Japan's Workers Taking More Leave After 2019 Reforms

Japan once had such a deadly work culture that "death by overwork" earned its own word: karoshi.

Kazuyo Kitada knows this reality firsthand. In the 1990s, she worked seven days a week at a Tokyo IT company, pulling 15-hour shifts on weekdays. When a client called at 2am and she wasn't there, her boss demanded an explanation the next morning.

"It's company number one. Working number one," Kitada recalls of those days. She's since moved to Australia and noticed a striking difference in how workplaces value personal wellbeing over endless dedication.

But back home in Japan, something remarkable is happening. The country is finally healing from its toxic relationship with work.

In 2019, Japan passed sweeping work-style reforms specifically designed to tackle karoshi and the culture of excessive hours. The changes capped overtime at 45 hours per month and encouraged more vacation time.

The reforms are working. Japanese workers are now taking more paid leave and logging fewer overtime hours than ever before. It's a significant shift for a nation where taking time off once felt shameful.

The transformation shows most clearly among younger Japanese workers. They're rejecting the old "live to work" mentality that consumed their parents' generation. Even during labor shortages, they're holding firm to healthier boundaries.

Why This Inspires

This change didn't happen by accident. It took a national reckoning with the true cost of overwork and the courage to pass laws that protect workers over profits.

Japan's younger generation is leading the way, proving that cultural shifts once thought impossible can happen within a single decade. They watched their parents sacrifice health and family for companies that didn't always return that loyalty.

The timing matters too. As remote work and work-life balance conversations spread globally after the pandemic, Japan's reforms show that even deeply rooted cultural problems can be addressed with the right policies and generational determination.

The road isn't finished. Some leaders still glorify endless work, and labor shortages create pressure to backslide. But the data tells a hopeful story: Japanese workers are reclaiming their lives, one vacation day and reasonable shift at a time.

A country that once worked itself to death is learning that life matters more than the office.