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December 25, 2024
 

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REFORM

Employees at large Tokyo companies who travel to the office daily to work fell to 47.4% in 2024 from 53.1% in the previous year, a survey shows.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 8, 2024
Hybrid work on the rise for Tokyo’s office employees: NRI Survey
For the July 2024 Nomura Research Institute survey, the firm polled 3,091 people from ages 20-69 who work for large companies in Tokyo.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike says she will continue to review work styles flexibly to ensure that women do not have to sacrifice their careers due to life events.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 4, 2024
Tokyo government to introduce four-day workweek to empower women
The capital is joining a growing number of local governments introducing similar measures to improve working conditions amid a labor shortage.
The Miyagi Prefectural Government Building in Sendai. The prefecture plans to expand the option for a four-day workweek to all prefectural employees from fiscal 2026.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2024
Miyagi Prefecture to introduce four-day workweek for all employees
The program aims to reduce rising turnover and attract more applicants to government roles in Miyagi, the prefecture said.
Trucks are parked at a convenience store truck stop used by long-distance drivers, in the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture in September.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 20, 2024
New rules drive Japanese trucking sector to the brink
Despite its importance to the world's fourth-biggest economy, the trucking industry occupies a weak position in Japan's economic hierarchy.
Police in Osaka Prefecture arrested four people early last month for allegedly defrauding a "spot work" platform operator of about ¥680,000.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 6, 2024
Scammers in Japan take advantage of popularity of ‘spot work’
Police in Osaka Prefecture arrested four people early last month for allegedly defrauding a platform operator of about ¥680,000.
The health ministry will seek a record general-account budget of ¥34.3 trillion for fiscal 2025 amid increasing social security costs.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2024
Health ministry seeks record ¥34 trillion budget for fiscal 2025
The amount was pushed up by increasing social security costs that reflect the country's aging population.
Despite changing attitudes toward office attire, with younger generations pushing for more casual dress codes, traditional views on professional attire persist.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2024
Shorts at the office? Go for it.
Despite changing attitudes toward office attire, with younger generations pushing for more casual dress codes, traditional views on professional attire persist.
A passenger ferry sails toward Sydney Harbor on Aug. 9. Employees in Australia, in most cases, cannot be punished for refusing to read or respond to contacts from their employers outside work hours, thanks to a new law.
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2024
Australian workers gain right to ignore work emails and calls after hours
A new "right to disconnect" law is designed to curb the creep of work communications into personal lives.
Even when ships are docked, members of the Japan Coast Guard work on shifts on board. As such, the JCG is considering rehiring retired servicemen to allow crews to take sufficient holidays on land.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2024
Japan Coast Guard promoting work style reform
The move comes as the agency grapples with a declining number of applicants as well as its rising turnover rate.
Commuters take a subway home at Sungsu station in Seoul on July 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024
Declaring ‘crisis,’ South Korean firms tell managers to work more
In South Korea, the five-day workweek is only a generation old, introduced by labor laws in 2004.
Diners in the Salamanca neighborhood of Madrid in 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 31, 2024
Spain ranked as the best country for remote work: report
Japan, which announced a digital nomad program on April 1, was 16th on the list.
The number of teachers in their 20s on leave due to mental conditions has risen, highlighting the need to reduce burdens on young teachers.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 17, 2024
Japan to boost support for young teachers to secure staff
The package addresses concerns about a decline in interest in teaching jobs among young people and aims to reduce teachers' overtime work to 20 hours per month.
The number of construction workers in Japan stood at 4.83 million in 2023, down by more than 2 million from the peak of 6.85 million in 1997.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2024
Amid labor shortages, Japanese builders urged to improve conditions
The government is advocating wage increases and the full implementation of a five-day workweek.
A salvage crew in front of the wreckage of a Japan Airlines jet that collided with a Japan Coast Guard plane at Haneda Airport in January
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2024
Japan Airlines pilots and crew voice concerns amid recent safety woes
Employees who would have normally given informal training to new recruits left during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Britain's Reform U.K. party leader Nigel Farage attends an interview in London.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 22, 2024
U.K.'s Nigel Farage says the West provoked Putin's invasion of Ukraine
The remarks, made in an interview with the BBC aired late on Friday, drew strong criticism across the British political spectrum.
Film director Hirokazu Kore-eda (left) and actor Lily Franky arrive for a photocall to promote the Official Selection feature film "Shoplifters" at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain in September 2018.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 21, 2024
Japanese film startup aims to change industry working conditions
K2 Pictures is seeking to raise the money from domestic and foreign investors.
Only 6% of the Japanese workforce is engaged while a third of the workforce is job hunting or looking out for new opportunities, according to a Gallup report.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2024
Despite its hardworking image, Japan might be No. 1 in quiet quitting
Only 6% of the Japanese workforce is engaged, one of the lowest readings in the world, according to a Gallup report.
The percentage of working people who said they sleep seven hours or more has reached 52.4%, a significant increase from 27% in 1999, according to a survey conducted in April.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 10, 2024
Japanese with lack of sleep reduced by half from 25 years ago
36.3% of working adults said that they sleep six hours, followed by 36.0% who said they sleep seven hours.
Legislation was enacted Friday to offer more support to workers raising young children.
JAPAN
May 24, 2024
Japan passes law on flexible work for parents with young children
Firms will be obliged to allow employees with preschoolers age 3 and older to choose from at least two working options, such as remote work or shorter hours.
Japan Post CEO Tetsuya Senda (right) and his Seino Transportation counterpart Satoshi Takahashi announce their companies' agreement on joint long-haul truck operations, in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2024
Japan's logistics firms seek partnerships to cope with driver shortage
Japan Post and Seino Transportation have reached a basic agreement to work together on joint long-haul truck operations.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Honda-Nissan megamerger in the works
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida (left), Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe (second from left) and Takao Kato, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, hold a news conference on merger talks on Monday in Tokyo.
Picturesque Japan hot spring town limits day trippers
Ginzan Onsen hot springs in Obanazawa, Yamagata Prefecture
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.
High levels of PFAS found in water from 44 private suppliers across Japan
The Self-Defense Forces facilities are believed to have become sources of PFAS contamination because they used firefighting foam containing the toxic chemicals in the past.
For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
Trump's Pentagon policy pick pushed for Japan to spend 3% of GDP on defense
Elbridge Colby (center) speaks at the Threat and the Strategy panel during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in September 2019.
A brief history of ‘osechi ryōri,' Japan's edible tradition for the new year
Japan's traditional New Year cuisine has a long history, though modern developments have led to slight changes in the way things work.
Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
By Kathryn Wortley

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