NHK reveals journalist’s 2013 death was caused by overwork

The Japan Times ^ | Oct 6, 2017 | Kyodo

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Overwork had caused the death of a 31-year-old NHK female reporter in 2013, according to the labor standards inspectors, the public broadcaster said Wednesday, providing further evidence of the extreme working conditions many Japanese employees endure.

Miwa Sado, who belonged to the broadcaster’s center in Tokyo and died of congestive heart failure in July 2013, worked 159 hours of overtime with only two days off in the one-month period prior to her death, a local labor standards office concluded in May 2014.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration has been seeking to improve working conditions in the country following the suicide of a new recruit at advertising giant Dentsu Inc. in 2015 due to excessive working hours.

As a reporter in charge of covering the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Sado worked on the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election and the House of Councilors election from June to July 2013. She died on July 24, three days after the Upper House election.

NHK said it kept track of her working hours through personal statements and time cards but acknowledged there were areas requiring improvement.

Sado joined the broadcaster in 2005 and started to work at its bureau in Kagoshima Prefecture. She was transferred to Tokyo in July 2010 and was in charge of covering the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for two years.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

As one of my bosses used to say, "You have 168 hours in a week to get the job done." Of course he was an Army General and we were working to protect the troops in combat.

That works out to a little less than 14 hour days. While in Iraq I habitually had between 60 to 80 hours of OT a week. At times a 14 hour day was a break.

So I question the "overwork" as the cause of death.

[StAntKnee]

Overwork won’t be killing any US journos. Lazy buggers just sit at the keyboard and make stuff up.

[freedumb2003]

Everyone has the ability to say “stop.”

I feel badly for this person but it was her call.

Prayers for her confusion and soul.

[sagar]

A lot of so called “overworked” people are barely putting 8 hours of work. You can’t believe how much time is wasted by them just chatting away or staring into their screens.

[erlayman]

This is so ingrained in the culture it is not going to change until the labor shortage gets severe enough. The only question being debated now is the upper limit whether at large companies should be 80 or 100 hours of overtime a month, before forcing them into unpaid work.

[Gay State Conservative]

I've read that Japanese schoolkids go to class something line 12 hours a day,6 days a week 50 weeks a year.

[Gideon7]

5 1/2 days a week (Saturday is typically only a half day).

[Gideon7]

Juniors and seniors who are college bound typically add 3-4 hours of cram school in the evenings to prep for college admissions tests.

[Gay State Conservative]

5 1/2 days a week (Saturday is typically only a half day).

I read that most kids go to special advanced classes at "private" schools immediately after "regular" school lets out.

[Gideon7]

Death by overwork is called karoshi. Japanese salarymen will often stay at work until 10pm or so. Then it is expected of them to hit the bars with their co-workers until midnight, then come right back to work at 8am the next day.

For a female to die that way is rather unusual, as the large majority of salarymen are male.

[DUMBGRUNT]

I was trained that you cannot work a man to death, they always pass out first.

[T-Bone Texan]

I surf FR and Reddit The_Donald all day.

Does that count as work?