The National Diet of Japan passed a new work-hours law on Friday that limits overtime work to less than 100 hours a week and fewer than 720 hours a year in response to the mounting concern on “karoshi”, or death from overwork.

Long working hours are often more of a custom than business necessity, and Japan is not alone in facing this problem in East Asia. Many countries are long grappled for changes and maybe is time for us to rethink the relationship between long working hours and productivity.