Culture
Why the Japanese Die from Overwork While Germans Work 35 Hours
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At 11 pm Tokyo's last train is full of office workers asleep on their feet; at 5 pm many Berlin offices are already dark. Japan has a word for dying from overwork, karoshi. Germany works about 280 fewer hours a year and is still one of the world's biggest economies. Why, what science says about long hours, and what Cambodia can learn, told alongside Piseth, a young Phnom Penh office worker whose dinner goes cold every night.
Key takeaways
- Japan recognises karoshi, death or illness from overwork; the danger line is about 100 hours of overtime in one month, or about 80 a month on average over two to six months.
- In 2024 Japan recognised about 1,304 cases of illness caused by overwork, about 155 of them deaths or suicides, and many families never apply.
- A worker in Japan averages about 1,617 hours a year and one in Germany about 1,331 (OECD, 2024): roughly 280 hours, or about seven weeks, less.
- Germany's Working Hours Act sets an 8-hour day, at least 11 hours of rest between work days and at least 20 days of paid holiday a year on a five-day week.
- Research on old factory records found output stops rising much after about 50 hours a week, and WHO/ILO linked working 55+ hours a week to about 35% higher stroke risk.
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Original from: Cypher original
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