Adopting a four-day week was the decision of the company's president, who admits he wasn't sure how it would work.

I didn't know how much time off would increase efficiency, so I thought, why not increase days off by one a month and see how it goes?

Company executive Shinichi Fujimori often spends the extra day off following his passion for music in the band he's been a member of for 25 years.

I've gained more time to reflect on my own life and think about what truly makes me happy.

It's estimated fewer than one in ten companies gives their workers three or more days off per week, while about the same number of firms only give their workers the legally mandated one day off.

It's a work ethic that's so ingrained, the Japanese language even has a word that means literally death from overwork, karoshi, with one recent government report estimating at least 50 such fatalities per year, including from heart attacks.

The phenomenon was highlighted nearly ten years ago, when an advertising agency employee killed herself.

Matsuri Takahashi had been forced to work excessive overtime.

Regardless of the size of the company or the profession, similar tragedies are happening across Japan.

This company is finding less time in the office can be more productive.

The employees feel they want to protect the company and maintain this new working style.

They understand the importance of increasing sales and efficiency.

Here it seems, for employer and employee, a winning balance.

Rob McBride, Al Jazeera, Tokyo