I once saw a colleague in my Tokyo office stay at his desk for three days straight to finish a project.
He slept under his desk in a sleeping bag.
When he finally finished, our boss didn’t say, “You should have managed your time better.”
He patted him on the back and said, with deep admiration, “Yoku ganbatta na.” (“You really persevered.”)
My colleague was hailed as a hero.
At the time, I thought this was normal.
Admirable, even.
Now, having lived abroad where work-life balance is actually a concept, I look back on that memory with a sense of horror.
And I realize the incredible power, and incredible danger, of the single most common word in the Japanese language: Ganbaru.
“Ganbaru”: The Word That Builds and Breaks the Japanese Spirit
It’s Not “Do Your Best”—It’s an Order to Endure Beyond Your Limits
Foreigners often translate “ganbaru” as a cheerful “Do your best!” or “Good luck!”
And it can mean that.
But the true nuance is much darker and more demanding.
At its core, “ganbaru” is about perseverance in the face of hardship.
It’s about enduring, trying your hardest, and not giving up, no matter how difficult the circumstances.
This sounds like a wonderful virtue, and in many ways, it is.
It’s the spirit that rebuilt Japan after the war.
It’s the spirit that drives our athletes and craftsmen to achieve incredible things.
But in modern daily life, it has become a form of immense social pressure.
When your boss tells you to “ganbaru,” he is not just encouraging you.
He is telling you to work longer hours, to push through your exhaustion, and to achieve the goal by any means necessary.
It’s not a suggestion; it’s a command to suffer for the sake of the group.
The Praise of Suffering
This is the part that my foreign friends find hardest to understand.
In many Western cultures, working smart is valued more than working hard.
If you have to stay until midnight every day, you are seen as inefficient.
In Japan, the opposite is often true.
The act of struggling, of visibly putting in long hours and enduring stress, is itself seen as a noble act.
It is a culture that praises the process of suffering almost more than the result itself.
Saying “I’m tired” or “This is too much” can be seen as a sign of weakness, a betrayal of the group’s collective effort.
So, we don’t.
We just say, “Ganbarimasu” (“I will persevere”), and we silently push ourselves closer to the edge.
This is the root of Japan’s infamous problem with karoshi, or death from overwork.
It is the dark side of a beautiful word.
Learning When to Stop “Ganbaru-ing”
Living abroad has taught me the importance of setting boundaries.
It has taught me that it’s okay to say, “I have done enough for today.”
This is a lesson that is slowly, very slowly, starting to take root in Japan, but the old ways are hard to change.
Understanding the deep cultural pressure behind “ganbaru” is crucial for anyone trying to understand the Japanese work ethic.
It’s a word of great power, capable of inspiring incredible feats, but also capable of causing immense harm.
It’s a concept that truly requires a deeper dive to fully grasp.
So when you hear someone say “Ganbatte!” to you in Japan, accept the encouragement.
But also remember to be kind to yourself.
Sometimes, the strongest thing you can do is to decide not to persevere.
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The pressure to “ganbaru” is often tied to finding your purpose within your role.
This connects deeply to another famous Japanese concept, “Ikigai,” which is also widely misunderstood in the West.
