Ah, Japan. Honestly, in my experience the US hasn't been much better. There's still no federal law that mandates holiday time, although may employers offer so

Ah, Japan. Honestly, in my experience the US hasn't been much better. There's still no federal law that mandates holiday time, although may employers offer some to appear more competitive in the labor pool. I'm not speaking of unskilled positions either -- I've worked as a DBA in billion-dollar companies and told I should be grateful for my 5 days off a year (which accrue over time, not provided at the beginning of the fiscal year). Then there's watching co-workers be terminated for being gravely ill. Again, I'm talking software developers, network admins, etc. Now that I have 25 PTO days plus the 10 NYSE trading holidays I feel spoiled -- has anyone here ever gone into work while passing kidney stones? Ever go in for work for a week, not noticing your weight has dropped from 150 to 105lbs in 5 days because Type II diabetes has onset and you're not aware what's wrong with yourself? How about having two days off in a row denied, and being told they need to be taken on separate weeks? As someone who mostly went without them for the first 10 years of his career (I think one employer over 2 years offered 10 days and didn't place ridiculous restrictions) I can say that the mental and physical health benefits of time off are enormous -- though this is probably obvious to most.