Japan’s live-to-work culture definitely has its many advantages as evidenced primarily by its supremely advanced society especially in the field of technology. But success is not without its price as alongside this seemingly ideal picture is the ugly truth of what Japanese workers have to go through everyday: overexhaustion to the point of suicide. When a woman killed herself in 2015 due to overwork, it sent shock throughout the globe which began to question Japan’s stiff discipline when it comes to work and school which may be bordering on inhumanity.

On the other hand, its Southeast Asian neighbour Vietnam also takes pride in being a country of hardworking people, but one with more balance and humanity as it takes into consideration the welfare of its employees more than, or at least in the same line as, its work output. While Japan burns out its workers, Vietnam allows long lunches and even naps in schools and in offices in order to get that much-needed rest. Vietnamese institutions believe that when people are well-rested, they can function more efficiently and even enjoy what they are doing, be it work or school.

When Vietnamese employees need to work overtime, they are well-compensated by their companies. In contrast, Japanese employers view this as inefficiency on the part of their personnel and do not pay them for working overtime. Women labourers in Vietnam can enjoy an average of 26 weeks of maternity and child-care leave. This is double the length of time anywhere else in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency.

Japan is undoubtedly among the world’s most successful and powerful nations because of its exceptional work ethics. But considering its alarming number of worn out, dead-tired employees, how many more suicides will it take before it realizes that it takes a balance of work and rest to achieve the best possible efficiency in the office or at school? After all, workers are only humans and not machines, needing a break from time to time in order to appreciate their work even more.