In Japan working yourself to death is so common they even have a name for it - karoshi. Now the government is trying to cut the number of people who drop dead at their desks by making holidays compulsory. Laws currently being debated in the Japanese parliament will make it illegal not to take at least five days of holiday a year. A survey by the country's labour ministry in 2013 found employees only took nine out of their allotted 18.5 days of holiday. Another poll, according to the Japan Times, found one in six workers took no paid holiday at all. Scroll down for video . These so called 'salarymen' or office ladies fear resentment from their colleagues if they take days off, a real concern in a conformist culture that values harmony . The same workers clock up punishingly long hours with 22 per cent of Japanese working more than 49 hours a week, compared with 16 per cent of Americans and 11 per cent of French and Germans, according to data compiled by the Japanese government. These so called 'salarymen' or office ladies fear resentment from their colleagues if they take days off, a real concern in a conformist culture that values harmony. A video showing the brutal reality of a Tokyo 'salaryman' doing 80 hour working week recently went viral on YouTube, scoring 738,630 views. Japanese workers pack the subway - 22 per cent of Japanese work more than 49 hours a week . In it a 24-year-old man named Stuart, who works for a financial company, films himself rushing to squeeze in time to eat, shower and sleep, in between clocking up 78 hours at work in six days. He said: 'There are definitely people in Tokyo who do this all year round in order to support their families. I couldn't imagine having to do this if I had those kinds of responsibilities as well. 'Compared to my experiences in the UK, the management style here seems to focus slightly more on hours actually spent in the office, as opposed to actual work output. 'As a result you begin to create a level of inefficiency whereby employees will know how much work they need to do in a day, and spread this out over say 12 hours, instead of getting the work done in 8 and going home.' College-educated  Eriko Sekiguchi, 36, who works for a major trading company, used just eight of her 20 paid vacation days last year. Six of those days were for being sick. She told the Associated Press: 'Nobody else uses their vacation days'. But this strict work ethic is coming at a terrible cost, with record numbers of Japanese workers suffering stress-related illness, premature death and suicide. If the law is passed more Japanese will be taking holidays in popular destinations like Hawaii . According to official data, about 200 people die every year from heart attacks, strokes and other karoshi events brought on by punishing work schedules. Japanese must use their vacations for sick days, although a separate law guarantees two-thirds of their wages if they get seriously ill and take extended days off. That means workers save two or three vacation days for fear of catching a cold or some other minor illness so they can stay home, said Yuu Wakebe, the Health and Labor Ministry official overseeing such standards. Wakebe himself routinely does 100 hours of overtime a month, and took only five days off last year, one of them for staying home with a cold, but he managed to get away to Hawaii with his family. Stuart, who works for a financial company, films himself rushing to squeeze in time to eat, shower and sleep, in between clocking up 78 hours at work in six days . 'It is actually a worker's right to take paid vacations,' he said. 'But working in Japan involves quite a lot of a volunteer spirit.' The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is not known for taking long vacations. Yet even he has spoken out against the unreasonable demands companies place on their employees. Japan's working culture, Abe said recently, 'falsely beatifies long hours'. By the end of the decade, the government hopes it will push Japanese employees towards following the example set by British workers, who use an average of 20 days' paid annual leave . In a speech to the OECD in Paris last year he said: 'We must reform the work style that places importance on the amount of time spent working, an orientation created by men. We will press forward in reviewing the system of labor that gives consideration to the work-life balance.' Japan's working culture,  'falsely beatifies long hours' according to PM Shinzo Abe . The new law will allow for more flexible work hours, encouraging parents to spend more time with their children during summer months, for instance, when school is closed. By the end of the decade, the government hopes it will push Japanese employees towards following the example set by British workers, who use an average of 20 days' paid annual leave, and those in France, who take an average of 25. Cary Cooper, a British psychologist and professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School said the law was a 'really good idea.' He added: 'We don't have a word for death by overwork. The fact the Japanese do - karoshi - show how much of a problem it is. 'The Japanese work culture is really messed up. They work long hours and have really long commutes. They have been a nation of workaholics since WWII. They were proud of it,  but it has a human cost. 'Their healthy diet with a lot of fish oil means they should not have heart problems, but record numbers are dying from heart disease caused by stress. They are also suffering depression and anxiety caused by overwork. The suicide rates are also significantly high. 'The Japanese government now sees the cost in human health and life and have decided to tackle it. The common view is working a lot and not taking holidays is macho but the government is saying we don't think that is OK and there are consequences. 'I think if the law is past people will obey it because the Japanese tend to be sticklers for rules. 'Even if it is not passed, it is important people are talking about it.'
Law being debated by Japanese parliament to ban taking less than five days holiday a year . Survey by Japan's labour ministry in 2013 found employees only took nine out of their allotted 18.5 days of holiday . 'Salarymen' or office ladies fear being ostracised by colleagues . Around 200 people die every year from heart attacks, strokes brought on by punishing work schedules .