Japanese companies warming up — slowly — to four-day workweek
Once synonymous with long work hours, Japanese companies are beginning to embrace — or at least consider — the idea of a four-day workweek. Although the concept is nothing new and the number of companies adopting the system fluctuates, it is increasing over the long ...
The education ministry has said it will step up efforts to encourage public schools to adopt reforms intended to tackle excessive overtime work by teachers, calling on local education boards to establish pools of support staff capable of leading extracurricular activities on behalf of ...
Panel proposes Japan schoolteachers' overtime be limited to 45 hours per month
A government panel proposed Friday that overtime work for teachers in public schools be capped, in principle, at 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year. The proposal was part of a report on public school teachers' work-style reforms compiled by the Central Council ...
Of the total number of teachers disciplined over sexual misconduct in 2017, 56 touched the victim’s body, 42 carried out secret filming or peeping and 38 had sexual intercourse.
The dark side of Japan's underground idols: Little pay, long hours and unbreakable contracts
Idol groups such as the iconic AKB48 are synonymous with Japan. Known for their cutesy, highly choreographed stage performances and film clips, they personify the nation's pop culture. But far fewer people are familiar with the subculture that has spawned chika (underground) idols, a phenomenon ...
Panel recommends variable hours for Japan's teachers in bid to tackle overwork
A government panel on Thursday recommended the introduction of a variable work-hour system for public school teachers to tackle the problem of overwork. The system would allow teachers to work long hours during busy periods while taking more days off during the students' summer break, ...
Mindfulness in times of distraction
Mindfulness coach Junya Ogino believes that if leaders learned more about mindfulness and meditation, their employees would also reap the benefits.
Labor authorities have determined that a car mechanic at the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant died last year due to overwork, an organization advising the man's family said Monday. Tadaaki Igari, 57, who collapsed while on duty at the complex and was confirmed ...
Educators at schools nationwide work more than 11 hours per day on average while senior school staff were found to have worked even longer.
More cases of work-linked deaths and illnesses revealed at Mitsubishi Electric
Of four employees at the firm who suffered mental and physical illnesses due to work, two killed themselves, company officials revealed Thursday.
More than 80 percent of companies that employed truck, bus and taxi drivers last year breached the Labor Standards Law, with illegal overtime accounting for over half the violations, a government survey says. Of the 5,436 supervised firms surveyed, breaches were found at 4,564, or ...
Labor reform law nudges corporate Japan to rethink working styles
Working late, falling asleep on trains due to exhaustion and getting drunk to release tension from work might still be the typical image of the "salaryman." This country is notorious for a culture of overwork. Employees who stay late are still praised for hard work ...
