Death from overwork. This is a cause of death on a certificate.

What a Japanese person actually thinks
Genuinely upsetting to read on a person. This is not a hustle-culture badge; it names a national tragedy that families campaign about. Wearing it reads as either ignorance or very dark humour.

Meaning

Literally: excessive + labour + death
Actually: Dying from overwork — heart failure, stroke, or suicide caused by extreme hours. A legally recognised category with a compensation system attached.

Scores

Naturalness●●●●●

Correct term, in constant use in labour reporting.

Coolness●●●●●

If the intended message was 'I work harder than you', this achieves it by naming a way to die.

Watch out

highBereaved families and labour lawyers use this word. Some readers will have lost someone to it.

Get this instead

刻苦勉励 kokku benrei
toiling to the bone at one's work

The classical idiom for extreme dedicated effort. All the grind, none of the death certificate.

On skin

過労死

Orientation: vertical

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