Photo/Illutration Yasutoshi Nishimura, the state minister for economic revitalization who is in charge of the government's pandemic response, speaks to reporters about bureaucrats being overworked in the Cabinet Secretariat, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on March 5. (Tomohiro Yamamoto)

When a woman working at a government ministry in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district became pregnant, her obstetrician-gynecologist ordered her to cut her work hours to about 70 percent of what she was used to putting in.

"But I work at least 1.5 times longer than everybody else," the woman thought to herself. "What would 70 percent of that translate into?"

Before her pregnancy, she worked until around midnight every day. Heeding her doctor's orders, she started leaving the office by 9 or 10 p.m. She felt her life had become a lot easier--until she had to be rushed to the hospital one day after going into preterm labor.

Her case is cited as an example of extreme overwork in "Burakku Kasumigaseki" (Black Kasumigaseki) by Yasuhiro Sensho, a former official at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

According to Sensho, government ministries lag way behind private corporations in work-style reforms.

Sensho notes that in Kasumigaseki, the seat of Japanese bureaucracy, the traditional work ethic requires that "the hours of work per person be extended indefinitely" in any busy department.

And an aspect of that mentality was recently brought to light, once again.

In January, the average overtime hours reached 122 in a Cabinet Secretariat department in charge of the COVID-19 response, topping a whopping 378 hours for the busiest staffer.

That's the sort of number that makes one wonder how anyone got any sleep. But this is apparently only the tip of the iceberg.

One emergent problem is that younger bureaucrats have been quitting in growing numbers.

Everyone points out that the biggest reason why bureaucrats are overworked is that they are being forced to help Cabinet members prepare for their Diet appearances.

Under the banner of "political initiative in policymaking," Cabinet members now answer questions in the Diet, whereas this used to be left to government officials.

This is not a bad thing in itself. But if the bureaucrats are forced to prep the politicos through every step, there is no political initiative in the truest sense of the term.

The bureaucrats' key function is to figure out what can be done for immediate issues at hand and come up with policy alternatives.

But no bureaucrat can perform any impressive work in an environment where they are always expected to only make decisions that are certain to please their bosses, nor if they are overworked and drained of energy.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 8

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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