A Postmodern Plague Ravages Japan's Workers

Now, why would such a sleepy town like Saku, Japan have such a high rate of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (aka M.E.)? Well, considering that fact that it is a ski town one would have to accept the fact that the town is probably blanketed in microwave antennas which are more than likely slowly cooking its population.




Saku Journal: A Postmodern Plague Ravages Japan's Workers

By HOWARD W. FRENCH
Published: February 21, 2000

The air is remarkably crisp in this town at the edge of Japan's ski country. The streets are uncluttered with traffic. And unlike in high-decibel Tokyo, the prevailing sound here is that of silence.

But for all its appearance as a haven of tranquillity, this city of 60,000 stands on the front lines of a stress-related condition that is quietly ravaging Japan.

When the Japanese government announced recently that one-third of the working-age population was suffering from chronic fatigue, few stress-haunted denizens of Tokyo, with its heavy overcrowding, unrelenting pace and impersonal nature, could have been taken aback.

What is far more surprising is that quiet little towns like these are being hit every bit as hard by a poorly understood condition that leaves many of its victims incapacitated for months or years on end.

In the hulking, modern general hospital at town's edge, 32 percent of the patients hospitalized in the internal medicine and psychology ward are being treated for chronic fatigue syndrome, a diagnosis that is made only after six months of severe, continuous fatigue in the absence of any known organic illness.

Many of them, indeed, are immediately recognizable by the heavy air of weariness that surrounds them as they slump in their seats, waiting to see their doctors in the ward.

''I could not even get up from my chair before my treatment,'' said Hiroaki Sugihara, 36, who was hospitalized here for three months recently. ''I was too tired to walk, and it was very difficult for me to get around, even in the house.''

With treatments of antidepressants, biofeedback and counseling, Mr. Sugihara has found his life slowly edging toward normality since, although he says he still lacks stamina. ''Of course I would like to become energetic again, but I don't think I will ever be able to work as hard,'' he said. ''I just want to be healthy.''

Mr. Sugihara's condition may have been related to the overwork that he said he once commonly engaged in as a freelance computer programmer. Indeed, during Japan's boom years, in the 1970's and 1980's, as many as 10,000 people were believed to die annually from ''karoshi,'' or overwork.

But doctors here say that the explosion of chronic tiredness and of chronic fatigue syndrome in particular is a distinctly postboom phenomenon. More complex than simple overwork, they say, it is increasingly associated with the stresses placed on this society since it began its dramatic economic slide more than 10 years ago.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the syndrome affects perhaps 4 to 8 percent of the population over 18. Its symptoms, which include weakness, profound lassitude, difficulty concentrating, insomnia and low-grade fever, remain equally unexplained.

But in Japan, where the condition appears to be far more prevalent, the experts lean toward explanations that emphasize societal mutations far more than their American counterparts.

''The number of patients like these is on the increase,'' said Dr. Toshiho Iida, a specialist in treating chronic fatigue syndrome at the hospital. ''As for the causes, they are many, but we think they have to do with the changes in Japanese society which have been accelerating in the last five or ten years.

''The changes range from eating habits, environmental problems, housing, and many other things too. In the urban areas, for example, people no longer know who lives next door to them anymore, and that produces stress.''

During Japan's economic downturn, many businessmen and workers have taken their change of fortune personally. Struggling against huge debts, many have found themselves working harder and harder to meet their commitments and maintain their living standards.

''Part of it is stress, part of it is depression-related, part of it may be caused by infection, and part of it is certainly overwork, because overwork is still rampant in Japan,'' said Dr. Masumi Minowa, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Public Health, whose recent random study of 4,000 people found that 35 percent had experienced chronic fatigue for at least six months.

Among the social factors that therapists and researchers are pointing to as potential contributing factors are family relationships, which are under great strain.

Grown children, with few job prospects are slower to leave the home. With a fast-aging population, more aged parents, too, must be cared for. And rather than committing themselves to the rat race their parents have known, many younger children are opting for unconventional lifestyles that involve far more attention to enjoyment and far less emphasis on hard work.

Satoe Yamada, 24, a rail-thin worker at a photo lab, described her condition -- which led to rapid weight loss, and left her with pronounced bags under her eyes -- as an onslaught of stress. Bit by bit, feeling exhausted by her contacts with others, she said she began to withdraw. Then, when she switched to a new job, where she was asked to work long hours, her bout began with chronic fatigue syndrome -- a condition she had never heard of.

''There were various problems at home,'' she said, not wishing to explain further. ''I was feeling stress from my family and friends. And I had a new job.

''I couldn't sleep even when I wanted to sleep. And the food I ate didn't seem to nourish me. I lost 10 pounds in two weeks.''