Japanese workers' homicidal thoughts

Japan has witnessed a proliferation of what are known as "black companies". Photo / 123RF

More than one-quarter of the Japanese workers taking part in a survey admitted that the thought of killing their boss had crossed their mind on at least one occasion, underlining the stresses that employees in Japan are often under.

Of the 1006 men and women aged between 20 and 69 who responded to the survey by Shirabee, 27 per cent confessed to having had homicidal thoughts towards a superior - with younger people in particular expressing sympathy for the frustrations and anger that are apparently bubbling just beneath the surface in many Japanese companies.

"I would never kill anyone, but I can understand why so many people are driven to the brink by the way they are treated by their companies", said Mayao Shibata, a translator from Tokyo.

"I worked part-time in a high-end bistro in central Tokyo for a while and the manager was himself a frustrated 30-something employee who simply did not like me because I was at a good university and going places," she told the Daily Telegraph.

"He made my life miserable. Nothing I ever did was good enough. If he treated a man like that, then I can imagine things could get violent."

She added: "I think that part of the problem in both Japanese companies and society in general is that there is too much respect for seniority that is based on age rather than ability."

Makoto Watanabe, a senior lecturer in communications at Hokkaido Bunkyo University, said "too many old people refuse to retire because their entire identities and lives are wrapped up in their jobs".

He said Japan had also witnessed a proliferation of what are known as "black companies", which pay poorly, fail to provide health or insurance coverage and force staff to put in hours that are beyond the legal limits.

"These people [staff] are really being abused", said Watanabe. "They are paid badly, work in dangerous environments and have bad bosses, so in many ways it is a surprise that only 27 per cent of people say they want to kill their boss."

In March, police in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, arrested a 21-year-old part-time worker at a bedroom furnishing warehouse on suspicion of setting the building on fire. Firefighters 31 hours to control the blaze, although there were no casualties. Satoru Sunaga admitted arson and said he started the fire "to relieve stress", Fuji TV reported.