The coronavirus outbreak is forcing Japan to examine some of its longest-held aspects of workplace culture, in a country where spending long hours in the office is still regarded as crucial to success.
Authorities have urged companies to break long-standing taboos and encourage their employees to work from home to curb the spread of the virus, and Prime Minster Shinzo Abe’s call Thursday to shut down schools across the country will likely force millions of parents into a work-from-home experiment the country’s firms are ill-prepared for.
