National Nov 2, 2020
Japanese business leaders target overwork among country's bureaucrats
A group made up of the heads of leading companies in Japan has begun collecting signatures online as part of a bid to slash overtime work in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district, home to many central government offices, as the coronavirus pandemic forces government employees to ...
National Oct 22, 2020
Japan's police agency to drop mandatory hanko for 315 procedures
The National Police Agency says it receives 7.9 million applications for parking-space certification and 3.6 million for public-road use every year.
National Oct 21, 2020
Re-edited version of book by Suga drops part on keeping records
The part, which stresses the importance of maintaining records, has been replaced with an interview with the then-chief Cabinet secretary.
National / Politics | FOCUS Oct 19, 2020
Could reform mission put Taro Kono on path to succeed Suga?
by Eric Johnston
Driving reforms is giving the media- and social media-savvy 57-year-old the opportunity to raise his political profile by playing to his strengths. Will it be enough?
National Oct 14, 2020
As of the end of September, the municipal government of Fukuoka made the use of hanko unnecessary for some 3,800 types of administrative procedure documents.
Business / Social Issues Oct 12, 2020
Tokyo conference debates new normals as coronavirus drives change
by Kazuaki Nagata
Experts at the annual G1 Global Conference discussed the upending of traditional practices, digitalization, working styles and widening inequality.
National Oct 3, 2020
Taro Kono looks to pinpoint what is demotivating young Japanese bureaucrats
by Kazuaki Nagata
According to a survey of 45,000 government officials, 14.7 percent of males under the age of 30 were planning to call it quits within the next three years.
National Sep 25, 2020
Japan's red-tape 'hotline' open again for gripes, Taro Kono says
Messages will be delivered to related government agencies after being checked by officials of the Cabinet Office and the Cabinet Secretariat.
National Sep 23, 2020
Nearly all of Japan's new fathers in public service plan paternity leave
"We're hopeful that the plans will actually be put into action," an official at the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs said.
