Japan’s punishing work culture back under the spotlight as broadcaster reveals woman died after 159 hours of overtime
Miwa Sado’s death is expected to increase pressure on authorities to address the large number of similar cases attributed to long hours expected of many employees
Japan has again been forced to confront its work culture after labour inspectors ruled that the death of a 31-year-old employee of the country’s public broadcaster, NHK, had been caused by overwork.
Miwa Sado, who worked at the broadcaster’s headquarters in Tokyo, logged 159 hours of overtime and took only two days off in the month leading up to her death from heart failure in July 2013.
A labour standards office in Tokyo later attributed her death to karoshi (death from overwork) but her case was only made public by her former employer this week.
Sado’s death is expected to increase pressure on Japanese authorities to address the large number of deaths attributed to the punishingly long hours expected of many employees.
The announcement comes a year after a similar ruling over the death of a young employee at Dentsu advertising agency prompted a national debate over Japan’s attitude to work-life balance and calls to limit overtime.