ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to systematically review the existing research on organizational stress in contemporary Japan. The Japanese employment system was a powerful engine that brought about rapid economic growth in postwar Japan. However, it became increasingly difficult for employers to maintain the traditional system of employment after the burst of the bubble economy. The changes that took place in employment relations destabilized the economy, exacerbating the physical and mental health of Japanese workers. In this chapter, we focus on four contemporary issues of organizational stress in Japan. First, we review articles on Karoshi (death from overwork) and Karo-Jisatsu (suicide caused by work stress) to examine why Japanese workplaces are prone to these devastating problems of stress. Second, we look at the problem of long work hours in Japan and explore how it relates to workers’ stress problems including K aroshi, depression, and other physical and mental illnesses. Third, we examine the problem of non-regular employment and its relevance to workplace stress – comparing the conditions of work for regular and non-regular workers. The fourth issue we look at in this chapter is workplace harassment, especially the problem of power harassment (managerial abuse of power) and sexual harassment at work. We review research to assess how these might relate to the problem of organizational stress. We also overview Japanese government policies and employer responses to the issues of organizational stress in Japan. In the concluding section of this chapter, we discuss the limitations of our review and the recommendations for future research directions.
