Overworked: Pedagogy and Social Pressure to Perform in Japan

Recently, a unique and deadly phenomenon, called “Karoshi” defined as “death from overwork” has become a typical social problem in Japan. Although research has revealed why Karoshi is likely to occur in Japan with regards to Japanese characteristics, values, and conditions specifically in the workplace, it remains to be elucidated what overall social values and characteristics contribute to rising rates of Karoshi. This study focuses on the collectivism cultivated in Japanese early childrearing and educational pedagogy, and how certain cultural values create the circumstances that foster Karoshi. The study used a broad search strategy for collecting research articles, using electronic databases to gather existing data and information. The purpose of the research was to ascertain the potential correlation between social collectivism, encouraged in Japanese pedagogy and early childrearing, and Karoshi.