Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[pikarin]

I know, Japan people often are said we work so hard all day and asked why we work so hard. I want to know what you think about this topic. Also I like working, (now I am student and have just a part-time job) because I can feel that I contribute to the company and belong to our society. I think most Japanese include me, like their work for same reason. Then, in Japan, we need a lot of money�because of high prices. If you want to live well in Japan, you have to work hard. Now, Japan is in dept to world for 800trillion!! I don�t want to believe it. So Japanese will continue to work so hard.

[Kitsune]

It's true, it takes a lot of money to live well in Japan. I know that the Japanese place greater importance on contributing to the group rather than to oneself. For what it's worth, I think this is commendable. Life is a great balancing act, as we all know, so it is good to determine the best way to balance work and leisure time. It's hard to figure out the best solution, and I think it is different for each person. However, I feel it is safe to generalize that the Japanese work too hard.
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