Employee Wellbeing & Corporate Mental Health in Japan
Why change is overdue—and where to start
As awareness of mental health in Japan slowly grows, individual counseling and psychotherapy—while still not covered by the national health insurance system—are becoming increasingly available. At the same time, Japanese companies are starting to address critical topics such as employee wellbeing and corporate mental health, recognizing that psychological strain doesn’t just affect individuals—it impacts entire teams and organizations.
Mental health issues among Japanese employees and the general population are rising, as confirmed by national data from the Japan Center for Economic Research and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. According to a national survey, over 54% of workers report being distressed by work. Diagnoses such as depression, anxiety disorders, and stress-related conditions continue to increase across both inpatient and outpatient settings.
Key contributing factors include:
Long working hours, with mental health risks rising significantly beyond 50 hours per week
Lack of autonomy in job roles and unclear task expectations
Poor communication or emotional distance from supervisors
These pressures are often intensified by deep-rooted cultural norms:
The ideal of gaman (enduring hardship), rigid hierarchical structures, and the persistent stigma around mental illness—often seen as personal weakness. As a result, many employees hesitate to seek professional help or even admit they are struggling.
In response, the Japanese government has implemented several measures:
Mandatory stress checks and access to physician consultations under the Industrial Safety and Health Act
Legal caps on overtime and increased compensation for extra hours under the Labour Standards Act
At the same time, a social shift is beginning to emerge. The trend of "quiet quitting"—doing only the bare minimum required at work—has gained traction, especially among younger professionals. This phenomenon, which can be seen as a psychological freeze response, reflects both a growing resistance to outdated workplace norms and an increasing awareness of mental health needs in Japan.
Moving Forward: What Companies Can Do
While these developments are a step in the right direction, most current initiatives still focus primarily on overwork prevention or passive stress monitoring. To reach the next level of corporate mental health in Japan, companies would do well to go further:
Create a self-care–friendly workplace culture that encourages openness and early intervention
Train leaders in empathetic, psychologically informed communication
Promote intercultural competence, especially in globalizing firms with international teams
In short, Japan would benefit from shifting from stigma to self-care—creating workplaces where talking about stress and mental health is not just allowed, but supported, before silent suffering leads to serious psychological issues.
This blog entry is a summary of a lecture given by Dr. Nicolas Dermota, PhD, on July 17, 2025, at the European Business Council in Toranomon, Tokyo.
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