Abstract

Since the 2000s, there has been a growing movement in Japan to review ways of working. Recently, companies have been making efforts to create “better work environments” in the name of work–life balance, diversity management, and work style reform. The focus of many such efforts is the active participation of women in the workforce. In post-war Japanese companies, the main focus of human resource management has been primarily focused on the work styles of male employees, who are less hesitant to work long hours. Thus, reviewing the work styles that have been supported to date is essential to create a workplace in which female workers can actively participate. In the wake of the growing movement to review work styles in Japan is a declining birth rate and an ageing population. This is particularly severe in rural areas, where there is an outflow of people to urban areas. An important factor contributing to the declining birth rate is the reality of long working hours typical for Japan’s regular white-collar workers—the focus of this study.