This article is from WeChat official account:Vista World School (ID: dailyvista), author: Liu Yue smart, thematic map from: Pawel Jaszczuk
In Japan, there is a phenomenon called “sleeping on the road”, which literally means “sleeping on the road”.
Imagine if you drive home late at night and see someone lying in the middle of the road, you will be shocked. To make matters worse, the driver failed to see someone and brake in time.
However, such nightmares often happen in Okinawa.
Source: Yaeyama Police Station, Okinawa Prefecture
In the early morning of September 7, Japan time, a man in his 70s was knocked down by a car and fell into a coma and died on the spot. The man hit was an unemployed Mr. Kunitake Minei, who lives in Nanjo, Okinawa. According to the police, the victim may have been sleeping in the street.
In the last year alone, the local police department reported more than 7,000 “sleeping on the road” incidents. At least 16 traffic accidents occurred and 3 people died.
In the first half of this year, due to the outbreak of the new crown virus, the government asked people not to go out at night, but the police still received 2,702 emergency calls for “sleeping on the road” incidents, the number being the same as last yearthe same.
Source: Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting News
So, what makes people like sleeping on the streets of Okinawa so much?
According to the “Daily News” report, the local warm climate coupled with the abundant rice wine (a strong alcohol) may have caused this This situation.
Some people simply lie on the side of the road with a stone to cool down, while others are so drunk that they think they are back home and even take off their clothes.
Picture Source Network
The Okinawa police is trying to curb this kind of phenomenon even more.
They have posted various notices and public service advertisements in public places; they have held exhibitions on the theme of “sleeping on the road” to publicize the indecent behavior of “execution”; they even regarded “sleeping on the road” as a crime, the highest A fine of 50,000 yen can be imposed.
However, data shows that “sleeping on the road” cases are still increasing year by year, and the Okinawa police have not made much progress yet.
“Sleep on the Road” Exhibition Picture Source Network
“Before I came to Okinawa, I didn’t even know that there was this term. I think this is a phenomenon unique to Okinawa,” Miyazaki Tada, who became the prefectural police chief less than a year ago, told the media.
However, he may not have imagined that Tokyo, which is more than a thousand kilometers away from Okinawa, does not have a warm climate, and there is no intoxicating hometown rice wine, but there are still “sleeping on the road” people.
Picture source: twitter@SHIBUYAMELTD0WN
1. “Do you really want to end the day in this way?”
Paweł Jaszcz, photographer from Warsawuk has been photographing the phenomenon of “sleeping on the road” on the streets of Tokyo since 2008.
From Shinjuku to Shibuya to Shimbashi, Jaszczuk will cycle through train stations and bars in Tokyo’s business and entertainment districts between 11pm and 3am, looking for people sleeping on the street. He said: “The contrast between these well-dressed people and the street caught my attention.”
Picture source: Pawel Jaszczuk
Picture after photo shows that lonely and tired people sleeping on the street are not alone. Moreover, we can see that most of are not homeless homeless people, but office workers with jobs and shelters.
Actually, this is incompatible with Japanese socialTransformation is related to social habits. After a long day of work, office workers usually go to drink and relax with colleagues. Not only that, they sometimes have to drink with their boss or client after get off work.
However, after drinking too much alcohol, they often miss the last train home and have no choice but to “close contact” in the streets of the city center.
Picture source: twitter@SHIBUYAMELTD0WN
Jaszczuk said that when the morning came, he had never seen these people wake up. But he heard that when they really woke up, they would find a public restroom to wash up for a while, and then return to the company to go to work.
In addition to the streets, in Japan’s subways, park benches, cafes or restaurants, and other places, office workers are often seen taking naps with their eyes closed. “Inemuri” is a word used to describe the behavior of sleeping in public places, and these are usually regarded as symbols of “diligence”. People often admire those who are committed to work and don’t have enough sleep.
Source: New York Times (Hiroshi Sasaki)
One reason public sleep is so common may be that people sleep less at home. University of MichiganA study conducted by the school showed that among the 20 countries participating in the survey, the average sleep time of Japanese people is 7 hours and 24 minutes, which is the country with the lowest average sleep time.
