Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
National Topics
Social Issues Jul 3, 2013
Former Thai sex slave decries visa-free entry to Japan
by Chananthorn Kamjan
A Thai woman who spent several months in Japan as a sex slave in the early 2000s said in a recent interview she fears visa-free entry for short-term Thai tourists to Japan could be a double-edged sword. The woman, who declined to be named, ...
Social Issues Jun 29, 2013
Anti-Korean group's plea to use public facility nixed
Yamagata Prefecture has turned down a request from anti-Korean activists to use a public building for a meeting. The prefectural government said it “made the decision from a comprehensive standpoint based on administrative requirements for the facility and (the group) was not turned down ...
Social Issues Jun 25, 2013
20% of young fathers put in 60-hour weeks
Nearly 20 percent of male employees in their 30s work more than 60 hours a week, making it difficult for them to participate in raising children, a 2013 government white paper on dealing with the low birthrate shows.
Social Issues Jun 21, 2013
Project prods jobless young to test strengths
by Tomohiro Osaki
Only two years after establishing a company in 2005, young entrepreneur Yujun Wakashin found himself in an unexpected predicament: his co-founder and employees ganged up on him, ousting him from his own firm. Was there disagreement over management policies? No. It was because Wakashin, ...
Social Issues Jun 20, 2013
Nippon Life to dads of babies: Take care leave
by Hiroko Nakata
In a rare step for a major Japanese firm, Nippon Life Insurance will begin requiring all its male employees who have babies to take at least one week of paternity leave.
Social Issues | ABE'S PROMISES Jun 20, 2013
Dilemma: How to shed white elephants' red ink?
by Kazuaki Nagata
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing for an alternative type of public works project that allows private-sector entities to finance, construct and then operate infrastructure facilities.
Social Issues | ABE'S PROMISES Jun 19, 2013
Lofty educational ideal: Ability to prevail on global stage
by Masaaki Kameda
Universities are starting to try out all sorts of new and innovative ways for Japan to develop human resources capable of "prevailing on the world stage."
Social Issues Jun 19, 2013
Robot niche expands in senior care
by Mai Iida
Given Japan’s rapidly aging population, efforts are accelerating to devise more practical and affordable robots to help seniors handle daily tasks, as well as to cope with a projected shortage of caregivers. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has allocated ¥2.39 billion in the fiscal ...
Social Issues Jun 19, 2013
Suicide rate of people in 20s alarms
With suicide behind nearly half of all deaths for those in their 20s, the government appealed Tuesday in a white paper for assistance to be ramped up for young people struggling with employment and other problems. The 2013 white paper on suicide, adopted at ...
Social Issues | ABE'S PROMISES Jun 18, 2013
Maternity leave, day care still elude many working mothers
by Ayako Mie
Like many full-time working mothers in Japan, Eriko Soyama, 36, had a tough time getting her children into day care to continue her career.
Social Issues | ABE'S PROMISES Jun 18, 2013
Yokohama day care centers scramble to keep kids off waiting lists
by Mami Maruko
In the shadow of an imposing highway bypass in Yokohama, laughter and excited voices mingle in the small playground of a day care center attended by 52 children no older than 5.
Social Issues May 30, 2013
Court backs convention of picking one surname
The Tokyo District Court rejects a damages suit filed against the state by five people who claim a Civil Code article that forces married couples to choose a single surname contravenes the Constitution.