Japan: How much is too much?

Japan: How much is too much?

Japanese culture has been for centuries about duty, tradition, responsibility and the combination of duty, tradition and responsibility often collided with modernity and the rising pressures of everyday life.

Japan suffers from very low birthrates and this is not surprising in a country in which working hours have become such a priority that everything else comes second or third. The stress of the struggle to be successful are crippling those who are usually seen as examples of success. One drink too many and people end up sleeping on the streets.

The British newspaper The Guardian publishes an article that depicts a tragic reality that affects one of the most industrious countries in the world. Japan is usually associated with technology, innovation, and creativity but the negative side of the coin is when people are pushed or push themselves to the limit, beyond the point when success turns to catastrophe.

In Germany, there is movement towards the implementation of a four-day-working week. Technological advances should improve living standards and allow people to have more balanced  personal lives and family lives but despite technological advances too many people are losing their humanity and being pushed over the limit.

After the sweatshops of times past, the 40-hour-week was a great achievement but the time has come to think again and look very carefully and ponder about how we could be doing better for ourselves and for the societies we are very much part of. Images like the one shown speak volumes. We are not talking about beggars. We are talking about people who are falling victims of what is usually described as success. Japan is not just facing a demographic catastrophe but also a social catastrophe.

Western Societies should take notice of what is happening in Japan and start moving in the right direction towards a better ratio in terms of working to live and not living to work. Capitalists care when markets crash and they should start caring when people crash.