Work Till Die

WHAT A narrative installation raising awareness and inviting discussion about the gruelling office hours that are the norm in Japan and the phenomenon of ‘karoshi’: death from overwork. WHY “When you’re at the office 20 hours a day, you don’t even know what you’re living for anymore,” tweeted Matsuri Takahashi, a young woman who worked at a top Japanese advertising agency. She killed herself a week later. It’s one of too many similar stories. HOW Sayo Kato came up with a plan to address this issue. What if employees could empower themselves by conveying Matsuri’s Twitter posts for all to see, via the façade of her huge former office building simply by moving the window blinds to form the letters and words?