Japan's Disposable Workers

“The cause of my depression is definitely overwork.” wrote Naoya Nishigaki, 28, on his blog.

“I can’t do anything. I just feel irritated, exhausted, and disgusted. I try to suppress these feelings with medication, but I feel like my medication has become less and less effective lately. I’m so worried. What should I do?”

Naoya committed “karojishi” or suicide caused by overwork.

Karojishi has become widespread among Japan’s white collar salarymen. Salarymen devote long work hours and loyalty to companies in exchange for a lifetime of employment and benefits. But with the recession of the 1990s, they increasingly must work arduous hours for fear of losing their jobs.

Working essentially two shifts a day for weeks a time leads frequently to feelings of depression, something that is still stigmatized in Japan. Therefore, many hide their suffering from coworkers and even family members. This secrecy often exacerbates the loneliness and creates further isolation from society.

Net Cafe Refugees

The first time Fumiya slept at an internet cafe, other people’s snoring and footsteps kept him awake most of the night. Ten months have passed and he now sleeps with a blanket over his face to block out the constant glare of the fluorescent lights. Living at the internet cafe is “not so bad,” he says.

Internet cafes have existed in Japan for well over a decade, but in the mid 2000s, customers found a new use for these spaces: living quarters. As a result, cafes are now equipped with showers and laundry service, all reasonably priced for overnight users.

“Internet cafe refugees,” as they are called by the media, are mostly temporary employees. Their salary is too low to rent their own apartments.

The 26 year old estimates that it would take two to five years to save enough money for a rental. His job is too unstable to plan ahead. “We need a place like an internet cafe. Without it, there would be many more people who have jobs but no homes.”

Dumping Ground

Kamagasaki, Osaka, Japan used to be a thriving day laborer’s town. Today, it is home to approximately 25,000 unemployed and elderly men, many of whom are also homeless.

Alcoholism, poverty, suicide, Tuberculosis and, most of all, loneliness prevail here. These men don’t have family ties. They live and die as social outcasts from the mainstream “salaryman” culture.

“They are stuck in the middle.They are too old for this work but too young to get government assistance. No work, nowhere to go, and nobody to rely on. Some guys just kill themselves. I understand the feeling.” Says Yasuo Miyake, 65, a former construction worker currently living on government assistance.

“Everyday is a matter of life and death.When it gets cold, I see somebody frozen to death almost everyday. They drink cheap sake and lay down and die. The only comfort I have is that I’m not going to starve to death because of charity.“ says Toshio Fukushima,73.

Published: May 19th, 2014

Credits

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Commissioned by

MediaStorm

A film by

Shiho Fukada

Director, Producer, Photography & Video

Brian Storm | MediaStorm

Executive Producer & Producer

Eric Maierson | MediaStorm

Editor & Producer

Arkasha Stevenson | MediaStorm

Associate Producer

Joe Fuller | MediaStorm

Motion Graphics

Recognition

Emmy
Year: 2015
Place: Nominee
Category: New Approaches: Current News Coverage

World Press Photo Multimedia
Year: 2015
Place: 3rd
Category: Long Feature

The Goal

The goal of this project was to create a three-part documentary based on Shiho Fukada's portrait series, Japan's Disposable Workers. The three sections are:

Overworked to Suicide

After the recession of the 1990s, Japan's white collar salarymen increasingly must work arduous hours for fear of losing their jobs. This often leads to depression and suicide.

Net Cafe Refugees

Internet cafes have existed in Japan for over a decade, but in the mid 2000's, customers began using these spaces as living quarters. Internet cafe refugees are mostly temporary employees, their salary too low to rent their own apartments.

Dumping Ground

Kamagasaki, Osaka, Japan used to be a thriving day laborer's town. Today, it is home to approximately 25,000 unemployed and elderly men, many of whom are also homeless.

The Challenge

There were three main challenges in producing this project. The first and most obvious was language. Shiho Fukada conducted more than a dozen interviews, all but one were in Japanese–a language no one in the company speaks. Further complicating the problem, the translations did not contain timecode so it was impossible for non-speakers to find specific clips.

The second issue concerned the length of the project. Shiho was extensive in collecting interviews. We needed to sift through all of the material to find the best bites. This challenge was intensified by the production’s time restraints.

Finally, Japan’s Disposable Workers was originally conceived as a portrait series. Much of the material, particularly the still photography, reflected that initial decision. We needed to find a way to translate the project into a video experience.

The Solution

To conquer the language barrier, Shiho translated all of interviews into English. This was done prior to the start of production so MediaStorm worked backwards from our normal workflow. Rather than obtaining timecode when creating the original transcript, the producer marked selects on text documents and then asked for timecode to the corresponding bites. Further, the producer created Premiere Pro subtitles so that Shiho, also working in Premiere Pro, could attach them to the proper bites for easier comprehension and usability.

MediaStorm and Shiho began a conversation at the start of production regarding which subjects were best suited for the documentary version of this project. This discussion continued through the production of each of the three chapters. Our decisions were based on several factors: reading and discussing transcripts to determine the most compelling subjects, how the characters played off of each other to illustrate different aspects of the story, and which video and photography assets were available for each interview.

Finally, because Japan’s Disposable Workers was originally created as a portrait series, many of the subjects were not documented with video, other than an interview. This enabled the MediaStorm team to think less literally about the project’s visuals. We utilized Shiho’s elegant video of salarymen and their travels to and from work to help offset a lack of specific imagery. This resulted in a more lyrical storytelling style.

About The Client

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an innovative award-winning non-profit journalism organization dedicated to supporting the independent international journalism that U.S. media organizations are increasingly less able to undertake. The Center focuses on under-reported topics, promoting high-quality international reporting and creating platforms that reach broad and diverse audiences.