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June 08, 2025
 

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LAWS

JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 27, 2015
Child killer memoir 'Zekka' fuels calls for tougher proceeds-of-crime laws in Japan
More than a month after its publication, public outrage over a controversial memoir by a serial killer who targeted children when he was a minor has shown no sign of abating.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jul 26, 2015
Three amigos on a mission to protect your rights
The only people who tend to know what I'm talking about when I say the words "labor relations commission" are unionists, labor or corporate lawyers and labor-law scholars. These panels are government enforcement bodies that lack the glamour and fame of the courts, the cops and even the Labor Standards...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 20, 2015
U.S. trans fat ban prompts call for better Japan labeling
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's move last month to phase out artificial trans fats over three years from all processed foods has made few ripples in Japan, where there are currently no regulations on the oil.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2015
Charleston church aftermath: Republicans avoid talk of race, guns
Republican presidential candidates steered clear on Thursday of addressing the role gun rights and racial tensions may have played in a deadly mass shooting in South Carolina as Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the United States to face what she called the "hard truths" underpinning...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 7, 2015
Paid leave: Use it or risk losing it
'When I asked HR if paid leave can be converted to cash, the answer was no. Is HR correct?'
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2015
Worrying lack of stable jobs
Only 25 percent of the world's workers have stable jobs, and the rate is growing increasingly worse.
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2015
Much-needed probe into overwork
Analyzing the causes and impact of overwork is a long-overdue step, but much more needs to be done.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Apr 26, 2015
'Zero Overtime Bill' is the thin end of the wedge for workers' rights
Although you may feel this amendment to the Labor Standards Law has nothing to do with you, the net will be cast wider and before you know it we will all be caught up in it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 15, 2015
Vagina artist pleads not guilty to obscenity charge
Taking the stand on the first day of her trial, Megumi Igarashi said she is fighting the charge to challenge the widely held belief in Japanese society that female genitals are “shameful.”
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2015
Indiana, Arkansas approve religious-freedom laws that some call discriminatory
Indiana and Arkansas revised on Thursday new religious freedom acts that had drawn criticism from rights groups and U.S. companies that assailed them as discriminatory against gays.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Mar 25, 2015
Japan sees progress on sexual harassment, but some still don't get it
On the one hand we have the legal framework to tackle sexual harassment. On the other, awareness of the issue remains sorely lacking.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Mar 22, 2015
University teachers in Japan work under the shadow of a falling ax
For most teachers, their job is more than an economic exchange of time for money — it is a vocation. Concern for students' educational development is genuine, as is a deep belief in the value and importance of education, and a regard for the institution's reputation and welfare.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 4, 2015
China says NGOs need regulating for 'national security reasons'
China needs to better regulate foreign non-governmental organizations (NGO) operating in the country for national security reasons, an official said on Wednesday, as the government drafts a law that has unnerved many aid groups.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Feb 25, 2015
Under Japanese law, breaks are sacred and standby counts as work
If your employer is keeping you waiting long hours on standby without paying you and calling it 'break time,' they are breaking the law.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 16, 2015
Who benefits from the new overtime pay system?
On Feb. 13, a Labor Policy Council sub-committee submitted to the labor ministry a report with suggestions for a bill to revise the labor standards law. The revision, which the ministry plans to submit to the next regular Diet session, applies to the work of skilled white collar professionals and will allow them to 'work in a manner that demonstrates their achievements' more effectively, which is another way of saying that employers will no longer be required to pay these workers overtime for extra hours on the job, which in turn means that employers cannot be accused of pressuring them to work overtime for no pay, a system popularly known as saabisu zangyo, or 'free overtime.'
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jan 21, 2015
Forty years after Zainichi labor case victory, is Japan turning back the clock?
Efforts against nationality-based discrimination in Japan have made zero progress in the four decades since a landmark court case against Hitachi.
WORLD
Jan 19, 2015
Ex-spy chief says outdated U.K. anti-terrorism laws are not fit for purpose
Britain's ability to prevent terrorist attacks is hampered by outdated laws that are "no longer fit for purpose," a former MI5 chief said in an interview published on Sunday, as the government considers new powers to monitor the Internet.
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.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 1, 2015
Readers' letters: Roppongi, Ferguson, 'Massan,' Julien Blanc and more
Some emails received in response to Community articles at the tail end of 2014.
Foreign tourists with unpaid medical bills in Japan to be denied entry
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during ministerial meeting meeting on foreign residents in Japan on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
Japan eyes tougher rules for foreign residents and tax hike for tourists
A tax-free shop in Kyoto in April 2024. Last week, members of a Liberal Democratic Party study group drafted a proposal seeking to scrap the country's tax-free shopping system altogether.
Accidents raise concern over how Japan vets foreign drivers
Keita Ueno (right), the owner of Kiki Driving School and an instructor who supports both foreign nationals and Japanese citizens returning from abroad in getting their foreign driver’s licenses converted, is worried about the current lax system for the process.
Japan won’t wait for G7 summit for possible U.S. trade deal
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top negotiator in tariff talks with the U.S. speaks to reporters at the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Friday.
From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
What can Kenji Yanobe’s cosmic cats teach us about humanity?
Kenji Yanobe’s spacesuited cats are the main characters of “Ship’s Cat Island,” the inaugural exhibition at Hyper Museum Hanno in Saitama Prefecture.
From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
New Naoshima museum bets on Asia, not the West
Detail of Takashi Murakami, “Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu Byobu: Iwasa Matabei RIP” (2023-25)
Japan’s prison reform focuses on rehabilitation
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Suzuki said preparations for the changes that will focus more on rehabilitation are being actively made at each correctional facility.
Accidents raise concern over how Japan vets foreign drivers
Keita Ueno (right), the owner of Kiki Driving School and an instructor who supports both foreign nationals and Japanese citizens returning from abroad in getting their foreign driver’s licenses converted, is worried about the current lax system for the process.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
By Alex K.T. Martin

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