Get ready for 'peak decade,' strategists tell peers at Davos
Amid the Alpine peaks of the Swiss resort of Davos this week, politicians, investors and executives are busy debating whether we are witnessing peaks in multiple key drivers of the world economy. From oil demand, car production and the proportion of young people as a ...
Ministry to extend provisional certification for care course graduates
As part of efforts to alleviate a labor shortage in the elderly care sector, the welfare ministry plans to extend to fiscal 2026 special transitional measures that grant graduates of care courses provisional certification without the need to pass a national exam, ministry sources ...
Japan's Unicharm develops world's first diapers for elderly with walking difficulties
Unicharm Corp. has developed the world's first adult diapers designed to help elderly people with walking difficulties move more easily. The product, to go on sale in Japan on Feb. 4, addresses a market need spurred on by the nation's rapidly graying population, according to ...
World's oldest person celebrates her 117th with party at Fukuoka nursing home
Kane Tanaka has extended her record as the world's oldest person by celebrating her 117th birthday at a nursing home in the city of Fukuoka. Tanaka marked her birthday, on Jan. 2, with a party Sunday together with staff and friends at the nursing home, ...
Japan's pressing regional affairs to unfold quietly in shadow of Olympics
This year, all attention will turn to the 2020 Olympics, with politicians, business leaders and the media talking about how to ensure its success, what it means for Japan domestically and internationally and how to avert a post-Olympic economic slump. Outside the seven prefectures in ...
Recession, robots and rockets: Another Roaring '20s for world markets?
Helicopter cash, climate crises, smart cities and the space economy — investors have all those possibilities ahead as they enter the third decade of the 21st century. They go into the new decade with a spring in their step after watching world stocks add over ...
Japan's initial fiscal 2020 budget to top ¥100 trillion again, hitting new record
Japan's initial budget for fiscal 2020 will hit a record high and top ¥100 trillion ($920 billion) for the second straight year due to swelling social security and defense costs, government sources said Monday. The initial general account budget for the current fiscal year ending ...
Japanese man, 71, arrested for 'making 24,000 complaint calls'
A Japanese retiree has been arrested after ringing a phone company 24,000 times to complain they had violated his contract, police and local media reported. Tokyo police said they took 71-year-old Akitoshi Okamoto into custody last week after he made hundreds of toll-free calls over ...
As forestry work gets easier in graying Japan, young hires opt for paths less taken
Young Japanese are increasingly joining the forestry industry thanks to a government program and labor-saving improvements made possible by the expanding use of machines. Many also see the sector as an opportunity to escape urban life. "It's tough to deal with nature, but I enjoy ...
A world in disarray but Japan appears to sidestep turmoil
The world is furious. From Hong Kong to Chile, Indonesia to Bolivia, France to Iraq, Haiti to Iran, Egypt to Peru, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, have declared war on their governments and social systems, decrying dictatorship, corruption, mismanagement, incompetence, inequality, numbness to ...
New state funds proposed to help hospitals dump excess beds amid soaring medical costs
The finance and health ministries are thinking of setting up funds in each prefecture to support private hospitals trying to rid themselves of excess beds that are driving up medical costs, it has been learned. The idea calls for setting up a fund in each ...
Japanese health ministry draws outrage for 'inconsiderate' poster on terminal care
The health ministry's attempt to use comedy to encourage people to discuss hospice care options with their families in advance fell flat with the public and was criticized as being in poor taste, prompting its withdrawal. The poster, released Monday, was meant to promote a ...
