Workers in Japan want to, but cannot quit their jobs. And they hire resignation experts to do it for themselves.

Yuki Watanabe used to spend 12 hours a day toiling at the office. And this in Japan it is considered a short shift.

A typical work day from 9 am to 9 pm is the minimum. “The latest I would leave (the office) would be 11 p.m.,” said the 24-year-old, who worked for some of Japan’s biggest telecommunications and electronic payment companies.

So intense were the demands that Watanabe—who used a pseudonym to speak to CNN, fearing it would jeopardize her future job prospects—began to experience health problems. He had “shaky legs and stomach problems.”

She knew she had to quit, but there was an “obstacle in her way”: Japan’s notorious top-to-bottom work culture.

Asking to leave work on time or getting some time off can be quite difficult. Even more difficult is submitting a resignation, which can be seen as the ultimate form of disrespect in the world’s fourth-largest economy, where workers traditionally stay with an employer for decades, if not a lifetime.

In the most extreme cases, bosses tear up resignation letters and harass employees to force them to stay.

Watanabe was unhappy with her previous job, saying her former boss often ignored her, making her feel bad. But he did not dare to resign.

“I didn’t want my former employer to reject my resignation and keep me working longer,” he told CNN.

But he found a way to end the impasse. She turned to Momuri, a service that helps timid employees quit their intimidating bosses.

For the price of a fancy dinner, many Japanese workers hire these brokerage firms to help them resign stress-free.

The industry in question pre-existed Covid. But its popularity has soared since the pandemic, after years of working from home prompted even some of Japan’s most loyal workers to rethink their careers, according to HR experts.

There is no official tally on the number of “resignation companies” that have sprung up across the country, but those who run them can confirm the increase in demand.

“I can’t do it anymore”

Shiori Kawamata, Momuri’s business manager, said that in the past year alone they had up to and 11,000 customer contacts.

Located in Minato, one of Tokyo’s busiest business districts, the company launched in 2022 with a name that seeks to resonate with its helpless clientele – “Momuri” means “I can’t do it anymore” in Japanese.

At a cost of ¥22,000 (about €135) – or ¥12,000 for those working part-time – it promises to help employees submit their resignations, negotiate with their companies and provide referrals to lawyers should legal disputes arise.

“Some people come to us after their resignation letter has been torn up three times, and employers won’t let them quit even if they kneel on the ground begging,” he said, in another illustration of the workplace culture that is part of Japan.

“Sometimes we get calls from people who are crying, asking us if they can quit their jobs on the basis of FFS (reason). We tell them that this is okay, and that quitting their job is a labor right,” he added.

Some workers complain that their bosses harass them if they try to quit, he said, going and in their apartments to ring their doorbell repeatedly, refusing to leave.

In another resignation, what should have been a simple decision took a strange turn. The person who wanted to quit was dragged to a temple in Kyoto by his boss. “They told (the worker) to go to Onmyoji Temple because “he was cursed””he said characteristically.

Kawamata commented that people who approach him often work for small and medium-sized businesses, with those in the food industry most vulnerable, followed by healthcare and welfare.

Japan has long had this culture. Workers in various sectors report punishing hours and heavy pressure from their superiors, with the business in the dark.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 54 people died of work-related brain and heart diseases and were awarded compensation in 2022, which is actually a significant decrease from the 160 recorded two decades ago. However, the number of people making claims for work stress is increasing, reaches 2,683 from 341 in the same time period.