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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

An NHK employee died at age 31 after logging 159 hours of overtime [theguardian.com] and taking just two days off in the month before her death due to heart failure:

Japan has again been forced to confront its work culture [theguardian.com] after labour inspectors ruled that the death of a 31-year-old employee of the country's public broadcaster, NHK, had been caused by overwork.

Miwa Sado, who worked at the broadcaster's headquarters in Tokyo, logged 159 hours of overtime and took only two days off in the month leading up to her death from heart failure in July 2013.

A labour standards office in Tokyo later attributed her death to karoshi (death from overwork) but her case was only made public by her former employer this week. Sado's death is expected to increase pressure on Japanese authorities to address the large number of deaths attributed to the punishingly long hours [theguardian.com] expected of many employees.

The article mentions other instances of "karoshi" [theguardian.com], which can lead to heart failure, stroke, or suicide.

Miwa Sado was a political reporter for Japan's national public broadcaster NHK covering Tokyo and National Diet elections prior to her death. Japan, and particularly Tokyo, has been noted for the apathy of its voters [japantimes.co.jp].

Also at CNN [cnn.com] and the Asahi Shimbun [asahi.com].

Original Submission