Japanese workers still struggle to take paid leave or any kind of time off. Recent surveys and social media posts highlight anxiety about reporting absences and causing trouble for colleagues.
About 60% of Japanese workers feel guilty about taking leave
Japan introduced a work-style reform law in April 2019 in response to multiple high-profile cases of karōshi (過労死), or “death by overwork.” The law requires companies to ensure that employees take at least five days of paid leave each year. Despite this mandate, Japan’s paid leave usage remains low, and many workers still struggle to take time off.
Expedia’s “2018 Vacation Deprivation Study” found that 58% of Japanese respondents felt guilty about using paid leave. This was the highest rate among 12 countries. The survey showed that more than half of Japanese workers feel psychological pressure when they take time off.
Young workers felt this most strongly. In the “2023 Survey on How Japanese People Take Time Off,” conducted by Job Soken and Nikkei, 44.03% of people in their 20s said they feel guilty about taking leave. Many cited reasons such as “causing trouble for coworkers” or “because others are still working.”
A 2024 MS-Japan survey of corporate management departments reported similar trends. In that survey, 38.0% reported feeling sorry when taking paid leave. Among them, 69.2% said leave disrupts their work. Another 27.8% said sudden tasks make planning time off difficult. A total of 14.3% said coworkers or managers do not take leave for themselves. Additionally, 10.5% of respondents feared a negative impact on their performance evaluation.
The young generation goes to work even when they are sick
Picture: 8×10 / PIXTA(ピクスタ)
A survey by Mediplus Research Institute’s Stress Off Lab examined 70,000 women aged 20 to 69. In the 2019 “Mental Strength Survey,” 26.06% of Gen Z said they view “not taking leave” as a virtue. This was the highest among all generations. The bubble generation followed at 24.01%.
The idea of “not resting” often seems tied to older workers. However, the survey showed that younger workers hold this belief most strongly. Many Gen Z respondents said they go to work even when feeling sick. They also said they try not to miss work unless absolutely necessary.
Strong feelings of obligation and concern for others seem to be shaping these attitudes. Many people in their 20s and 30s fear causing trouble for colleagues. Some avoid asking for help because they worry about burdening seniors or managers. As a result, they take on too much work and end up working overtime.
For people who hesitate even to seek advice, taking leave and possibly inconveniencing others feels even more difficult.
Voices of Japanese workers who feel unable to take leave
On social media, many Japanese workers describe how hard it is to take time off. Users on X posted comments such as:
“I go to work even when sick because work will stop if I rest”
“I feel scared to report an absence”
“I feel anxious when deciding to take leave”
Others wrote that, “Excessive workloads make it impossible to rest”; “Coworkers judge parents who miss work for a child’s fever”; and “I think about work even on holidays.”
This feeling extends even to other forms of leave. Many new fathers, for example, say they feel unable to take paternity leave. A few have said they have experienced harassment, demotions, or forced relocations for doing so.
Morikazu Miho, CEO of Your Patronum, shared a similar experience. She said she felt strong guilt about taking leave when she was an employee at a recruitment outsourcing firm. She had holidays on the calendar, but often worked the equivalent of seven days a week.
Morikazu said she could not rest because no one could take over her tasks, and all work eventually returned to her. She also felt anxiety and guilt about resting, did not know how to rest, and viewed taking time off as “unproductive.”
She now runs a company that supports organizational development and career growth. Yet she said she still rarely has a day without any work and usually does at least one or two hours of tasks even on days off.
Why Japanese workers struggle to take leave: Deep cultural roots
Picture: Hap Yoshio / PIXTA(ピクスタ)
Japan’s strong guilt around taking leave has historical roots. During the Edo period, people worked hard to pay taxes, which shaped the idea that “those who do not work should not eat.” The belief that “the sun is watching” also spread. It encouraged people to work hard even without supervision and treated slacking as a moral failing.
In the Meiji era, modernization strengthened the values of diligence and endurance. Schools and workplaces promoted self-sacrifice as a duty to the nation. The idea that “the sun is watching” shifted into “the boss is watching,” reinforcing pressure to always work.
During the high-growth era, people used terms like 猛烈社員 (mōretsu shain), a worker who puts their job before everything else and works extremely long hours, to praise extreme dedication. In the bubble period, the slogan “Can you fight for 24 hours?” symbolized pride in long hours. These experiences fueled the belief that “not taking leave” was a virtue.
People in Japan are also taught from a young age not to trouble others and to respect group cohesion. This cultural strength also creates pressure. Many feel guilty for “taking leave alone” or “causing trouble,” and fear disrupting harmony at work. This fear makes taking time off even harder for many workers today.
Why Japanese workers can’t take leave: education and task personalization
Educational psychologist Hosaka Tooru says anxiety about taking leave may come from early schooling. Japanese schools do not teach students how to rest, he said. In uniform classes, students receive no support to catch up after an absence. Club activities also create the idea that “one absence causes trouble.”
He notes that systems like the “perfect attendance award” teach children that missing school is bad. High school records list absence days, and many entrance exams offer no makeup tests. These structures, he says, build a society that never expects people to rest.
Hosaka also highlights a major workplace problem: task personalization. He argues that companies must create systems that allow others to cover when someone takes leave.
In many Japanese workplaces, tasks depend on individual skills. Manuals and knowledge sharing are often neglected. As a result, personalization worsens, and labor shortages leave no one to fill in when someone is absent.
Many workplaces still reward long hours. In such environments, paid leave systems become symbolic, and taking time off in practice becomes difficult.
Sources
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