Commentary / Japan Feb 14, 2019
The 100-year life and public pension reform
by Hisakazu Kato
Is it possible for people who live to 100 to receive sufficient pension benefits for 35 years?
NEWSWORTHY
National Feb 5, 2019
Aso told reporters he would retract the remark “if it caused misunderstanding” but didn’t elaborate on what he had intended to say.
National / Politics Jan 24, 2019
Japanese lawmakers from both sides lay into labor ministry over costly jobs data debacle
Ruling and opposition lawmakers on Thursday criticized the labor ministry for releasing faulty jobs data for more than a decade in the first Diet discussions held on the issue since the scandal broke in December. Labor minister Takumi Nemoto apologized for the debacle, which led ...
National Jan 23, 2019
Ministry corrects stats but admits many records lost in data scandal that left 20 million underpaid
The labor ministry releases corrected personal income statistics going back to 2012 after the discovery of sampling irregularities stretching back years that resulted in compensation to millions going unpaid.
National Jan 17, 2019
Panel slams Japan's labor ministry for years of sloppy data that shortchanged 20 million people
The government is expected to reprimand the labor ministry’s top bureaucrat and some other officials, a government source said Thursday.
Editorials Jan 14, 2019
To regain the public's trust in the government's statistics, how officials erred needs to be exposed and measures taken to ensure such problems are not repeated.
Food & Drink | THE HIGH GROUNDS Nov 10, 2018
Social Good Roasters: Balancing coffee and community
by Claire Williamson
Social Good Roasters is a social welfare organization that specifically employees people with disabilities such as Down syndrome and autism and teaches them everything from how to sort unroasted coffee beans to the process of brewing and roasting.
National / Social Issues Sep 17, 2018
In long-lived Japan, survey finds 20-year-olds don't want to live into their 80s
A survey has found that young Japanese in their 20s don't want to live into their 80s — a startling revelation in a country where the life expectancies for both men and women routinely rank among the world's highest. Men and women between 20 and ...
Commentary / Japan Sep 14, 2018
by Hiromi Murakami
Business, society and government remain largely closed to change.
National Sep 2, 2018
Elderly women to bear the brunt of Japan's spending cuts
by Maiko Takahashi
As Japanese society ages and the government cuts social welfare spending, older women are bracing for the impact. "The only people who can enjoy living until 100 are those who have enough money and family," said Setsuko Betsui, a 78-year-old woman living in Saitama, who ...
National Jul 24, 2018
Japan beefs up child welfare measures after 'soul-crushing' abuse death
by Chang-ran Kim
The central government is taking emergency steps to boost the number of child welfare workers by 60 percent within five years, spurred by the death of a child whose handwritten notes seeking forgiveness from her abusive parents have shaken Japan. The death in March of ...
Editorials May 24, 2018
Discussions must start now on making sure the social welfare system can meet Japan's future needs.