A man's death has been blamed on working too hard after he clocked up more than 70 hours overtime in just one month without pay.
Yukinobu Sato, from Japan, had been employed by the country's space agency and had been given "unachievable" work goals, his family lawyer, Hiroshi Kawahito revealed.
The 31-year-old took his own life at home in October 2016.
This week Mr Sato's family's compensation claim was approved after his death was recognised as "karoshi" - death from overwork.
He was employed for Software Consultant Corp, on a project the national space agency, JAXA, had contracted to the company.
He was involved in the controlling operation of the Greenhouse gases Observing satellite Ibuki at JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba.
Asahi.com reports that in addition to handling the satellite control operation, Mr Sato was asked to develop software for a system that manages the satellite’s schedule.
He also had difficulties with his boss, and his workload was increased just before his death.
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Speaking at a press conference Mr Kawahito, sat next to Mr Sato's mother Hisae, he authorities in Tsuchiura cited the heavy physical and psychological stress the young man was put under.
This led to an adjustment disorder, ultimately causing him to end his life.
Mr Kawahito pointed out that Sato worked a highly demanding shift for the control operation, requiring intense concentration. He worked 16-hour overnight shifts seven times a month.
After he started to take on heavier responsibilities at work in September 2016, his overtime hours reached 70 or more per month.
When Sato tried to claim the overtime, his boss gave him a warning, forcing him to work the extra hours without pay.
A representative of Software Consultant said, “We sincerely accept the recognition of this work-related death and will do our utmost to take preventive measures.”
JAXA said in a statement: "As a contractee of the project, we'll make efforts to assess the situation to see if there is area for improvement.”
"Karoshi" was a term coined in the 1970s to describe deaths by heart failure or stroke, or people taking their own lives, as the result of long hours at work.
It is estimated 200 deaths in Japan were linked to overwork in 2017.
On Monday, April 1, Japan introduced a law setting a cap on long work hours in a bid to change Japan's notorious overwork culture.
The law - which only affects major companies - limits overtime to 45 hours a month or 360 hours a year.
Companies that break the law face a 300,000 Yen - or about £2000 - fine.
