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July 07, 2025
 

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OVERWORK

Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2019
Four-day workweek boosted productivity by 40%, Microsoft Japan experiment shows
In a rare corporate experiment to test a four-day work system, Microsoft Corp.’s Japan branch found that their productivity improved by about 40 percent, the company said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 9, 2019
Record 5,160 firms employing foreign trainees in Japan violated labor laws in 2018, ministry says
A record 5,160 business facilities employing foreign technical intern trainees were told in 2018 to correct practices that violated labor-related laws, the labor ministry has said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 13, 2019
Working harder in a bid to save labor is proving exhausting
The utopia of utopias is "Utopia" by Sir Thomas More (1478-1535). Its best feature is leisure. There are no idle nobles; everyone works. A burden shared is a burden lightened. Utopians "do not wear themselves out with perpetual toil from morning to night, as if they were beasts of burden." They work...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jul 5, 2019
Tourism boom and psychological stress behind Okinawa bus driver shortage
Local bus operators in Okinawa Prefecture are facing a serious shortage of drivers, which is attributed to increased demand amid a tourism boom and the physically and emotionally taxing nature of the profession.
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2019
Step up the fight against power harassment
Employers need to realize the gravity of the power harassment problem and make steady efforts to eliminate it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
May 27, 2019
Behind the scenes of 24/7 service: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store
A familiar orange and green signboard glares in the pitch-dark, quiet street in a residential area. There, the owner of a 7-Eleven franchise store located in the suburbs of a small city in the Chubu region works the night shift every day by himself.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
May 8, 2019
Japan's labor shortage eats away at backbreaking work culture
When she worked in sales for a bank, Chihiro Narazaki was passed over for the best assignments in favor of older colleagues. Her input was discouraged and she often stayed late just to do routine paperwork.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 15, 2019
China tech giant Jack Ma encourages workers to rack up overtime hours
Billionaire Jack Ma again encouraged tech workers to embrace the industry's extreme-overtime culture, defying a growing social media backlash.
EDITORIALS
Apr 10, 2019
Take steps to curb corporate workers' hours
While the government's new work-style reform measures mark a first step toward curbing the excessively long working hours of many corporate employees, it only sets the baseline from which each firm needs to make further efforts to cut employees' work hours.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 12, 2019
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.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2019
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
May 14, 2018
Planned cut in doctors' overtime hours worries Japan's rural hospitals
As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration pushes to pass labor reform bills in the current Diet session, many major hospitals in the Chubu region are concerned that the bills, which include a cap on the working hours of doctors, could lead to a deterioration in medical services in rural regions....
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2018
Education ministry works to curb excessive overtime by teachers
The education ministry has kicked off full-scale efforts to curb overwork among schoolteachers and address a longtime problem for educators.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 10, 2018
Japan's labor reform ignores elementary principles
Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry reported that the labor share in the final quarter of calendar year 2017 for companies with capital of more than ¥1 billion was 43.9 percent. That basically means 43.9 percent of these companies’ income went to employees. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun described...
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2017
Nomura unit told to end abuse of work system that forced hundreds to engage in unpaid overtime
The Tokyo Labor Bureau has advised Nomura Real Estate Development Co. to take corrective measures against its abuse of a discretionary work system that forced hundreds of employees to work unpaid overtime, the bureau and other sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2017
Nominees announced for Japan's sixth annual Black Company Awards
Hollywood's bad-film awards are not much more than a joke.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 7, 2017
Osaka hospital will review 300-hour monthly overtime limit after document's release
Doctors and nurses at a national hospital could theoretically rack up monthly overtime at three times higher than the government threshold, a labor-management agreement shows.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 27, 2017
Ministry probe shows two-thirds of inspected firms violated labor laws in 2016
Two-thirds of companies inspected by the labor ministry in fiscal 2016 for suspected labor violations were found to have broken the law either by forcing employees to work illegal overtime or by failing to carry out measures to ensure their health, the ministry announced Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jun 25, 2017
One woman's suicide shines a harsh light on the plight of Japan's doctors
I think many people hold the following preconceived notions of what it means to be a physician. Doctors, we believe, are:
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2017
Ensure labor reforms have the desired effects
The Abe administration's proposed work reforms are a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
Tokyo and Kyoto feature among top ‘noctourism’ destinations
Tokyo ranked second after New York and ahead of Dubai and Singapore in a ranking of the top global cities for nighttime tourism.
Global matcha 'obsession' drinks Japan's tea farms dry
Matcha is added to beverages on offer at Kettl Tea in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 20.
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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