Chris: Post +1
That's so true about the Japanese and their over-working nature. It's not as bas as it used to be, it has improved. The Japanese way of 'not leaving before someone higher up' still holds true.
A buddy of mine that works at an investment house says that none of his staff will easily leave if he's still in the office. One day, he stayed until 7pm and all of his staff (Japanese) were still there. He went downstairs to the main lobby, to give the appearance that he was done for the evening. He waited in the lobby, secretly, as the rest of his staff filed out of the elevators within about 25 minutes after he left the floor.
After that, he made an announcement to his staff that he would no longer approve OT hours if they were just staying in the office because it was a 'custom' to wait for your boss or someone higher up to leave. Still, the staff remained in the office and did so for free. Unless of course, they were really working on something. Crazy.
Seems like the more international companies have adjusted to more of a western working system. Another friend of mine works for a strictly Japanese company. When he started there, he would leave on-time and people would gossip behind his back excessively. He turned the tables on the gossipers which eventually burned them (the gossipers) in the end because instead of working, they were running their mouths. Projects got behind and my friend new exactly why!
I cannot complain about my working environment, it's quite peaceful.