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Japanese Woman 'Dies From Overwork' After Grafting 100 Hours' Overtime In A Month

Japanese Woman 'Dies From Overwork' After Grafting 100 Hours' Overtime In A Month

The country is now being forced to look at its work culture

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A 31-year-old woman 'died from overwork' after she clocked up 159 hours of overtime in a single month, Japanese labour inspectors have ruled.

Journalist Miwa Sado worked at NHK, the county's public broadcaster, in Tokyo. Inspectors investigating her 2013 death from heart failure found that she had taken only two days off in the month leading up to her death and had logged 159 hours of overtime, the Guardian reports.

The country has some of the longest working hours in the world. Credit: PA

A labour standards office ruled her death as karoshi - death from overwork.

The ruling, which was only made public this week, is likely to pile more pressure on Japanese authorities to take a proper look at the long hours expected by many workers in the country, which has a big impact on work/life balance.

In 2015, Matsuri Takahashi, who was aged 24, killed herself after posting heart-breaking messages on social media saying she was 'physically and mentally shattered' and 'I want to die'.

The Japanese prime minister, Shinzō Abe, has been forced to address the work culture. Credit: PA

Officials ruled that her suicide was caused by the stress of working long hours. She logged more than 100 hours' overtime in the months before her death.

Following the ruling, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe plans to address the problem of companies overworking their employees.

Official figures put deaths from karoshi in the hundreds, but many believe the actual number to be far higher.

The country has some of the longest working hours in the world, with almost a quarter of companies expecting employees to work more than 80 hours' overtime a month, often unpaid, according to the BBC.

Hundreds of deaths are attributed to overwork every year in Japan. Credit: PA

On top of this, 35 percent of employees are refusing to take any holiday.

Campaigners in Japan are hoping to see authorities introduce a legal limit on the amount of overtime an employee can work.

Makoto Iwahashi, who works for Posse - an organisation that runs a helpline for young workers in Japan - told the BBC that young employees are particularly stuck.

He said: "It's sad because young workers think they don't have any other choice. If you don't quit you have to work 100 hours. If you quit, you just can't live."

Sources: The Guardian; BBC

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Work, Japan