The Japanese government has recognized the suicide of a private school teacher as a work-related accident due to excessive working hours and inadequate break times.
In a significant ruling, the Japanese government has officially classified the 2018 suicide of a 39-year-old male teacher from Tamagawa Academy Elementary School in Machida City as a work-related accident. This decision follows revelations that the teacher endured long working hours, exceeding 98 hours of unpaid overtime per month, and was deprived of adequate break times, which were estimated to be almost nonexistent during school days. Initially, the Hachioji Labor Standards Inspection Office calculated the teacher's overtime just before his death to be only 61 hours per month and did not acknowledge the suicide as a work-related incident. Following pressure from the family, who filed a lawsuit requesting recognition of the case as a work-related accident, the government has since revised its assessment.
