TOKYO (TR) – Thursday marks ten years since Matsuri Takahashi, a brand new worker at promoting large Dentsu Inc., dedicated suicide, a case that was deemed karoshi (dying from overwork).
Her mom, Yukimi, despatched a message this week to precise her want that there can be no extra victims of dying from overwork.
“It’s Christmas 10 years since Matsuri passed away at the age of just 24 on Christmas morning, December 25, 2015. Ten years have passed since that day, and no matter how many seasons change, my time remains frozen on that day. No matter how much time passes, Matsuri is my precious, beloved daughter. Her sparkling smile, the warmth of her embrace as she said, ‘I love you, Mom,’ the time we climbed Mount Fuji together, and the time she took me out to dinner with him saying, ‘I hope Mom stays healthy forever’ — I never imagined I’d be visiting her, now cold and broken, 10 days later. Every time I think back to that day, my heart feels like it’s going to burst.
Ten years have not in any way healed the pain of losing my beloved daughter. In fact, the more time passes, the more I imagine Matsuri’s life as it should be, and the more painful it becomes.
Matsuri worked hard and lived a life to the fullest, despite her unfortunate circumstances. However, working at Dentsu, where she had joined with high hopes, turned out to be far more difficult than she had imagined. She was driven to the brink by sleepless nights and power harassment, and lost the strength to escape. In her final email, she wrote, ‘Goodbye, my beloved and precious mother. Thank you for everything. Everything is so hard, both at work and in life. Mom, don’t blame yourself. You’re the best mother ever.’
Dentsu says it is continuing to work to improve the working environment. It is heartbreaking to think that if improvements had been made while Matsuri was still alive, she might not have lost her life. I hope that Matsuri’s memory will not fade from memory, and that management will continue to respect the human rights of all employees and everyone involved with the company.
Japan has experienced a series of deaths from overwork for many years, leading to the enactment of the Act Promoting Measures to Prevent Death and Injury from Overwork in 2014 and the Work Style Reform Act in 2018, which regulates long working hours. However, there continues to be an end to people who, like Matsuri, are pushed to their limits by work and lose their lives. Karoshi occurs among young, healthy people, experienced people, and people in a variety of occupations. I hope that the entire country will carefully examine the structure of working styles and take measures to address why we are experiencing labor shortages, why we are working long hours, and how we can create healthy workplaces. I sincerely hope that work style reform will be further advanced, and that Japan will become a country where everyone can live their lives with hope. Matsuri’s death should have made people all over Japan realize this simple fact: Work should not take someone’s life.
On the 10th anniversary of her death, I once again express my strong wish. Please don’t let more people like Matsuri become victims of death from overwork. Please don’t let more people lose their precious family members like I did. Matsuri’s life cannot be brought back, but if her death is to be atonement, I think it will be a promise to create a society where the lives of working people are not taken. With the precious time I spent with Matsuri in my heart, I will continue to do my utmost to eradicate death from overwork, so that the future that Matsuri was unable to live will be a bright one.”