Half of 'disabled' workers at central government institutions were miscounted, labor minister says
Of nearly 7,000 reported hires by ministries and agencies under a program to employ people with disabilities, 3,460 did not meet the guidelines.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday withdrew a recent remark on Japan's discretionary work system, while opposition lawmakers questioned the validity of the labor ministry survey on which Abe's remarks were based. "I'd like to withdraw my remark and apologize," Abe told a House of ...
Did press reports of a lawsuit spur an amendment to the welfare ministry's policy on benefits?
On Jan. 16, the Fukushima District Court ruled in favor of a woman and her daughter who had sued the city of Fukushima for cutting their welfare benefits. When the woman’s daughter was in high school, the woman received a grant scholarship to help ...
Japan must adhere to cap on social spending, new labor minister says
Japan needs to hold fast in limiting the rise of social welfare spending, said Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Katsunobu Kato in a recent interview. To meet a spending limit set in fiscal 2015, Kato said he wants to adhere to a ¥500 billion ...
Labor market reform chief targets pay gap as balm for productivity, spending woes
The government has placed a high priority on narrowing the gap in pay and benefits between regular and contract employees as this will raise productivity and consumer spending, said Katsunobu Kato, minister for labor market reform. Companies can afford to narrow the pay gap without ...
Abe aide prays for world peace during visit to war-linked Yasukuni Shrine
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday visited the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, becoming the first Cabinet member to do so during the shrine's autumn festival. "As a Japanese, I expressed with reverence gratitude for those who died for the state," Takaichi ...
U.N. expert discusses North Korea abductions with kin, Japan ministers
U.N. special rapporteur on North Korea Marzuki Darusman on Monday discussed Pyongyang's past abductions of Japanese nationals with Japanese ministers and relatives of abductees during his visit to Tokyo. "Japan does not intend to close the window for dialogue with North Korea," Katsunobu Kato, state ...
Kin of abductees hit out at 'revolving door' Cabinet appointments
A representative for the families of Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago has expressed dismay at the "revolving-door" Cabinet appointments to the post of minister in charge of the issue. Referring to the appointment of Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato to the post, ...
Kato hopes to win over public with message child-rearing is rewarding
A new Japanese Cabinet minister tasked with finding ways to boost the birthrate and keep a shrinking population from falling below 100 million said on Thursday he hoped to win over more Japanese to his view that child-rearing is rewarding. Solutions to Japan's population ...
Abe counts on Kato to reverse sliding birthrate, labor exodus in aging Japan
Prime Minister Abe is counting on his new minister in charge of population decline to inspire imitators. He’s a father of four.
New ministerial post raises doubts, overlaps with other agencies
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's newly created ministerial post is raising questions from the public and the opposition camp over concerns its roles will overlap with other agencies. Katsunobu Kato, 59, former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, was appointed the newly established minister in charge of building ...
Abe moves to boost control of bureaucrats
The government has decided to create a new body that’s seen as a political maneuver by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to tighten his grip on powerful government bureaucrats.
