Japan Has a Word for ‘Working to Death’

MINIMUM RAGE

A young woman’s suicide has sparked a backlash against the country’s labor conditions. But death by overwork is so common there’s even a word for it: karoshi.

Published Feb. 3 2017 12:00AM EST

articles/2017/02/03/japan-has-a-word-for-working-to-death/170202-adelstein-japan-tease_i81grc — Reuters

TOKYO—On Christmas evening, Dec. 25, 2015, newly hired Ms. Matsuri Takahashi, 24, threw herself from the top floor of the dormitory of Dentsu, Japan’s largest and most prestigious advertising firm.

Last September, the Mita Labor Standard Inspection Office announced the results of its investigation and ruled that Takahashi’s suicide was actually...