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November 23, 2024
 

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REFORM

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.
The Ibaraki Prefectural Government has introduced an optional four-day workweek to serve as a model for work style reform.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 30, 2024
Are local governments in Japan ready to embrace a four-day workweek?
Several municipalities are testing the waters by allowing employees to opt for longer workdays in exchange for an extra weekday off.
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 24, 2024
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Announcer Asami Miura and 16th-century warlord Oda Nobunaga also featured in a survey on ideal bosses in the entertainment, sports and historical spheres.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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