The unemployment rate in Japan remains at a disturbingly high level of more than 5 percent, although the overall economy shows some signs of recovery. Particularly hard hit are workers in their 40s and 50s, who continue to bear the brunt of corporate restructuring. Once out of work, those who have passed the "41-year-old threshold" find it extremely difficult to find a good job. Securing a position that pays nearly as much as before is almost impossible.

Layoffs, meanwhile, are causing a serious side effect for regular full-time workers: a rapid rise in overtime. This is true particularly for male workers in their 30s, who form the core of the workforce. The increase in overtime indicates that many companies, even while cutting jobs, are trying to trim the fat in a backhanded way.

Figures released last week by Rengo, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, are worrisome: One in five workers puts in more than 40 hours of overtime a month, pushing the total number of hours worked past 2,400 a year. For men in their early 30s, the ratio is even higher: one in four workers. And one in 30 of this overtime group works more than 3,000 hours a year, topping the limit set by the labor ministry for considering "karoshi," or overwork, as a possible cause of death.