I find it much more likely to be stuck at that for more domestic companies (like the company I'm leaving) than for IT companies. Even then it is not inevitable

I find it much more likely to be stuck at that for more domestic companies (like the company I'm leaving) than for IT companies. Even then it is not inevitable. Once I decided I didn't want to torture myself or my subordinates it became very easy to kill that culture - on my team at least. I told HR that I would not do OT until they provided x FTEs (which was slightly less than the peak usage rate of my team). When they balked at hiring, I told my team members to go home at 5:45 every day. Suddenly urgent dev requests are not urgent anymore and we have less meetings. If one's manager is selfish or weak, he or she probably wants to score brownie points off of a subordinate's service overtime. It's easy for them to say "this is how it is in Japan" - but it's not a Japanese thing, just a weak leadership thing