Karōshi (過労死) means death from overwork. In 1988, as deaths of overworked employees kept occurring, a telephone hotline opened, the Karōshi 110-ban, where lawyers and others gave advice. In 2002, the word entered the Oxford English Dictionary.
In June 2014, Japan enacted the Act on Promotion of Measures to Prevent Karōshi. Its first article states that karōshi has become frequent in Japan and a serious social problem. The act defines it as death from cerebrovascular or heart disease caused by an excessive workload, or suicide caused by a mental disorder brought on by strong stress at work. It also covers these illnesses themselves.