Although the word "arbeit," meaning work, is commonly used in Germany and Japan, which adopted the word, recent debates on labor in these countries show that their attitudes toward work are markedly different.
But the way in which each nation resolves its particular problems could prove mutually beneficial.
In Japan, a series of bills recently presented to the Diet could potentially alter the landscape of working life. The bills are a response to the dramatic rise in part-time workers over the past two decades, a growth that occurred after labor laws were heavily revised in 1986.
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