About 22% of Japanese work more than 49 hours a week, compared with 16% of US workers and 11% in France and Germany, according to data from the Japanese government. “Nobody else uses their vacation days,” says Erika Sekiguchi, a 36-year-old employee. She spends 14 hours a day at work and used only eight of her 20 days of paid vacation in 2014, six of which were sick leave. Yuu Wakebe, who works at the health ministry, admits that he does 100 hours of overtime a month. “It is a worker’s right to take paid vacations,” Wakebe said. “But sadly workers in Japan have to do a lot of extra work for no money.”
What does Yuu Wakebe’s quote convey about working in Japan?
That cultural norms prevent Japanese workers from taking vacations His pride in working over 100 hours of overtime a month How Japan compares to France, Germany and the US in terms of hours worked What work culture can do to employees’ mental state