[jaipilot747]

For all it's outdatedness, Japan is changing (slowly) [1]. The government is instituting new laws that give employees more free time to spend their money. Though it is partially an economy reviving measure for the government, I already see employers setting (sane) hard limits on overtime and pushing employees to use 100% of their paid leave. (Most employees use paid leave very minimally because they don't want to "cause trouble" to their fellow employees who have to cover for them working while they are on leave)

[1] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japan-three-day...