TOKYO (TR) – Wednesday marks nine years since Matsuri Takahashi, a new employee at advertising giant Dentsu, committed suicide due to overwork.
It has been 10 years since a law came into effect to prevent death from overwork. Now, Takahashi’s mother, Yukimi, is calling for the government to seriously listen to the opinions of the bereaved families and review its measures.
Takahashi took her life due to overwork on December 25, 2015. To mark ninth anniversary of her death, Sachimi published a memoir.
In it, Yukimi writes, “Matsuri joined Dentsu with hope. This year would be her tenth with the company. She might have worked hard to become a role model for junior employees. I am so frustrated when I think, ‘Since she worked so hard and lived so well, I definitely wanted her to be happy.’”
She goes on, “This year marks the tenth year since the Law to Prevent Death from Overwork came into effect. Even now, people still get sick from work, and people die from overwork. In particular, workers’ compensation claims for mental illness are increasing every year and are more than double the number from the year my daughter died. What is the government lacking in its measures to prevent death from overwork? How can they eliminate death from overwork? I want the government to seriously listen to the opinions of us bereaved families and review its measures.”
She continues, “The nine years without Matsuri were also nine years that we walked with her. I hope that this will become a country where everyone can work with peace of mind and live their lives with hope, and I will do my best together with Matsuri to achieve this.”
