College-educated and gainfully employed 36-year-old Eriko Sekiguchi should be a sought-after friend or date, planning nights on the town and faraway resort vacations. But she works in Japan, a nation where workaholic habits die hard.
Often toiling 14 hours a day for a major trading company, including early morning meetings and after-hours “settai,” or networking with clients, she used just eight of her 20 paid vacation days last year. Six of those days were for being sick.
“Nobody else uses their vacation days,” said Sekiguchi, who was so busy her interview with The Associated Press had to be rescheduled several times before she could pop out of the office.
The government wants to change all that.
Legislation that will be submitted during the parliamentary session that began Jan. 26 aims to ensure workers get the rest they need. In a break with past practice, it will become the legal responsibility of employers to ensure workers take their holidays.
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The overwork problem intensified during the past two decades of economic stagnation in Japan. The use of cheap labor became common to stay competitive in a rapidly globalizing economy, while the culture of loyalty to the company stayed.
Abe, not a person noted for taking long vacations, has been stressing the need for change.
Japan’s work ethic, he said, is “a culture that falsely beatifies long hours.”
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