This is kind of not surprising, I'm even seeing it here in the US in some very odd circumstances. One of my life long friends just took a job doing less work than his previous job, but pays more (higher profile company).

I worked full time at a law firm before getting my company off the ground and it was pure hell. I dreaded going in because while I got to enjoy smoke breaks, the entire time my work cell was going off, emails coming in, people needing more and more.

The work world is getting grueling. Whoever said this fast paced culture was right, but Japan isn't the only culture experiencing work-related jetlag. We're in an accelerated culture as well and we're working people into the ground, but paying them more to do it. I don't miss the 9-5 one bit.