‘Work, Work, Work’ Stops at 60 in Japan. It Shouldn’t
Takaichi says she gets by on two hours sleep a night.
Photographer: Kyodo/Getty
After being elected head of Japan’s ruling party, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s pledge to “work, work, work, work, work” for the people made such an impact that, even in a nation known for toiling hard, it was voted “buzzword of the year.”
It’s ironic, then, that she heads a country that often denies many older workers the opportunity to fully contribute. I am, fortunately, some way off having to think about retirement. But it’s been shocking to me that friends only a little older, in their early 50s, are already reflecting on winding down. The reason is that many Japanese companies still enforce some form of semi-retirement at the age of just 60 that shunts employees into lower-paid positions.