Remember when you were younger one of your parents said “Get up off your butt and do something. Hard work never killed anyone.” Well, according to the Japanese, it has.
According to the Aichi Labor Bureau in Japan, the man who died was aged 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota’s Camry. In the two months up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month. It appears that this phenomenon in Japan is called “karoshi” and such deaths have steadily increased since the Japanese Health Ministry first recognized the phenomenon in 1987.
Now as a follower of golf, I think that to keep the American workforce healthy, we need to play more golf and spend less time in the office. Based on these findings from the Japanese Labor Bureau, there is quantifiable justification for playing more golf. A dead employee is not a productive employee.
The next time that your boss asks you to work overtime, just point out that poor Toyota engineer and he may even set up your tee time.

Bruce Stasch, a self-described guru of golf gear, operates two online golf stores and Golf Gear News, a podcast providing thelatest news, interviews, info and tips. Here you'll find insight into the game that you don't find in the mainstream golf media. Expect him to talk about equipment, club building, gear and other weirdness that is the game of golf. He has played the game for more than 10 years and gives himself at least two mulligans per round.
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