European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine stressed out salary men dark Side of the japanese economic Miracle by David e. Sanger new York times since Well before Japan a emergence As an economic superpower its hordes of White Collar workers have been the stuff of cartoon caricatures Blue suited men who spill out of jammed trains every morning push paper in overcrowded offices All Day drink in the Ginza District All night and die Early from the stress of their unrelenting work. Now the japanese government thrown on the defensive by a growing barrage of lawsuits and a Well orchestrated publicity Campaign has reluctantly agreed to begin a $2 million study this month to determine whether the stereotype is right and whether working in a japanese office can really kill you. To the millions of Middle managers who operate in perpetual overdrive the phenomenon has Long been known As Kayoshi or death from overwork. Officially the government refuses to use the word. A the labor ministry in Tokyo says simply that it is starting a project entitled Quot comprehensive measures for Job related  but with the japanese press rarely missing a Chance to Tell the tale of an otherwise healthy Quot salary Man Quot who died at his desk usually after several months of overtime or work on a High pressure Deal nearly everyone who stampedes through Shin Juke station at 8 45 . Knows those Are code words for a study that Many expect will reveal negative aspects of Japan s powerhouse Economy. An acute shortage of skilled workers and managers and a remarkable corporate push to raise productivity has stretched workers in Many industries to the limit. With the Economy booming companies say their overtime statistics Are near an All time High. As a result a yeat old government Campaign urging people to take More time off a prompted largely by Hopes that Japan a Trade surplus will narrow if people spend less time producing and More time consuming a has turned into something of a cynical joke. When Banks closed on saturdays last year part of a nationwide move to a five Day workweek several prominent institutions quietly spread the word that employees were expected to make up the lost time by tacking on More hours every Day of the week. But if the Breakneck Pace of business in Japan can be blamed for hundreds a some say thousands a of instances of sudden death each Case seems surrounded by ambiguities and doubts. Establishing a direct medical link Between the pressure cooker existence of mid level japanese executives and fatal heart attacks or strokes is nearly impossible. Until two years ago the government refused to pay claims for compensation unless the worker died on the Day he was exposed to particular stress. A japanese commuters pour out of a Tokyo rail station at the Start of a Long workday. In 1988, it awarded compensation in Only 29 cases of death or disability that resulted from something other than Industrial accidents a figure so Low that Many critics say it proves that the government is covering up the extent of the problem. Quot it is something no one wants to Deal with Quot said Chik Anoba Okamura a lawyer leading the Campaign for government action from a cramped office at the Edge of the University of Tokyo a Campus. Quot the government does t want to pay claims. The companies done to want to admit they Are killing  when Okamura and a group of lawyers and doctors set up the country a first Quot Kayoshi hot line Quot 18 months ago they received hundreds of Calls. Quot most came from the widows of workers who said i think my husband died of overwork a Quot he said. When the hot line was expanded to 28 of 47 prefectures it received More than 300 Calls the first Day. The press has rightly or wrongly blamed overwork for a series of deaths among top business leaders including the Heads of a major robotics concern a big publishing House and one of Japan s leading communications empires. To the Surprise of the labor ministry and Many others the families of a few Kayoshi victims began winning in court. Last fall a District court in Nagoya handed the government a major setback ruling that the cerebral Haemorrhage that killed a Post office manager was closely tied to a huge amount of overtime work he was forced to Complete every Day for four months. The labor ministry which had rejected All of the claims in the Case was ordered to pay his family about $210,000. Now about 30 cases Are in court Many pressed by the National defense counsel for victims of death from overwork. Sony corp. Announced recently that All employees would be required to take a vacation of a week or two whether they want to or not. Other companies Are trying to spot potential Kayoshi victims Early. And they end up at places like the waiting room of the Sekiya euro psychiatric clinic on a Back Street in Tokyo opposite a quiet ancient looking Temple. Quot All the big companies particularly the electronics and computer companies Send us their people Quot said or. Toru Sekiya the head of the clinic and a minor celebrity in Tokyo s medical world for his studies of Kayoshi. A the programmers Are the worst. They come right out of College into their jobs they work Day and night talk Only to their machines and sooner or later they end up  a fast talking Man who often leaps out of his chair to search madly for Case files and charts Sekiya looks like a candidate for his own remedies. On Many Days he sees More than 30 patients. Up to 15 or so live at the clinic packing their briefcases every morning to go to work then coming Back for a supervised evening of mellowing out. No one can agree whether japanese office workers truly suffer More on the Job stress than anyone else. Virtually All workers in Japan toil in Large open rooms under the direct Glare of their Bosses who can usually be found at special desks near the window. The myth of japanese efficiency dissolves As soon As you walk into any corporate office. Most Are drowning in paper and personal computers Are just now coming into widespread use among executives. Though the labor shortage has made Job hopping More common most japanese workers still tend to join companies right out of school or College and stay for life a meaning that everyone is acutely aware of his or her position compared with that of other people at the company. Corporate loyalty is virtually synonymous with the number of hours one puts in which May explain Why so Many riders on Tokyo s crowded subway cars in the morning Are dozing. On any Given night inexpensive Quot business hotels Quot Are jammed with workers who decided not to trek Home. Then there Are the obligatory dinner and drinking sessions As intense As Ever in a country that spends More on corporate entertainment every year than on National defense. A new generation May be bucking the trend. Executives say that their new hires Are shying away from working on sundays and insisting on time to be with their families. Still Many Young recruits live at first in company dormitories a the labor shortage has spawned a Competition among big firms to build shiny new quarters a and the group living tends to reinforce the competitive urge to put in Long hours. But what strikes outsiders in Japan is How Many japanese executives no matter How interesting their work complain that the pressure and Hierarchy remain stultifying. A widely sold paperback Book entitled Kayoshi quotes entries from an appointment Book found by the wife of a 43-year-old advertising Agency executive who died a few years ago supposedly a victim of overwork. Quot people become inured to the ease of Mere slave like existence Quot he wrote. Quot they Are bought by Money. They Are bound by time. They cannot go against their superiors. Their pay too is usually arbitrarily  Quot the slaves of the past Quot he concluded Quot most Likely had time to eat with their own  monday april 2, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page