I’m Japanese, so if I was the Prime Minister for one day, I would want to change the Japanese work system. Compared with the Australian work system, the Japanese work system is not good. People who work in Australia have something that is not common in Japan, so I feel cool about the Australian work style; they don’t have stress. Conversely, they have fun in their job. It is so amazing. If I think carefully, sometimes, this situation can be seen in Japan, but usually, people who work in Japan don’t have fun in their job. The main reasons are long work hours, low salary, and high tax and so on. The Japanese work system is so terrible, most people overwork in Japan. If such a situation continues, Japanese companies will fall down suddenly, and a lot of Japanese young people will die from overwork. I hope this wouldn’t happen, because I have to work in Japan when I go back. When I think about that, this work would exhaust me. That’s why I hope that the Japanese work system will change to be more like Australian. By doing so, the environment might become a little better. So, if I was the Prime Minister for one day, I would absolutely change the work system in Japan, and I hope that the Japanese work system gets better and better.
Kengo, Intermediate Class B
I think so, too. But it is a fact that the economic power of Japan has been achieved by workaholics.My husband was a typical Japanese businessman. He worked till midnight and went out on weekends because of playing golf with clients. He couldn’t afford to reflect his family, so we had a little conversation at home. It isn’t good. Family is the most important. Now the Japanese work system is changing little by little, but it will be difficult to introduce changes quickly because the thinking “Diligence is virtue” is deeply rooted in the minds of the Japanese even now.