“I’ll abandon work-life balance.”

That was Japan’s new far-right Prime Minister’s victory speech vow.

Sanae Takaichi was talking about how she’d lead her own party. Not reform the nation’s notoriously long work weeks.

But the comments still let loose a pretty big backlash .

Sounds like overkill, right? Well, when you look at what followed in her first few weeks in office, probably not.

Weeks later, Takaichi summoned her team for a meeting. With a casual 3 a.m. calltime. She also urged her labor minister to relax the rules on overtime work.

So this is about more than just talking points. And there’s another reason it’s hitting a nerve.

Behind Japan’s legendary work ethic lurks a dark secret.

For decades, the country has been plagued by people driven to an early death by the stre

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