Just today, there’s this news about a McDees store manager who died of “overwork” in Yokohama. It’s not surprising to hear such news because we all know that the Japanese love to work. But do the Japanese really love their jobs so much to the extent that they will sacrifice their health and neglect their families? I won’t be surprised at all if I hear how Japanese percept “workaholism”, because if the government doesn’t do anything about getting rid of this image as a nation of workaholics who do nothing especially holidays than to work extra-time, they are just working themselves into an early grave.

Come on, how bad can this be. You might wonder, but the fact that the majority of the Japanese who would rather work than to enjoy a day together with family members still could argue that this is their culture. What can they do? Just shrug it off and say there’s nothing they can do. Heck, the choice is theirs, so don’t blame it on culture. Is it true that this is also one of the reasons why birth rate in Japan is declining?  Why? Because they just can’t seem to juggle work and family to help halt a declining birth rate. Some salarymen are more than willing to buy sexy costumes for their “mistresses” rather than having spend time with their real wife and kids! (As a matter of fact, it’s also not surprising that most of the married men here have mistresses)

But them some also argued that taking a few days off from work is getting harder since the  economy downfall due to tight work schedules after some cut-down on staffs recently. But come on, since Japan has this notoriously hierarchical corporate culture that I sometimes am really pissed at, it’s far more difficult for an employee to apply leave since the boss just love to stick around in the office rather than to stay at home! Some even plan to sleep in the office to continue the work tomorrow, because there’s no point of going home! What? Seriously?

No wonder too many people committed suicide. Why? They just can’t handle the tremendous pressure at work. If so, don’t overwork. Enjoy life. Life is to be enjoyed, not to be wasted working for more than 12 hours a day. I am so unhappy with how the companies here manage their staffs. They just have this thinking that “they owe it to the company”, so they must work real hard to show their gratitude. No, you silly Japanese white collars. The company owed it to you, so go take a break, and enjoy yourself. There’s no harm doing just that.