In Japan it's very important to respect social rules and norms and work as hard as possible to achieve the best possible result. It is not so easy to overcome the well established rules and social norms if one wants to continue being a part of society, as they say.
Japan is also famous for its sophisticated and high aesthetic criteria, superb quality of services and overall dedication to perfectionism. Living in Japan is a luxury to the eyes and senses but also frees one from having to worry about belated trains, being tricked with bad services etc. But such a state of "perfection" in the way that everything works or looks, of course has its price. People have to work as much as possible, there is a word for death from overworking (karoshi or 過労死) and it's not so easy to escape one's prescribed "route" or role in life, even if one feels under extreme pressure.
Living in Japan as a foreigner of course is easier, as the Japanese are forgiving of foreigners' various social faux pas and thus it's almost impossible to experience pressure the way the Japanese are experiencing it.
As a result of this pressure on the Japanese individual, sensationalist coverage of "glorified" death by the media and other reasons, Japan is known to have one of the world's highest suicide rates. These and other suicide facts on Japan explained in this excellent documentary that provokes a lot of thought:
"Saving 10.000- 自殺者１万人を救う戦い" was nominated for 12 film festival awards and was also screened in the Japanese parliament as part of their 2013 suicide prevention campaign. The documentary's official site is http://www.Saving10000.com
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