日本“過勞死”再敲警鐘
Japanese working themselves into early graves
A record number of Japanese worked them to death last year
A record number of Japanese people worked themselves to death last year despite a government campaign to ease the country's notorious office hours.
Some 355 workers fell severely ill or died from overwork in the year to March, the highest figure on record and 7.6 percent up from the previous year, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labour said.
Of the total, 147 people died, many from strokes or heart attacks.
Death from overwork grew so common during Japan's post-World War II economic miracle that a word was coined for it, "karoshi."
The government has tried to address the problem by promoting telecommuting and encouraging workers to take leave when they start families or need to care for elderly parents.
Critics point to the rising number of part-time jobs, saying new employees lack the security that would allow them to resist pressure to overwork.
Another 819 workers contended they became mentally ill due to overwork, with 205 cases given compensation, according to the ministry data released on Wednesday.
Mentally troubled workers killed themselves or attempted to do so in 176 cases, of which a record 66 cases were found eligible for benefits, the ministry report said.
The number of Japanese who killed themselves because of work jumped 52 percent last year, while work-induced mental illness also hit a record high, according to Health Ministry official Junichiro Kurashige.
Japan's suicide rate is among the highest in the industrialized world. More than 32,000 people took their own lives in 2004, most of them older people suffering financial woes as the country struggled through a decade of economic stagnation.
The Japanese government has earmarked substantial budget for programs to help those with depression and other mental illnesses.
日本人工作時間過長可謂“世界聞名”，儘管政府發起“整治運動”，但去年日本的過勞死人數竟創下記錄。
據日本厚生勞動省介紹，截至今年三月，日本去年一年有355人因過度工作而身患重病或死亡，比去年增長7.6%，創歷史最高紀錄。
其中，因過度工作而死亡的人數達到147人，大多數人死於中風和突發性心臟病。
由過度工作造成的死亡現象在日本“戰後”經濟騰飛期間日益普遍，由此產生了"過勞死"一詞。
爲了解決這一問題，日本政府曾提倡員工遠程辦公，並鼓勵他們在成立家庭或需要照顧年邁的父母時多休假。
批評人士認爲這一問題的主要原因在於兼職的不斷增多，稱新僱員由於缺乏安全感，不得不去加班。
據厚生勞動省上週三公佈的數據，另有819名員工認爲自己患心理疾病是由過度工作造成的，其中205個病例被給予了賠償。
患有心理疾病的員工自殺或有自殺傾向的案例達到176起，其中有66起獲得了賠償。
據衛生省官員小泉英樹介紹，去年，日本因工作而自殺的人數上漲了52%，而由工作所引起的心理疾病的患病數也創下新高。
日本的自殺率位居工業化國家之首。2004年，日本的自殺人數超過3萬2千人。其中的大多數人年齡較大，這些人飽受了日本長達十年的經濟停滯所造成的經濟災難的影響。
目前，日本政府已劃撥巨資，專門用於資助抑鬱症及其它心理疾病患者的計劃。
