Why does Japan work so hard? | CNBC Explains

Japan has some of the longest working hours in the world. CNBC's Uptin Saiidi travels to Tokyo to understand its corporate culture and see explore how the government is trying to make a change.

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[kitkat-bpho]

It is ironic that Japan has created games, mangas and anime but they don't have time to enjoy them.

[DNTREPLY]

if i worked over 80hrs and not got paid for it. i'd burn down the building. thats truly messed up.

[thisissyedbasim]

Someone: My life is miserable
Japanese workers: hold my work hours

[keitakimoto]

Japanese Government and companies:
“don’t work!”
Japanese People: “No”

[rohitbumb]

They worked so hard for the future generations that they actually forgot to make future generations 😂😂

[aria]

Behind of japan successful story, we didn't see their failures, stress, anxiety, depression, frustration, dissatisfied, disappointment, etc. that end them to die or commit suicide.

[WorldTaxAndy]

I worked for a bank in Tokyo, and yes they work long hours but it was rarely working hard. A lot is due to the culture of hierarchy & saving 'face'. For example, we were told never to leave the office before your boss. A bit of an issue when you finished your work by 4pm and your boss is still there till 10pm! You have to find ways to occupy yourselves for those 6 hours. So on paper I worked a 14 hour day but in reality there was maybe only a few hours of actual productive stuff done.

Another thing was endless meetings, worse than anything I've seen in the US or UK. And meetings are rarely productive due to the face saving aspect - it's generally bad etiquette to disagree strongly with someone in a meeting in front of others even if their ideas are terrible.

The average Japanese salaryman also drinks extremely heavily. We would typically go out for dinner with our team 4 nights per week & we'd all get drunk - so most days a significant amount of staff are nursing hangovers. Again due to the hierarchy culture you can't really say no if your boss invites you out for dinner, which ends up being almost every night.

It's really not a surprise to see Japan's productivity levels plummet over the past decades.

[donaldduck]

He never actually discussed why they work so hard, he just expressed the fact that they do work hard.

[youtubeuser]

Dude, you work for living, and not live for working..

[jqv]

"This is why anime and manga are mostly during highschool, because after it, it gets worse."
-some guy on a youtube video

[Truthseeker]

I am Japanese and worked there for 15 years. I was the last to clock in and the first to clock out. I didn't work overtime. I organised my work and finish it as soon as possible. I believe in efficiency not lengthy waste. No bosses and co-workers criticised me. I took holidays and enjoyed both work and my personal life.

[hollypark]

I dont think people in Japan are necessarily working hard, they just have a crappy work culture that makes Japan great in some areas but crappy for work. if you look at their productivity, they are a lot lower than people expect. That indicates that the hours spent at work are time consuming and non-productive. it is a demoralizing when you have to spend extra hours to play up to management when youre not really doing anything anything productive just so you can fit in.

[ahmadalibaig]

“If working hard made you rich laborers would be millionaires”

[damnryan]

I mean Japanese people are too polite. They don’t complain when they were young at school, so they think that stop working or resting are bad thing.

[DG-tlii]

That's why Japan is literally a victim of her own success.

[GreenWaifu]

It's intriguing how different nations approach work-life balance. As a young adult, I wonder about the effects on mental well-being and family life. Balancing productivity with personal time should be a global priority.

[GoGo-tkui]

I am Japanese who worked for Japanese company from1989-1993. Left Japan to NYC, working for myself happy. When I was in Japan, Co workers and I, we all worked hard 9am to 11pm every day including every other Saturday and half of the vacation days were not taken. I think they are so detail oriented, spending so much time on every details causing longer time to finish working.. Also we have group mentality (which is not always bad). So if everybody else are still working, you can not leave office.. Many of my girl friends built great carrier in well known company (they are fashion designers so women can be top level but not all industries are same for women), making good money. But they have nothing else. None of them are married (they wanted to be married if they could), not even one of them has boyfriend and they are in their 50th. Still working long hours after 25 years plus. It is my own beautiful country that I love and admire. But I can not live like them.

[manishbharti]

In India, People don't want to stay in office after 5 pm.

[hailsatyr]

I've been working in Japan for 2 years, I almost never did overtime, but at the same time all the 8 hours per day I'm engaged in work. Back in my country I worked 9-10 hours, but I'd spend 3 hours talking to colleagues, chilling or playing tennis

[Truckkundesu]

Few of my co-workers are transferred from Japan and South Korea, (I work for a Japanese IT company) they were really surprised by their limited working hours and paid OT here. Even so that most decided to work here for an extended period, even bringing their spouse and children here. That being said they are still the most hardworking people I have ever seen.