A survey conducted by the Japanese government in 2019 showed that nearly 40% of people sleep for less than 6 hours at all.
A 2016 report showed that in a survey of 10,000 Japanese workers, more than 20% said they had to work at least 80 hours of overtime each month. Nearly a quarter of companies admit that some employees work over 80 hours a month.
These research data all show that Japanese people are “lack of sleep” all the year round, and office workers are in a state of fatigue from overwork for a long time.
Picture Source Network
After taking a few photos at the beginning, Jaszczuk realized that this was a product of a (oppressive) work culture,” Office workers sleep on the street during workdays, do we really want to end the day in this way?”
Actually, what Jaszczuk captures is the foul-smelling “overwork culture” side of Japan.
2. The era of overwork
The “overwork culture” of Japanese companies has a history of decades, dating back to the postwar era in the early 1950s. At that time, in order to make Japan’s economy run quickly, Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida asked large companies to provide employees with lifetime job security to encourage them to devote more time to work.
During the economic boom of the 1970s, the number of Japanese men who worked more than 60 hours a week soared, and “hardworking wage earners” became a model of economic success. People lost their minds and even discussed the topic of “Can you fight 24 hours”.
Picture Source Network
What followed was the sudden death of a large number of employees during work. The term “karoshi”(death from overwork) appeared in this context. It is translated as “died from overtime” in Japanese and is a legal term indicating the cause of death.
Japan reported the first case of “death from overwork” in 1969. At that time, a 29-year-old male employee was working in the transportation department of a newspaper company and died of a stroke, but it did not cause too much social concern. .
In the 1980s, the bubble economy burst, and several executives who were still in their heyday at work suddenly passed away without any signs of illness. The term “death from overwork” appeared in the public eye. And with the increase in public attention, the Japanese government began to publish statistics on “karoshi”, and to control overtime issues of enterprises.
For example, the Japanese government once reduced the standard weekly working hours from 48 hours to 40 hours and increased overtime pay. However, due to legal loopholes, the overtime culture of enterprises is still intensifying.
Picture Source Network
According to “Yomiuri Shimbun” reports, a survey by Japanese labor unions shows that among Japanese workers aged 20 to 50, 42.6% of Japanese workers work an average of 16.7 hours of unpaid overtime per month; 85% of full-time employees work overtime, and 20% of them work overtime per month. Working more than 60 hours a week is higher than the legal limit of 40 hours; about half of people working overtime will not get extra pay.
AFP stated that due to the prevalence of overtime culture, many employees feel guilty for leaving get off work on time. Many people dare not leave work earlier than their bosses even if they have nothing to do. Even if they don’t work overtime, they will still be forced to fall into the dinner culture. Whirlpool had to have dinner and drinks with colleagues.
It wasn’t until the overworked suicide of Takahashi in 2016 that the Japanese public was once again awakened, so that they were no longer as indifferent to the story of excessive overtime.
Picture Source Network
According to Japanese media reports, Molly Takahashi studied at the best Tokyo University in Japan. After graduation, she entered the world’s top advertising company Nippon Dentsu.
Takahashi’s resume is logically a proper model for an elite life. However, less than a year after joining the company, she committed suicide by jumping off the building in the staff dormitory.
Unbelievable. According to Takahashi’s check-in record, she had accumulated 130 hours of overtime in one month, far exceeding the stipulations of the employment agreement.
On Christmas morning, Takahashi, who lives alone in Tokyo, sent a text message to his mother: “I now feel very tired regardless of work or life. Thank you for taking care of me.” After that, Takahashi ended. 24 years of life.
She was struggling to sleep only 10 hours a week.
The message posted on SNS before Takahashi’s suicide Picture Source Network
This suicide case has aroused widespread concern from all walks of life in Japan, and it has once again fueled calls to change Japan’s widespread long working hours and illegal unpaid overtime.
