Episode #229: Karoshi is BS. Overwork Rarely Kills You

Despite decades of awareness, Japan continues to witness tragic cases of karoshi—death from overwork. The media often simplifies these as deaths caused by excessive physical labor. In reality, the majority of karoshi cases stem from mental and emotional exhaustion, not physical collapse. Behind the headlines lies a deeper issue: management systems that fail to protect employees from toxic workloads and workplace stress.

Summary: The true cause of karoshi is stress-driven suicide, rooted in poor management and unsustainable work culture.

Two main forces drive chronic workplace stress in Japan:

1. Individual burnout — Long hours, endless commutes, and little rest erode mental resilience.

2. Managerial incompetence — Poor leadership allows excessive pressure and power harassment to thrive.

When leaders ignore stress indicators and fail to manage workloads, the result is depression, disengagement, and, in tragic cases, suicide.

Summary: Stress isn’t an employee weakness—it’s a symptom of broken management systems.

Yes. Many corporate tragedies reveal a pattern of management irresponsibility. Companies like Dentsu have faced public scrutiny for falsifying work-hour records while staff worked hundreds of hours of unpaid overtime. Leaders knew the psychological toll but did nothing. When a 24-year-old employee took her life, the company was fined only ¥500,000—a symbol of how undervalued human life can be when productivity overshadows well-being.

Summary: Leadership negligence—not hard work itself—is the real killer behind karoshi.

Japan’s white-collar culture is plagued by inefficiency. Tasks expand to fill available time, and meetings often replace meaningful progress. Ironically, while Japanese factories excel with kaizen and kanban systems, corporate offices lag far behind. Leaders justify this gap by claiming “office work is different,” ignoring that efficiency principles apply universally.

Summary: Productivity problems in Japan’s offices are not cultural inevitabilities—they’re leadership failures.

To stop karoshi, Japan must address the root causes: outdated management practices and a lack of leadership education. The list of chronic issues is long—poor goal-setting, endless meetings, slow decision-making, weak delegation, and demotivating evaluations. These “leadership crimes” persist because many managers are promoted based on tenure, not capability.

The solution? Develop leaders who can lead.
Invest in leadership, communication, and stress management training. Empower employees to say no to illegal overtime. Build a culture of psychological safety where performance thrives without burnout.

Summary: Modernizing Japan’s management mindset is the only way to eliminate karoshi.

• The majority of karoshi deaths are stress-induced suicides, not physical exhaustion.

• Poor leadership and toxic management systems are the true culprits.

• Productivity can rise without longer hours—through better process design and empowered teams.

• Leadership education is the most effective prevention strategy against overwork and burnout.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has empowered individuals and organizations around the world for more than a century.
Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, continues to help Japanese and global companies transform their culture through leadership training, sales training, presentation training, and executive coaching.
Together, we can build workplaces where performance and well-being thrive—without karoshi.