Labor bureau: Japanese man, 45, died of overwork
The story was widely reported and, I'm guessing, widely discussed over water coolers, in lunch rooms, and generally during work breaks around the world, but still, I'll bite; after years of infrequent, similar reports, the concept is still interesting: Can you imagine working yourself to death? By my calculation, the unnamed Japanese engineer worked a little over 71 percent of his total living hours. By comparison, a full time job in the United States (37.5 hours per week) accounts for just over 22 percent. And healthy recommended sleep time (8 hours per night) accounts for a third. How truly deep are the pressures of "Toyota's top car engineers"? Is anyone to blame for this? Can we pin fault on "the failing economy"? Corporate culture? One man's fatal ambitions? As Japanese culture becomes more Westernized, will the ambitions of previous generations toward homogenous decision-making weaken, inspiring fewer and fewer men to consider working 120-hour work weeks?
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