Taro was a nice boy. Though he was non-too good looking, he was very hardworking. He was all the Midori's and Mami's dream boy. Each time they looked at him, they see a house in a serene suburban area, perfectly dressed children, magazine potential kitchen where a woman could cook picture perfect meals. Most of all, these women could picture themselves going on shopping holidays in Ginza and London. It didn't matter that Taro was not in their fantasy, it was enough that he could get them to where they fantasized.
Sure enough, after he graduated from a top ranking university from Tokyo, Taro found a good stable job in a 156-year-old company that believed in lifetime employment. He opened a bank account with the company, bought insurance from the company, used company brand condoms, and when that did not work, enrolled his foetus in the company's pre-school.
Soon, he had saved and earned enough to afford a company loan for the purchase of a double storey home in Ichigawa, which was only a one-hour commute away from his workplace by train.
He continued to work from 8 am to 8 pm daily, followed by a bout of nominication with his colleagues and boss. When he finally reaches home on the last train at around midnight, a warm supper would always be waiting for him.
Midori was the perfect housewife. Not only did she prepare healthy meals for him, she also made him take the best food supplements available and energy drinks for breakfast. Because of her, he had never taken a day off sick. In fact with her support and encouragement, he was even turning up for work over the weekend.
One day, as he was about to climb the office staircase, his boss suddenly came crashing down on him, literally. They rushed the manager to the hospital. Two weeks later, the company came up with a new rule which stated that all employees are not allowed to work beyond eight hours a day, or over the weekend and holidays without prior approval from the direct supervisor, section manager, department manager and Human Resource Department. Apparently, Taro's manager had collapsed because of exhaustion and the company was forced to give him an early retirement as well as pay compensation to his family.
That first weekend, Taro realized that he didn't know what to do, so he scanned the newspaper and read all the headlines on "Karoushi" - death due to overwork. He thumbed through the advertisement page; clubs, singles dances, self-improvement seminars, religious gatherings, festivals, craft classes, part-time jobs..... He pondered. There must be something he could do over the weekend. Finally, he decided to apply for a part-time job at a hardware store for Saturdays and Sundays.
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