Japan’s Prime Minister Vows to Abandon Work-Life Balance By Holding 3:00 AM Cabinet Meeting
It looks like PM Takaichi plans to bring Japan’s corporate tendency to work extremely long hours to the government:
“I’ll abandon work-life balance.”
That was Japan’s new far-right Prime Minister’s victory speech vow.
Sanae Takaichi was talking about how she’d lead her own party. Not reform the nation’s notoriously long work weeks.
But the comments still let loose a pretty big backlash.
Sounds like overkill, right? Well, when you look at what followed in her first few weeks in office, probably not.
Weeks later, Takaichi summoned her team for a meeting. With a casual 3 a.m. calltime. She also urged her labor minister to relax the rules on overtime work.
So this is about more than just talking points. And there’s another reason it’s hitting a nerve.
Behind Japan’s legendary work ethic lurks a dark secret.
For decades, the country has been plagued by people driven to an early death by the stress of their never-ending jobs.
You can read more at the link, but she held the cabinet meeting at 3:00 AM in preparation for a 9:00 AM address to Parliament.
