Working culture

March is the season of graduation, coma-inducing allergies and lots of free time at work. So, I sit around and think of things I should be doing other than sitting around, and yesterday, I promised someone I would do a traithlon. Someone remind me I said that so I can actually start to train. But, I can't really swim, and I don't have a bike. So maybe I shouldn't have made that promise after all.


Tuesday night was the graduation enkai with many of the teachers. I realized that one of the teachers wasn't there, and that I actually hadn't seen her in long time. I asked someone about it, and he said that she had been hospitalized due to exhaustion from work. She is younger than I am...

This is the 3rd or 4th time I've heard of a fellow teacher actually having to be hospitalized due to overworking. It's always junior high teachers, and the ones that work at larger schools.

I tried to explain to him that this kind of epidemic is one of the most maddening parts of Japan for me. The working culture and the commitment to the group are admirable at times, but it also leads to people not having the ability to look out for their own needs, wants, and health. Teachers here don't take their paid vacation unless they have to. Instead of using their allotted sick days, they use a paid vacation day if they are sick, and they are usually near death before they actually make the decision to stay home.

Many teachers often complain that they are not happy, and they are too tired, and they work too much. They are in this situation because they are appeasing the working culture and making sure they aren't being seen as lazy or a strain on their coworkers, which is partially because of the nature of where they live, but I also believe it's a choice.

I was told that the government is actually finally considering changing labor laws to make sure teachers have the appropriate time off, which I suppose helps. But the government shouldn't have to be making laws to force people to be good to themselves. That is a very personal decision, and ultimately your own happiness is in your own hands. But, I guess that's just my Western mind working...