For decades, Japanese working culture was notorious for the long hours put in by company employees. But in recent years, there has been numerous efforts to combat this culture of overworking. In August 2019, Microsoft conducted an experiment in its Japanese offices where it gave every one of their 2,300 employees Friday off. And days ago, they announced that this caused worker productivity to increase by 40%. Yet in a society where hard work and devotion to one’s company has long been the norm.