Japanese "Karoshi" phenomenon .. Death from work for large periods

Four years after her death, the Japanese inspectors finally reached the cause of the death of a Japanese journalist, attributed him to the phenomenon of "Karoshi" or death from overwork. What is this phenomenon? How did it emerge?

Karoshi :>>  過労死  – かろうし 

Karo:>>  かろう – 過労   Means overwork.

shi:>>   し – 死   Means death and number 4, but most Japanese pronounce the number 4 "Yoon" instead of "Shi" from death.

There is no doubt that the world is impressed when it comes to Japan, the name of this country was associated with the imagination of many of the excellence and mastery of work in particular. Japanese culture requires a strict system of work for the citizens, so that the work is holy, for a variety of reasons, including economic, social and even psychological.

According to Investobedia, the Japanese economy ranks third behind America and China as the world's most powerful economy. Samurai Land, which is not characterized by the availability of natural resources, has managed to occupy this world-class position by relying solely on the human element to achieve this success. Great. However, this success is accompanied by a phenomenon called in Japan as "Karoshi".

Roots phenomenon

Karoshi "is a Japanese word meaning overwork death. Karoshi emerged as a result of Japan's hard-working culture. Its roots were in the 1970s, when staff wages were low, pushing them to increase their working hours in order to earn an additional salary.

According to the Independent newspaper, the Japanese labor market saw a wave of corporate restructuring in the 1990s, prompting staff to increase their overtime for fear of being expelled. This "culture of overtime" has remained rooted in Japanese society to this day.

Alarming numbers

The British Telegraph website quoted the Japanese government as saying that more than 12 percent of companies in the country put more than 100 additional hours of work for their employees. The same source reported that last year Japan registered more than 2159 cases of suicide due to the large work within the corridors of the country, while in 2014 registered more than 1456 suicide cases for the same reason.

Smart Solutions

To counter this phenomenon, the Japanese government has adopted several solutions in order to persuade employees to take breaks and leave their premises early without additional hours. One of these solutions is "Premium Friday", which is organized on the last Friday of each month. In this regard, the site "Krabi" Japanese that on Friday, there are many musical events, such as music in the streets of cities and provide tasty meals at reasonable prices, in addition to reducing tickets. Through this step, the government hopes to convince employees of the importance of comfort and recreation of the body.