Tag - japan-labor

 
 

JAPAN LABOR

COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2016
Is immigration the answer?
A migration policy is being deployed to combat acute labor shortages in sectors of the Japanese economy, but migrant workers won't be enough to solve the long-term challenges of Japan's demographic implosion.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 24, 2016
Abe administration looks to reduce limits on overtime work
The government is considering reducing the upper limits of overtime allowed for workers as part of a push to overhaul Japan's notoriously demanding labor culture.
EDITORIALS
Jan 11, 2015
Ending worker exploitation
As part of its effort to stamp out abusive practices against workers, Japan's labor ministry plans to set up a system under which public employment security offices may decline to accept notices of job availability from so-called black companies.
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2014
Seniority pay on its way out?
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has proposed a review of the seniority-based wage system prevalent among Japanese companies with a call for higher pay to recruits and a shift to paying wages according to performance.
EDITORIALS
Aug 18, 2014
The high cost of cheap labor
The recent revelation that excessively long hours were imposed on workers at Sukiya should not be dismissed as an isolated case limited to the popular beef-bowl chain.
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2014
Setting a living wage
The ¥16 hike in Japan's average minimum hourly wage to ¥780, which an advisory panel has recommended to the labor minister, fails to offset the rising costs of living and hardly strengthens the safety net for the growing ranks of irregular workers.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2014
Power napping for performance
A new trend aimed less at improving worker efficiency has started to become more popular in Japan — power napping.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 4, 2014
Abe's immigrant dream is a wage nightmare
Prime Miniser Shinzo Abe wants to import 200,000 foreign workers a year into Japan to counter the decline in the population. But the gambit might work at cross-purposes with his push to get companies to increase wages.
EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2014
More foreigners working in Japan
Whether it's the willingness at more workplaces to accept diversity or the nationwide worker shortage, especially in the construction industry, more foreigners are working in Japan than ever before.
EDITORIALS
Jan 18, 2014
More workers taking vacation
A group of companies in Japan are starting to buck the trend of making workers feel guilty for taking the full amount of vacation days to which they are entitled — and for good reason.
EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2013
Decline of manufacturing
A labor force survey shows the number of people employed in Japan's manufacturing industry dipping below 10 million for the first time since 1961.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on