Tomoyuki Mukaide had struggled to cope with the demands of assisting people affected by the earthquake that struck Ishikawa prefecture in March. A Japanese policeman, distraught by working long hours and weekends for two months, stabbed himself in the stomach with a knife to get some time off, police said Monday. The 44-year-old officer knifed himself at his home in northwestern Japan on May 23, but told police he had been attacked, prompting an attempted murder investigation, Ishikawa prefecture police said in a statement. Investigators began to suspect his story after they could not find evidence of anyone who matched the description the officer had given, a police spokesman said. Suspicions were also raised because the officer - identified as Tomoyuki Mukaide in the Asahi newspaper - had waited about an hour before reporting the alleged attack, the spokesman said. His wounds were not life-threatening. The officer, whose name was not released by police, had been in charge of a disaster relief detail following a March 25 earthquake in the area that killed one person injured more than 300, and damaged or destroyed more than 14,800 homes. Police thought he had become distraught over his health after putting in long hours without a break in the quake's aftermath, and wanted to get away from work. "He became very busy, he felt like he couldn't handle the work he had to do, and he felt the work was weighing him down," said the spokesman. The officer admitted he had stabbed himself in questioning following his May 31 release from the hospital, the spokesman said. The case is now being investigated as filing a false report, a misdemeanor. Japanese workers often face long overtime hours and weekends with little or no compensation. Death from overwork, known as "karoshi," has steadily increased since the Health Ministry first recognized the phenomenon in 1987. (AP)

本周一警方消息，日本一名警察因苦于連續兩個月超時工作及周末加班，用刀刺傷了自己的肚子，以獲得休假的機會。 日本西北部石川縣的警方在一份聲明中稱，這位44歲警察五月二十三日在家中用刀自殘，但他謊稱自己遭到了襲擊，警方由此展開了一樁故意謀殺案的調查。 警方一位發言人說，調查此案的警察始終無法找到與該警察描述的特征相符的嫌疑人，于是警方開始懷疑他謊報了案情。 此外，這名在《朝日新聞》中被稱為Tomoyuki Mukaide的警察在“案發”后一小時才報案，這又增加了案件的疑點。而且他所受的傷并不致命。 這位未被警方透露姓名的警察在3月25日當地發生地震后一直忙于救災工作。這次地震造成300多人受傷，1萬4千8百多個家被毀壞或摧毀。 據警方分析，由于這位警察在救災過程中長期超時工作，得不到休息，所以他擔心自己的身體撐不下去，想休息一段時間。 這位發言人說：“他太忙了，他覺得自己撐不下去了，快被壓垮了。” 這位警察5月31日出院后在接受警方的詢問時承認了自殘行為。警方現已將此案定性為謊報案情的輕罪行為。 日本人經常超時工作及周末加班，但加班費很少甚至沒有。 由于過度工作造成的死亡，即“過勞死”，從1987年日本厚生省首次認定這一現象開始，一直在穩步增長。 （英語點津姍姍編輯）