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Takarazuka group head to quit over actress' death but denies bullying

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Another morning of watching a table of oyajis apologising for a) doing nothing to prevent a preventable disaster, b) doing nothing about known cases of bullying, c) getting caught commuting a corporate crime of some kind, etc

This old dinosaur is unrepentant and close to retirement anyway, as if he cares about some unknown ant in his massive organisation.

-4 ( +8 / -12 )

caused by overworking and bullying by senior members of the group

the harsh scolding by senior members toward the actress as being within the scope of guidance, saying that it reflected "thinking based on outdated values" such as hierarchical relationships.

From school clubs to high profile companies... this is pretty much Japan in a nutshell.

Easy to ignore, slow to change.

S

-14 ( +11 / -25 )

The chairman of Japan's all-female musical theater company Takarazuka Revue said Tuesday he will step down over the recent death of one of its actresses,

oh, cool. Not suspicious at all.

Kenshi Koba apologized to the bereaved family of the 25-year-old actress at a press conference "for not being able to protect the life of your precious loved one,"

well, that should more than make up for it. Thanks Koba.

but said an external probe team set up to investigate her death has found no evidence of bullying.

sounds legit enough for me. Forget the cops or authorities, let’s just call it a non issue, because we said so.

-7 ( +6 / -13 )

Koba said he will resign on Dec 1 to take responsibility for the oversight in the group's duty of care.

Typical reaction from a Japanese business with the expectation that this will put the issue to bed

Guy is probably old enough that he would have been put out to pasture soon anyway!

-5 ( +10 / -15 )

From school clubs to high profile companies... this is pretty much Japan in a nutshell.

Easy to ignore, slow to change.

yup! bullying here is as Japanese as sushi.

-12 ( +11 / -23 )

Cases of bullying and Harassment are easy to ignore, and often go unnoticed at work places in Japan unless something tragic like this happens. Since most of it ranges from passive aggressiveness to work overloads it can be hard detect, but it's a sad reality happening at work places in Japan everyday and none seems to really care.

4 ( +9 / -5 )

denies bullying

They denied sexual abuse at Jonny's too, but it was happening! They seem to deny bullying everywhere in Japan, but it is happening everywhere! It is just not possible for such bitchy organization to exist without bullying!

-5 ( +7 / -12 )

I'm pleasantly surprised to see that the lawyer defending the bullied member is Hiroshi Kawahito, who has been battling this kind of abuse for decades now. He wrote the book Karoshi ("dying from overwork"), which popularized that word worldwide (along with karo-jisatsu "suicide from overwork") after successfully suing Dentsu when that company drove 24-year-old employee Ichiro Oshima to suicide from overwork and sleep deprivation.

Mr. Kawahito is one of Japan's most tireless defenders of the oppressed worker and we need a hundred more just like him.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

If you live long enough in Japan you will perceive this group for what it is: a cult.

Same faces, haircut, clothes, barely allowed to talk to anyone outside of their clique, these shows in the West are brought by people with actual joy in their hearts and the show is how they express how they feel to the world but hey this is Japan, the western clothes and smiles on stage are as fake as the Renaissance paintings at your local Saizeriya.

-4 ( +7 / -11 )

Cases of bullying and Harassment are easy to ignore, and often go unnoticed at work places in Japan unless something tragic like this happens.

Not so easy to ignore when you are the target! And dont think for a second that coworkers are unaware either. People KNOW.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Everyone that put the boot in and degraded this young girl with their mean spirited and cruel hearted traditional form of ‘Shido’ ( basically berating someone and making them feel useless and stupid with zero follow up ) well, you now all have her blood on your hands. Take that with you to your own graves, carry that collective burden together because you all deserve it. Minna gambarimashitane.

Its just sad that it takes a tragedy for any form of self reflection to occur within these ‘organizations’. Everyone knew something was wrong of course, just no one bothered to make that first move. Japan in a nutshell.

Well, now they really know the dire consequences of their actions or lack there of.

RIP young lady.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

this have never happened but again...bowing comedy...silly and pathetic.

boycott that theater.

let me learn hard way through their pockets.

Folks understand the sentiment, but never gonna happen here!

0 ( +5 / -5 )

So we have Takarazuka and Johnny's with suicidal tendencies. Nothing to see here. No pattern at all. I would probably do myself in too if I was abused by these pedo ojisans.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Her overtime far exceeds what I have ever worked in one month. I found early on that overwork immediately depresses me and causes health problems and I adjusted accordingly and prrhaps lost opportunities that I was not suited for.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

But Kawahito said the report had underestimated the overtime the actress had clocked in the last month before her death at 118 hours.

Her family asserts that excessive overtime of 277 hours per month and bullying had compromised her health and led to her suicide.

277 hours of overtime is nearly 9 hours a day every day. Or more likely, 14 hours on 8 or so days off and 5 or 6 extra hours a day on the remaining 20 odd work days.

Even 120 as the company admits will be brutal.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

The company should be tried for the death of the worker for unacceptable working conditions and abuse.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

The overtime schedule for this young lady was more than brutal, and I wonder if any of the so-called management ever put in these types of hours?...No, of course not, it was for their minions only. For some one this young to tragically take her own life, things must have been very dire, and there was NO ONE in that company who bothered or cared to listen to her. And I bet the one at the top who is retiring will get a handsome pay off and good pension. What will her parents get??

3 ( +5 / -2 )

SOP (and not only in Japan)..... run away, to take responsibility.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

good old Japan... these revered groups can get away with murder -- often literally -- by setting up their own investigations or panels and of course find in favor of themselves. Doesn't matter if it's a kid being beaten to death with bottles in Sumo or things like this. If I'm wrong, pres tel who set up the panel that found no bullying? Who were the panel members and from what background? Who paid for the investigation?

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

But Kawahito said the report had underestimated the overtime the actress had clocked in the last month before her death at 118 hours.

Her family asserts that excessive overtime of 277 hours per month and bullying had compromised her health and led to her suicide.

Even if the former is true, and I'll bet it's somewhere between the former and the latter, it's against the Japan Labor standards law, and they have a right to file a claim against the group and have them investigated.

It's a difficult assertion to prove as there are more than likely no "time cards" and it comes down to a "he said/she said" thing that a judge will probably end up deciding, if it gets that far.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Her overtime far exceeds what I have ever worked in one month. I found early on that overwork immediately depresses me and causes health problems and I adjusted accordingly and prrhaps lost opportunities that I was not suited for.

@Redemption - Certainly, and I think it's the sleep deprivation that increases the depression to a suicidal, no-point-in-living level. That's how it was for me when I was a young salaryman working those hours more than 20 years ago. (In fact, it's what got me to join Japan Today and start commenting: there was a story about Ichiro Oshima's family hiring Mr. Kawahito and suing Dentsu for about 100 million yen and I spoke up in defense of the thousands of other young men just like Oshima who were being exploited every day. At the time, it was unheard of for young women to be forced to work those hours, but as we now see, in the exploitative entertainment industry, no one is spared.)

There's something deeply depressing about finishing a day of work and knowing that even if you bathe and climb into the futon the moment you get home, you still won't be fully refreshed when you have to get up and do it all again the next day. I remember my alarm waking me up on Monday morning and realizing that as tired as I was right then, it's more energy than I'll have at any point for the next five days. Why push through the next five days? Why push through one more day? I'm very happy to see the recent reforms that are attempting to limit overtime hours per month, but I'd like to see more specific requirements that guarantee employees the right to get enough sleep every single day.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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