Japanese working themselves into early graves
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.
(Agencies)
日本人工作时间过长可谓“世界闻名”，尽管政府发起“整治运动”，但去年日本的过劳死人数竟创下记录。
据日本厚生劳动省介绍，截至今年三月，日本去年一年有355人因过度工作而身患重病或死亡，比去年增长7.6%，创历史最高纪录。
其中，因过度工作而死亡的人数达到147人，大多数人死于中风和突发性心脏病。
由过度工作造成的死亡现象在日本“战后”经济腾飞期间日益普遍，由此产生了\"过劳死\"一词。
为了解决这一问题，日本政府曾提倡员工远程办公，并鼓励他们在成立家庭或需要照顾年迈的父母时多休假。
批评人士认为这一问题的主要原因在于兼职的不断增多，称新雇员由于缺乏安全感，不得不去加班。
据厚生劳动省上周三公布的数据，另有819名员工认为自己患心理疾病是由过度工作造成的，其中205个病例被给予了赔偿。
患有心理疾病的员工自杀或有自杀倾向的案例达到176起，其中有66起获得了赔偿。
据卫生省官员小泉英树介绍，去年，日本因工作而自杀的人数上涨了52%，而由工作所引起的心理疾病的患病数也创下新高。
日本的自杀率位居工业化国家之首。2004年，日本的自杀人数超过3万2千人。其中的大多数人年龄较大，这些人饱受了日本长达十年的经济停滞所造成的经济灾难的影响。
目前，日本政府已划拨巨资，专门用于资助抑郁症及其它心理疾病患者的计划。
（英语点津姗姗编辑）
Vocabulary:
telecommuting: 远程办公
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