Workaholism: A National Syndrome?

When an American president takes a vacation, his assistants usually emphasize to news reporters the work that he does during his vacation. In contrast, when the prime minister of Japan took a vacation a while ago, his aides emphasized to the press that his purpose was relaxation-no work at all. In Japan's newspapers and on radio and TV, the press reported the prime minister's activities during his time off : He went to parties, took walks in the forest, read books, and played golf and tennis.
Many Japanese do not seem to think that leisure is important ; they take their jobs so seriously that they are sometimes considered the world's greatest workaholics. Labor statistics show that the average Japanese worker puts in about 2,150 hours a year at work. In the United States, the average worker puts in about 1,900 hours a year. In Germany, the figure is about 1,610. In Japan, the six-day work week is common, and many people stay on the job until 10.30 or 11:00 each night. Many people, especially employers, do not take their annual vacations. In most of the world, people believe that leisure time  is an important part of life. But for many Japanese "leisure" is not "a time for relaxation, away from work", as it is in most countries; they see it as a waste of time.
By talking a truly leisurely vacation, the prime minister was basically telling the people of Japan,"It's okay to relax and to enjoy yourselves." This was an important lesson for two main reasons. First, leisure is important for emotional and physical health and for a happy family life. Second,leisure is important for the Japanese economy, which exports more than it imports. If the people of Japan work less and spend more, there will be a better balance of exports and imports.
It will be interesting to see if there is a true change in the Japanese attitude to work and leisure. Some people believe that nothing will really change; they say that Japanese workaholics of the future might seem to be relaxing when they are actually working, in the same way that they do these days. For example, businessmen of today often spend late nights at nightclubs, where they eat and drink and have a good time; however, the main purpose of these evenings on the town is to discuss business. Another activity that allows businesspeople to appear to relax while they are actually discussing business is golf. Some people say that the Japanese seem to work very hard at relaxing!