The effects of working culture on work-life balance: The case of Japan

As today, where work, employment and labor processes operate within the capitalist system, it is clear that this process has a global impact. Work, employment and labor processes in the capitalist cycle of Western societies are similar to those in Japan. However, in Japan, there is a different process than the usual processes of capitalism. In Japan, this process takes place on a cultural basis. Therefore, in the context of work culture, Japan comes first among other countries that need to be specifically examined for work-life balance. Because, when work-life balance cannot be achieved, various results arise in the individual, social and family context. In this direction, the aim of this study is to examine the effect of work culture on work-life balance specific to Japan. As method, the literature on the subject was reviewed and the analysis of secondary data between the years 2000-2018 was taken as reference. Accordingly, the prominent issues in the context of work and work-life balance in Japan are gender inequality, long working hours, workaholism, karoshi and karojisatsu cases. As a result of this study, the effects of work culture on work-life balance with particulur in Japan, and the theory of spillover (overflow) in the context of work and employment; In the context of family and life, it has been concluded that it is seen as a reflection of the conflict theory.