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, which can be translated literally as "death from overwork" in Japanese, is occupational sudden death. The major medical causes of ''karōshi'' deaths are heart attack and stroke due to stress and a starvation diet. ==History== The first case of ''karōshi'' was reported in 1969 with the stroke-related death of a 29-year-old male worker in the shipping department of Japan's largest newspaper company.〔http://www.workhealth.org/whatsnew/lpkarosh.html〕 It was not until the later part of the 1980s, during the Bubble Economy, however, when several high-ranking business executives who were still in their prime years suddenly died without any previous sign of illness, that the media began picking up on what appeared to be a new phenomenon. This new phenomenon was quickly labeled "''karōshi''" and was immediately seen as a new and serious menace for people in the work force. In 1987, as public concern increased, the Japanese Ministry of Labour began to publish statistics on ''karōshi''. Japan's rise from the devastation of World War II to economic prominence in the post-war decades has been regarded as the trigger for what has been called a new epidemic. It was recognized that employees cannot work for 12 or more hours a day, 6–7 days a week, year after year, without suffering physically as well as mentally. It is common for the overtime to go unpaid.〔(Japanese salarymen fight back ) ''The New York Times'' - Wednesday, June 11, 2008〕〔(Recession Puts More Pressure on Japan's Workers ) Business Week, January 5, 2009〕 In an International Labour Organization article about ''karōshi'',〔(Case Study: Karoshi: Death from overwork )〕 the following four typical cases of ''karōshi'' were mentioned: # Mr. A worked at a major snack food processing company for as long as 110 hours a week (not a month) and died from a heart attack at the age of 34. His death was recognized as work-related by the Labour Standards Office. # Mr. B, a bus driver, whose death was also recognized as work-related, worked more than 3,000 hours a year. He did not have a day off in the 15 years before he had a stroke at the age of 37. # Mr. C worked in a large printing company in Tokyo for 4,320 hours a year including night work and died from a stroke at the age of 58. His widow received workers’ compensation 14 years after her husband’s death. # Ms. D, a 22-year-old nurse, died from a heart attack after 34 hours of continuous duty five times a month. As well as physical pressure, mental stress from the workplace can cause ''karōshi''. People who commit suicide due to mental stress are called “''karōjisatsu'' (過労自殺).” The ILO also lists some causes of overwork or occupational stress that include the following: # All-night, late-night or holiday work, both long and excessive hours. During the long-term economic recession after the collapse of the bubble economy in the 1980s and 1990s, many companies reduced the number of employees. The total amount of work, however, did not decrease, forcing each employee to work harder. # Stress accumulated due to frustration at not being able to achieve the goals set by the company. Even in economic recession, companies tended to demand excessive sales efforts from their employees and require them to achieve better results. This increased the psychological burden placed on the employees at work. # Forced resignation, dismissal, and bullying. For example, employees who worked for a company for many years and saw themselves as loyal to the company were suddenly asked to resign because of the need for staff cutbacks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Karōshi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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