Comments by "Gordon Graham" (@gordonbgraham) on "Why Japanese Salarymen Work So Hard" video.

Japan currently ranks 27th in the world for hours worked per annum. Most people in the West have a skewed view of working life in Japan because they see a documentary highlighting sectors such as finance, marketing or agriculture in which overtime is rampant throughout the world. Such documentaries or YouTube videos cast their cameras on these sectors and claim "This is Japan"...when that is only a part of Japan. It's estimated that 70% of Japanese workers commute to work by train. Japan Rail's statistics reveal that the evening hour between 5~6pm is the busiest in train stations throughout Japan. This data corroborates OECDs data which shows that Japan ranks 27th in the world for hours worked per annum and that the average Japanese worker works 40 hours per week. The Internet is rife with misinformation that gets perpetuated as truth by dint of repetition. You can't find a video on Japan without the comment section being full of comments on Japan's toxic work culture and rampant overtime. The thing is videos about father coming home at 6 Monday to Friday, going to his sons baseball game on Saturday and his daughters piano recital on Sunday don't get made, because they don't make for very compelling documentary material. It's the same thing with the suicide rate. Currently it's 15.3 persons per 100,000. By comparison America's is 16.1...Belgium's is 18.3. South Korea's is 28.6. Where are the videos of Belgiums suicide crisis. Perhaps you could explain why foreigners fetishise Japan's suicide rate. Is it's association with Samurai culture or the Yakuza? Is it that people want to have something negative to say about Japan because people heap praise on it as a cohesive society? What is it exactly that a country that ranks 25th in the world for suicide rate gets so much attention for suicide rates? I'm not trolling...I'd really like to understand the mindset of that focus.
1
Japan currently ranks 27th in the world for hours worked per annum. Most people in the West have a skewed view of working life in Japan because they see a documentary highlighting sectors such as finance, marketing or agriculture in which overtime is rampant throughout the world. Such documentaries or YouTube videos cast their cameras on these sectors and claim "This is Japan"...when that is only a part of Japan. It's estimated that 70% of Japanese workers commute to work by train. Japan Rail's statistics reveal that the evening hour between 5~6pm is the busiest in train stations throughout Japan. This data corroborates OECDs data which shows that Japan ranks 27th in the world for hours worked per annum and that the average Japanese worker works 40 hours per week. The Internet is rife with misinformation that gets perpetuated as truth by dint of repetition. You can't find a video on Japan without the comment section being full of comments on Japan's toxic work culture and rampant overtime. The thing is videos about father coming home at 6 Monday to Friday, going to his sons baseball game on Saturday and his daughters piano recital on Sunday don't get made, because they don't make for very compelling documentary material. It's the same thing with the suicide rate. Currently it's 15.3 persons per 100,000. By comparison America's is 16.1...Belgium's is 18.3. South Korea's is 28.6. Where are the videos of Belgiums suicide crisis. Perhaps you could explain why foreigners fetishise Japan's suicide rate. Is it's association with Samurai culture or the Yakuza? Is it that people want to have something negative to say about Japan because people heap praise on it as a cohesive society? What is it exactly that a country that ranks 25th in the world for suicide rate gets so much attention for suicide rates? I'm not trolling...I'd really like to understand the mindset of that focus.
1
Karoshi exists in North America, too. It's called work related stress
1
Japan currently ranks 27th in the world for hours worked per annum. Most people in the West have a skewed view of working life in Japan because they see a documentary highlighting sectors such as finance, marketing or agriculture in which overtime is rampant throughout the world. Such documentaries or YouTube videos cast their cameras on these sectors and claim "This is Japan"...when that is only a part of Japan. It's estimated that 70% of Japanese workers commute to work by train. Japan Rail's statistics reveal that the evening hour between 5~6pm is the busiest in train stations throughout Japan. This data corroborates OECDs data which shows that Japan ranks 27th in the world for hours worked per annum and that the average Japanese worker works 40 hours per week. The Internet is rife with misinformation that gets perpetuated as truth by dint of repetition. You can't find a video on Japan without the comment section being full of comments on Japan's toxic work culture and rampant overtime. The thing is videos about father coming home at 6 Monday to Friday, going to his sons baseball game on Saturday and his daughters piano recital on Sunday don't get made, because they don't make for very compelling documentary material. It's the same thing with the suicide rate. Currently it's 15.3 persons per 100,000. By comparison America's is 16.1...Belgium's is 18.3. South Korea's is 28.6. Where are the videos of Belgiums suicide crisis. Perhaps you could explain why foreigners fetishise Japan's suicide rate. Is it's association with Samurai culture or the Yakuza? Is it that people want to have something negative to say about Japan because people heap praise on it as a cohesive society? What is it exactly that a country that ranks 25th in the world for suicide rate gets so much attention for suicide rates? I'm not trolling...I'd really like to understand the mindset of that focus.
1