoo, I once worked 100 hour weeks for 8 months doing far far more difficult work than reporting.

Quit whining and toughen up.
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SuddenlyNinjas posted...

159 hours in a month? That's... not even that much, that's an 80 hour week. We have people working that here in hard labor. He probably had some other condition, or didn't eat/drink/something.

159 hours of OVER TIME.
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Guys: 159 hours of overtime.
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LightHawKnight posted...

SuddenlyNinjas posted...

159 hours in a month? That's... not even that much, that's an 80 hour week. We have people working that here in hard labor. He probably had some other condition, or didn't eat/drink/something.

159 hours of OVER TIME.

Lol lots of people seemed to miss that part >_>

REMercsChamp posted...

They release the same thing every time someone dies. "We're going to reform the culture". I've been hearing this for a decade.

Same shit here too
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CrimsonRage posted...

Japan is so weird when it comes to this. They realise their work culture is toxic, but they don't seem to have a strong desire to change it, even when it is proving detrimental to the overall health of the country.

Kind of like Americans and mass shootings right.
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lol people sound so dumb when they glorify working long hours

Anyway, I just listened to a podcast about how Japan has bars where you pay to have a fake boyfriend for the night and just talk or go on a fake date (and pay a ton, like $1000), and the guy who worked it said he felt bad for the women who came in because they were 45+ years old and they had a boyfriend in high school, but then they worked their lives away and never had the chance to date. That is slavery...
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Colorahdo posted...

lol people sound so dumb when they glorify working long hours

Anyway, I just listened to a podcast about how Japan has bars where you pay to have a fake boyfriend for the night and just talk or go on a fake date (and pay a ton, like $1000), and the guy who worked it said he felt bad for the women who came in because they were 45+ years old and they had a boyfriend in high school, but then they worked their lives away and never had the chance to date. That is slavery...

Sounds like one of them host clubs. People pay for companionship more than anything sexual.
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CrimsonRage posted...

FightingGames posted...

Japan needs to open its borders and become culturally enriched to solve its aging workforce

Fuck off and close your account.

Lmao, why you so triggered?

You don't happen to have a bias on the matter, do you?
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According to a news story published by NHK, Miwa Sado had worked 159 hours of overtime in the month before her death.

One month. 159 hours of OT. 5+ hours a day, 7 days a week of OT. That's insane.
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CrimsonRage posted...

LightHawKnight posted...

SuddenlyNinjas posted...

159 hours in a month? That's... not even that much, that's an 80 hour week. We have people working that here in hard labor. He probably had some other condition, or didn't eat/drink/something.

159 hours of OVER TIME.

I don't get why people don't read the OPs before commenting

It's still 80 hours a week. 160 regular hours and 160 overtime.
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Lmao I worked 90 hours a week for 12 decades straight only died twice tall are casuals.

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

80 hours a week really isn't that crazy. I've done it for 6 months straight. It sucked but it was doable, and I was doing far more difficult work than reporting.

ya but I bet you got paid for that overtime. in japan overtime isn't paid. in a japanese office, anyone who actually goes home at "quitting time" is seen as lazy and a bad worker. your supposed to stay for many more hours and keep working for free. they basically only get paid for half their shift and they are expected to like it.

CrimsonRage posted...

FightingGames posted...

Japan needs to open its borders and become culturally enriched to solve its aging workforce

Fuck off and close your account.

your very ignorant.

Once a job demands you work BS amounts of time is when you tell them "I refuse to work more then __ hours, I am not your slave, do the work yourself".

Man/woman up and stop being a slave to your fucking jobs, I work to live and have FUN, I do NOT live to work.
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Oh man.
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Offworlder1 posted...

you tell them "I refuse to work more then __ hours, I am not your slave, do the work yourself".

Right...and you can follow this up with your "fuck, I can't believe they fired me! capitalism is bullshit!" posts on CE afterwards
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@REMercsChamp

It's called having a "plan B", and a second job in line once your current job starts over working you like your their god damn fucking slave.
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When my dad headed up an office in South Korea he'd have to leave the office and finish his work at home regardless of how busy he was, otherwise no one else would go home.

Some different cultural things are just plain moronic.
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Its like no one cares and the people saying they care somehow care even less. Like theyre worried people will realize how much they dont care.
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I mean, these are the hours most medical residents work, we don't get paid for OT either
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CrimsonRage posted...

Tezlok posted...

CrimsonRage posted...

FightingGames posted...

Japan needs to open its borders and become culturally enriched to solve its aging workforce

Fuck off and close your account.

your very ignorant.

no your are

the guy offered a way to save Japan from total disaster and your response is to swear at him. the only thing I can think of either you are ignorant of the issues. or you are Japanese and xenophobic

Offworlder1 posted...

and a second job in line once your current job starts over working you like your their god damn

What's plan B that's just sitting there waiting for you? Digging ditches? Good jobs don't use fall into your lap like that.
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Imagine dumbfucks thinking they're cool for working for free.
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Tezlok posted...

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

80 hours a week really isn't that crazy. I've done it for 6 months straight. It sucked but it was doable, and I was doing far more difficult work than reporting.

ya but I bet you got paid for that overtime. in japan overtime isn't paid. in a japanese office, anyone who actually goes home at "quitting time" is seen as lazy and a bad worker. your supposed to stay for many more hours and keep working for free. they basically only get paid for half their shift and they are expected to like it.

Oh well fuck that. I'm union so I was getting time and a half over 8 hours, double time after 12, automatic time and a half on Saturdays and auto double on Sundays
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@REMercsChamp

It's called planning ahead, looking for something better when the current job starts giving you BS.

I work in armed security so there are plenty of places out there looking for a well trained armed guard with numerous certifications. If I wanted to "jump ship" on my current company because of poor treatment, and them trying to over work me I would have a new job in a week or less that pays the same or more depending on the company.
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But what if that's the norm of how companies in Japan work?
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How do you even stay up that many days without drugs or some kind of sleep disorder.
I have a sleep disorder and 72 hours is my breaking point, I can't even function as a living being after 3 days straight.
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1337toothbrush posted...

Imagine dumbfucks thinking they're cool for working for free.

They're working those many hours because it's required to keep their jobs.
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jborgan posted...

Japan, known for its 'salaryman' culture and punishing work hours, has struggled for years to tackle the impact of overwork on employees' health.

'Struggling' implies making an effort. What an idiot journalist who peddle such lies.

Tezlok posted...

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

80 hours a week really isn't that crazy. I've done it for 6 months straight. It sucked but it was doable, and I was doing far more difficult work than reporting.

ya but I bet you got paid for that overtime. in japan overtime isn't paid. in a japanese office, anyone who actually goes home at "quitting time" is seen as lazy and a bad worker. your supposed to stay for many more hours and keep working for free. they basically only get paid for half their shift and they are expected to like it.

Uh, no, completely untrue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_labour_law#Working_time
Where did you get your misinformation?

REMercsChamp posted...

1337toothbrush posted...

Imagine dumbfucks thinking they're cool for working for free.

They're working those many hours because it's required to keep their jobs.

I'm referring to people calling others soft for "only" working 80 hour weeks.
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lmao at all the people tryijng to act bug with their max hours worked in a week
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