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Karoshi is the Japanese word meaning death from overwork. Tetsunojo Uehata, the medical authority who coined the term, defines karoshi as a "condition in which psychologically unsound work processes are allowed to continue in a way that disrupts the worker's normal life rhythms, leading to a buildup of fatigue in the body and accompanied by a worsening of preexistent high blood pressure and a hardening of the arteries, finally resulting in a fatal breakdown"[1]. Most of the victims, in their prime working years, die from subarachonodial haemorrhage, heart failure, cerebral haemorrhage or myocardial infarction. Although the victims are found in every occupational category, blue collar and white collar alike, the white-collar salaryman is most susceptible.
In Japan a worker's presence is equal to productivity, and time logged at one's desk or workstation is often a symbolic statement of submission to managerial power rather than a useful generator of work. It reflects the Oyabun-kobun (father-child) hierarchical pattern: corporate loyalty, dependence on the company and ultimate loyalty to it. In the Japanese culture loyalty to the organization is often measured by the time spent at one's desk. Employees, therefore, often are reluctant to be seen leaving the office, whether they are ambitious or not: "My boss does not want to go home because his boss doesn't want to go home and I can't go home until my boss goes home." Workers stay on until 10.00 or 11.00 p.m. or later merely to impress the boss or the few who actually work. In Japan it is often effort, not results, which count. The behaviour resulting from these work attitudes is a major cause of karoshi.
Japan has a tradition of using overtime from permanent employees rather than seeking new hires to raise productivity. Many firms, concerned with order and power, tacitly let employees know that vacations are not welcome and overtime may be voluntarily required (for no functional purpose and without pay). Working overtime becomes simply a ritual of obedience and subservience for the employee. The average Japanese worker puts in well over 225 hours a year more than the average American worker and is less productive[2]. Overtime statistics actually underestimate the real number of work hours. "Service overtime" is unpaid extracurricular work expected of conscientious employees which...