For a long time, it is hard for people to imagine that the concept of “life-long employment and life-long struggle” that they believe in and practice has not made a happy life come as expected, but has destroyed itself day by day in a chronic suicide way.
3. Late Friday
Shortly after Takahashi’s suicide, the Japanese government launched a program called “Super Value Friday”: Employees will have the opportunity to leave at 3 pm on the last Friday of each month.
The government considers that in addition to giving employees more time at their disposal, it also wants to encourage young people to have time to date and fall in love, go home early to solve the problem of “fewer births” and to stimulate consumption.
Takehiro Onuki, a salesman in his early thirties, said that he usually arrives at the company at 8 am and leaves at midnight. He only sees his wife on weekends.
Image source: Reuters
In addition, in response to social concerns about “death from overwork,” the Japanese Senate voted to pass amendments to the labor law in June 2018. It stipulates the upper limit of overtime: 45 hours per month,For 360 hours a year, companies that violate them will be punished.
Before that, as long as the management and the union reached an agreement, Japanese companies could allow their employees to work without restrictions, just like driving on a highway without speed limits.
Picture Source Network
However, some survey results show that less than 4% of the employees who really leave the company early on “Value Friday” are less than 4%, and only 2.8% of the companies have implemented this plan.
The labor law on the overtime limit was applied to large companies in April 2019 and applied to small and medium-sized enterprises in April 2020. So far, there has not been valid data to support this law to alleviate the overwork problem.
Perhaps some companies have responded to legal changes and significantly reformed some work styles. For example, YRGLM, a technology company based in Osaka, allows employees to refuse work calls and emails during non-working days.
However, at this stage, overwork is still the norm.
Picture source: twitter@SHIBUYAMELTD0WN
The first white paper on the prevention of “death from overwork” released in 2017 showed that there were 368 “death from overwork” incidents in five years. 40 years oldThe male on the right has the highest suicide rate among women under 29.
On October 1, 2019, the government released a new white paper that attributed 158 deaths in 2018 to overwork, the lowest level in a decade. But the government warned that this level is still very high and unacceptable.
The Kansai University professor Koji Morioka, who has studied the problem of overwork and death for more than 30 years, said: “The Japanese want to solve the problem of overwork and death. It is impossible to rely on the government.” The relevant regulations and laws enacted require changes in the entire Japanese society at the same time.
“The Age of Overwork”, by Takaji Morioka Source: Douban
Actually, about “sleeping on the road”, I think of watching an episode of “Doraemon” as a child.
Nobita and his friends were playing in the open space, but they were driven away by the adults. They wanted to have a secret base of their own. Doraemon took out the props “miniature camera” and “Gulliver Tunnel” to realize this dream and built a miniature city in his backyard.
Nobita can keep reading new comics in the bookstore without worrying about being driven away by the manager; Doraemon eats a lot of dorayaki at the dim sum shop without paying for it; Shizuka has his own toy store.
There was a child lying on the road all over, shouting to the sky: “I can finally lie down on the road freely!”
They are so happy, do whatever they want, and realize their wishes that they can’t usually achieve.
In the report about “sleeping on the road”, a comment under the “Guardian” expressed envy of the Japanese, “At least they feel safe enough without worrying about being robbed or murdered standing on the street.”< /p>
Another comment said that the last few trains in his university in Tokyo were always special. “Because the people in these columns are more or less drunk, people are usually willing to help those who are drunk to the train. You know, the Japanese are very indifferent to strangers.”
We have so many beautiful expectations for the city. Even if we get drunk on the road, we look forward to having a safe “secret base” for one party. Perhaps life is always filled with work, but the “free road” is still being pursued.
Reference material:
1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/19/road-sleeping-epidemic-hits-okinawa-as-warm-weather-meets -heavy-drinking
2. https://www.odditycentral.com/news/japanese-province-is-struggling-to-stop-people-from-sleeping-on-roads.html
3. httpOfficial account:< span class = "text-remarks"> Vista World School (ID: dailyvista) , author: Liu Yue Lat