Japan starts certifying archivists after criticism of lax record-keeping
The National Archives of Japan will introduce a system in fiscal 2020 to certify archivists amid growing public criticism of lax management of official records by the government. The certification system is aimed at improving the maintenance of public records. But experts question whether it ...
Cardboard and plastic: Tottori Prefecture goes low-tech to protect officials from COVID-19
In a nation famed for its cutting-edge robots and toilets, one prefecture is going defiantly low-tech in its effort to defend its officials against COVID-19. In what has been proudly dubbed a "Tottori-style office system," the Tottori Prefectural Government has begun using cardboard and plastic ...
Japan pushes male public servants to take longer paternity leave
The government will encourage its eligible male personnel to use child-rearing leave for at least a month in principle, starting in fiscal 2020. Although the number of government employees taking paternity leave has been increasing, the period booked is shorter than a month in most ...
A Tokyo prosecutor's delayed retirement spurs more allegations of Abe cronyism
Over the past month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government once again found themselves the target of allegations of political favoritism. This time it was for bending, if not breaking, the rule governing the mandatory retirement age of national public servants in order to ...
Rethinking the need for personal stamps and seals in modern society
Last month, MUFG Bank Ltd. started offering ¥1,000 to each of its first 100,000 customers willing to give up their paper passbooks. MUFG wants people to switch to online banking, which is cheaper for banks — and not just because they can save on ...
New Japan Post chief vows to regain trust as ex-bureaucrats take reins after scandal
New Japan Post Holdings Co. President Hiroya Masuda pledged Monday to regain the public's trust in the former state-owned postal group now being rocked by scandal. "We are facing the biggest crisis since the foundation (of the postal group)," Masuda, 68, told executives of the ...
New dads in Japan's civil service to be encouraged to take month of paternity leave
The government formally decided Friday to encourage male civil service workers from April to take paternity leave for a minimum of one month. Under the policy, the performance of managers will be evaluated partly on how easy they make it for subordinates to take paternity ...
Japan aims to allow all new dads in central government to take month of paternity leave
Japan aims to ensure that all male central government employees can take paternity leave of at least one month, said Ryota Takeda, minister in charge of public servant system reform, on Friday. The Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs will consider concrete measures to encourage male ...
Fired Japan education ministry official gets suspended sentence for drug abuse
A court on Monday sentenced a former education ministry official to two years in prison, suspended for four years, for using and possessing a stimulant drug. The Tokyo District Court ruled that Mitsuhiro Fukuzawa, 44, had violated the stimulant drug control law by using a ...
Japan's civil servants get nod for sixth consecutive wage hike
The National Personnel Authority has advised the Cabinet and Diet to raise salaries and bonuses for national government employees in fiscal 2019. It will be the sixth consecutive pay hike for civil servants. The agency on Wednesday called for raising monthly salaries by an average ...
New law bans indoor smoking at Japan's government buildings and schools
A new law targeting smoking took effect Monday banning people from lighting up indoors on government agency, school and hospital premises, with more establishments like bars and restaurants to face similar rule changes next year. Under the revised Health Promotion Law, fines of up to ...
Setting record, 31.5% of those who passed Japan's public servant exam this year were women
Women accounted for 31.5 percent of those who passed the career-track national public servant examination in fiscal 2019, topping 30 percent for the first time, the National Personnel Authority said Tuesday. Of the 1,798 who passed, 567 were women. The share exceeded by 4.3 percentage ...
