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May 05, 2024
 

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WORKERS

The new invoice system, which goes into effect Oct. 1, is forcing many freelancers in Japan to choose between raising their prices or suffer a 10% loss in revenue.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Sep 25, 2023
Freelancers aren’t happy with Japan’s new invoice system
For many freelancers and small businesses, the result will amount to a 10% increase in taxes.
Currently, part-timers lose their status as dependents if their annual income surpasses ¥1.3 million, requiring them to pay social insurance premiums.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2023
Japan mulls relief measures for dependent part-timers
Currently, part-timers lose their status as dependents if their annual income surpasses ¥1.3 million, requiring them to pay social insurance premiums.
Vietnamese staff work at a seafood processing firm in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 17, 2023
86% of municipalities across Japan want more foreign workers, survey says
The poll underscores the serious shortage of workers in farming and other key sectors as the country grapples with a declining population.
Delivery trucks at a parking area along the highway in Chiba Prefecture in April
JAPAN / Society
Sep 14, 2023
Japan set to expand visa framework to tackle driver shortage
The planned expansion of the visa framework is to attract foreign nationals to the logistics industries and to address the driver shortage problem.
Women work in a warehouse in on the outskirts of Chennai, India.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 5, 2023
India's women gig workers organize with WhatsApp and secret meetings
Once seen as promising greater autonomy and higher earnings for women in India, the system is now riddled with issues.
The income gap remained wide among Japanese households in 2021, but the labor ministry said measures to keep unemployment low helped prevent the gap from widening further.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2023
Japan's household income gap neared record high amid pandemic
A key parameter for measuring income inequalities, known as the Gini coefficient, came to 0.5700, worsening 0.0106 point from the previous study in 2017.
Koichi Hagiuda (center), the policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, visits a dispatching agency for foreign trainees in Hanoi and talks to students there last month.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2023
Illegal practices found at 7,247 firms employing foreign trainees
The most common violations involved breaches of safety rules, with the second most common being unpaid wages.
The population of Japanese nationals fell 801,000 in 2022 from a year earlier to 122,423,038, marking the largest drop since the survey began in 1968, government data showed Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2023
Number of Japanese drops in all 47 prefectures for first time as foreign population surges
As of Jan. 1, Japan's population, including foreign residents, stood at 125,416,877, down around 511,000 from a year earlier.
Foreign workers take notes during a meeting at a nursing care facility operator in Nagoya.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 24, 2023
Ministry panel starts talks to ease foreign care worker rules
The panel of experts will examine whether to allow foreign workers to engage in home-visit care services, currently not permitted partly due to concerns about language barriers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2023
Japan's business world welcomes foreign worker status expansion
It remains unclear whether the visa expansion will lead to an increase in foreign workers who plan stay in Japan for the long term.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 10, 2023
Japan faces headwinds in drawing foreign workers despite visa change
The country faces strong competition as an attractive workplace amid a weakening yen and rival Asian locations such as Taiwan and South Korea, which have fewer visa requirements.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2023
Japan's Cabinet OKs expansion of skilled worker visa eligibility
The No. 2 category, which brings much improved residency conditions, is set to be expanded to nine more industries by this fall.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 23, 2023
LDP approves plan to expand scope of skilled worker visa
Under the plan, the government will increase the number of sectors able to grant foreign workers a special status that effectively grants them permanent residency.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2023
Ministry panel outlines proposals for scrapping Japan's foreign intern program
The interim report says program participants should be allowed to switch jobs and eventually be able to move to a visa allowing an indefinite stay in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 27, 2023
Kishida's policies on children key to dealing with aging society
The government's estimates showed Japan's population continuing to decline, albeit at a slower pace thanks to a greater inflow of foreign nationals.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2023
Japan aims to draw digital nomads and ¥100 trillion in foreign investment
The plan comes as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine have underscored the need to streamline and strengthen supply chains for critical components.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2023
Japan plans to expand scope of long-term foreign worker program
The number of sectors covered by the Type 2 status, which allows workers to stay indefinitely, will be increased to 11 from the current two, with food services among the new areas.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2023
Japan to launch new visa track next week for skilled foreign workers
Under the new measure, the government will grant the visa to foreign applicants and introduce preferential treatment for those who meet certain conditions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2023
Despite surging incomes, Japanese women earn 75% less than men
Around 70% of female workers are employed in part-time or nonpermanent jobs, which often mean lower pay and fewer opportunities for advancement.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2023
Justice Ministry panel backs abolishing Japan's foreign trainee program
The panel said a new system should be established that recognizes the interns as workers helping Japan overcome its labor shortage.
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

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[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

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