I had a chat with a Japanese coworker some time ago. Some of the Japanese addiction for work was to distract themselves from the destructive effects of WW2. B

I had a chat with a Japanese coworker some time ago. Some of the Japanese addiction for work was to distract themselves from the destructive effects of WW2. By working, they thought they would gradually turn their homeland into a better place and become a better society. Now we can see some of the side effects of the excess work, like a reduced birth rate, increased suicide rate, growing debt, death from overwork (karoshi), people doing secret nap meetings or sleeping in their desks (inemuri), etc.