Karoshi & declining birth-rate in Japan

P

Paul

Guest
Whilst anime production continues at full pelt, there’s been a few stories pop up recently that suggest Japanese society is going through a hard time that only promises to get harder.

First up is an article from the BBC that discusses “karoshi” (which is a specific Japanese word for death by over-work) and how young people are particularly vulnerable to this right now. One office in Tokyo has even “[…] resorted to turning the office lights off at 7pm in an effort to force people to go home.”

The other article is from The New York Times and reports that Japan’s declining birth-rate has dropped below 1 million for the first time since records began – over 100 years ago.


After Japan’s population hit a peak of 128 million at the start of the current decade, it shrank by close to a million in the five years through 2015, according to census data. Demographers expect it to plunge by a third by 2060, to as few as 80 million people — a net loss of a million a year, on average.

Continue reading...
 
Sounds like young people work too much and don't have the time for children. That's a vicious circle if there ever was one. Attitudes and culture need to change before more young people die and the birth rate declines further . The Japanese don't seem to have a work life balance many enjoy in the west.
 
I believe someone once explained the Japanese work culture like this to me

"Westerners work to live. The Japanese live to work."
 
One office in Tokyo has even “[…] resorted to turning the office lights off at 7pm in an effort to force people to go home.”

My office is like this in the UK! Fortunately the wider acceptance of such issues is not.

R
 
Back
Top