The Monday Blues: 45% of Japanese People “Unhappy” With 10-Day Holiday

Malaysians live for public holidays. With 15 such occasions peppered throughout the year, we make the most our time off from work as it is – but we’re always hungry for more, as evidenced by the calls for a public holiday whenever Malaysia reaches, and definitely if we win, a big badminton final.

On the other hand, Japan is well known for the industriousness of its people – overwork is very much a part of Japanese culture, and despite some efforts to curb the phenomenon following a spate of deaths caused by overwork, it continues even today. Even so, the industriousness of the Japanese remains something of a cultural marvel, and countries worldwide look to elements of their culture as a model of an ideal society. The truth is, a lot of this comes down to the mindset!

Recently, Japan announced an unprecedented 10-day holiday in conjunction with Golden Week, an existing series of public holidays, and the transfer of power from Emperor Akihito to Crown Prince Naruhito. The imperial transition adds an additional two days to Golden Week, and in the middle of this long break, the Japanese are busy wondering – when do we go back to work?

Japan kicked off an unprecedented 10-day holiday, including celebration days for the imperial transition, as airports were packed with record travellers while people queued at teller machines in the cash-dominated nation https://t.co/451XeS63iE

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 27, 2019

According to a survey by the Asahi Shimbun daily and as reported by MSN, 45 percent of Japanese “felt unhappy” about the long vacation!

The report states that these dissenters include people who are worried about the burden on public and medical services, as well as those looking at expensive childcare costs while they work through the holiday period. With only 35% of Japanese reporting they were happy with the long holiday, it seems like having too much of a good thing can make it a bad thing!

We don’t know about you, but as long as it isn’t a regular occurrence we’d definitely be enjoying the time off! Would you be itchy to get back to work after a 10-day holiday?

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