Tag - labor

 
 

LABOR

Supporters of South Korean plaintiffs in wartime labor lawsuits hold a rally in Seoul on March 6.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2024
Wartime labor issue still overshadowing Japan-South Korea ties
Last month, a South Korean plaintiff received compensation deposited by Hitachi Zosen with a South Korean court handling the wartime labor suit.
Beyond factors such as the "motherhood penalty," Japanese women struggle to advance in their careers due to the structure of the workforce, including the two-tiered clerical versus managerial track.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2024
Why is it taking so long to break the glass ceiling?
Japan isn't unique in having a thick glass ceiling, but some factors don't apply to other countries, like the U.S., where many more managers are women.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands in Hiroshima on May 21. The two leaders have met seven times in a year.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 6, 2024
Challenges remain after Japan-South Korea wartime labor resolution
There is discontent in South Korea that Japanese firms have not made apologies or compensation payments.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and her South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul meet on the sidelines of a foreign ministerial meeting of the Group of 20 major economies in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2024
Japan and South Korea agree to work on North Korea issues
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and her counterpart Cho Tae-yul met in person in Rio de Janeiro.
The Seoul Central District Court building in Seoul. In late January, the court granted the plaintiff's request to seize the funds, following a December ruling by the top court that ordered Hitachi Zosen to pay the plaintiff 50 million won in damages.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2024
South Korean wartime labor plaintiff receives funds from Japan firm
This is the first case in which funds from a Japanese company have been transferred to a plaintiff following a trial related to wartime forced labor.
Shoppers walk past an ID Hub, a Volkswagen showroom for electric cars, at a mall in Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024
Firms with deep roots in China reconsider their Xinjiang ties
Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China
Volkswagen has long come under scrutiny over its factory in Urumqi in Xinjiang, which opened in 2013.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024
Pressure mounts on Volkswagen to exit China's Xinjiang region
The carmaker said it was discussing the future of its activities in the region, following fresh allegations of human rights abuses.
A truck transporting a container parked outside a shipping terminal in Yokohama.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2024
Japan approves bill to improve labor conditions for truck drivers
The revisions intend to tackle a labor shortage in the logistics industry, known as the "2024 problem."
A man walks through panels at a solar power plant under construction in Aksu, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, in 2012.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024
Banned Chinese solar goods worth billions find route to U.S. via India
Amid a solar boom, India’s largest panel-maker has sent millions of panels to the U.S. made with parts from a Chinese firm denied entry to the U.S. market.
A Japan Post delivery truck. Certain parcels will take longer to arrive under changes set to begin in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024
Japan Post announces delayed timeframes for express deliveries
The changes come as part of an effort to cope with stricter regulations on truck drivers’ working hours.
Plaintiffs hold up a banner outside South Korea's Supreme Court in Seoul on Thursday ahead of a wartime labor ruling by the top court.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2024
South Korea's top court upholds wartime labor rulings against Japan firm
The top court ordered the company to pay between 80 million won and 100 million won in compensation each to 23 victims of the firm for forced labor.
Plaintiffs' lawyers speak to reporters in Seoul on Thursday after South Korea's Supreme Court upheld lower court decisions ordering Nippon Steel to pay damages to South Koreans over wartime labor.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 12, 2024
South Korean top court upholds wartime labor ruling against Nippon Steel
The ruling comes after the top court last month ordered the company and two other Japanese firms to compensate victims.
Plaintiffs and lawyers in wartime labor lawsuits attend a news conference in Seoul last week.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 28, 2023
Top South Korea court upholds wartime labor rulings against Japan firms
The Supreme Court in Seoul upheld decisions by lower courts ordering Hitachi Zosen and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay damages.
Disney characters perform on a float during a parade at Tokyo Disneyland in January.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 26, 2023
Court rejects damages claim by ex-Tokyo Disneyland performer
The former performer said she had suffered work-related injuries and that the company had failed to fulfill its duty of care.
Families of deceased plaintiffs in lawsuits over wartime labor during Japan's colonial rule outside South Korea's Supreme Court in Seoul on Thursday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2023
South Korean court upholds wartime labor damages order for Japan firms
The rulings came as South Korea-Japan relations have been improving since Seoul announced in March its plan for solving the wartime labor issue.
Salmon on sale in Sapporo on Dec. 1. The region has been hit hard by a Chinese ban on Japanese seafood products following the release into the ocean of treated, tritium-laced water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Dec 15, 2023
Hokkaido to face issues around Rapidus, seafood and '2024 problem'
An influx of foreign residents is expected in Chitose, while China's ban on marine products continues to hurt the region.
People walk past the booth of fashion retailer Shein during the first China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023
Shein’s IPO plan to fuel scrutiny over cotton and China roots
In addition to fighting skeptics, Shein is also locked in a battle with rival Temu
More and more children are producing content as online influencers and generating lots of money.
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2023
Kidfluencers are today’s version of chimney sweeps
Protecting children from labor exploitation is difficult in the age of social media.
A boy forced to engage in child labor carries a sack of cocoa beans in the Ashanti Region of Ghana in 2011. Ghana is Japan's biggest supplier of cocoa.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023
Chocolate producers aim to stamp out child labor in supply chains
Though not many consumers in Japan are aware of or sensitive to the issue, some chocolate producers in the country have decided to take a stand.
Some of the most popular influencers can amass small fortunes before they're 18, but there are few legal protections to ensure their earnings remain their own.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 12, 2023
Child influencers make big money. Who gets it?
"I’m terrified to share my name because a digital footprint I had no control over exists."

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world