Japanese reporter died after 159 hours of overtime

Japan's public broadcaster apologised Friday to the parents of a young reporter who died of heart failure after logging 159 hours of overtime in a month. NHK reporter Miwa Sado, 31, who had been covering political news in Tokyo, was found dead in her bed in July 2013, reportedly clutching her mobile phone. "The president met the parents at their home in the morning and apologised," an NHK spokesman told AFP. A government inquest a year after her death ruled that it was linked to excessive overtime. She had taken two days off in the month before she died. NHK eventually made the case public four years later, bowing to pressure from Sado's parents to take action to prevent a recurrence. The case has again highlighted the Japanese problem of "karoshi" – meaning death from overwork – and is an embarrassing revelation for NHK, which has campaigned against the nation's long-hours culture.