Turning Technical Interns into Slave Laborers
The Technical Intern Training Program has received a considerable amount of criticism, both nationally and internationally, from those who argue that it violates human rights.
Category Archives: Economy
Aging Population Cuts Labor Force
In recent years, the Japanese population has been decreasing significantly and this has brought about major difficulties related to a workforce shortage, and also leading to a reduction in GDP growth.
Transferring the Tokyo Fish Market
Environmental concerns about benzene contamination delayed the transfer of the Tokyo fish market from Tsukiji to Toyosu, but now the move is back on track.
Koizumi Declares Abe Behind the Curve on Nuclear Energy
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi says that a non-nuclear future for Japan has both the feasibility and widespread support for implementation—but not under the Abe Administration.
TPP 11 Designed for US Return
Kazuyoshi Umemoto, Japan’s chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, says that the new pact between eleven nations has been consciously designed to facilitate the return of the United States in the future.
Japan and the Northern Sea Route
Global warming is progressively creating a new reality that ships from East Asia, including Japan, might soon be regularly able to reach Europe more quickly via the shipping route that runs along Russia’s Arctic coast, from the Bering Strait in the east to the Kara Sea in the west, rather than using the conventional route via the Suez Canal.
Japan Lags on Socially Responsible Business Investment
In recent years the rise of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance investing has created powerful new incentives to compel companies to make meaningful changes to how they do business, but Japan remains far behind the curve.
Harrowing the Tourist Lodging Industry
The Minpaku Law appears to be aimed mainly at alleviating social problems and ensuring safety, but it risks forcing many existing Airbnb and other similar minpaku accommodations to close their doors.
Working the Japanese People to Death
Hifumi Okunuki, President of the Tokyo General Union (Tozen), discusses the unwillingness of Japanese policymakers to protect Japanese employees from death by overwork. A report by contributing videographer Sam King.
All Eyes on Canada as TPP Talks Resume
After the debacle at the end of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks last November in Vietnam, all eyes were on Canada as the talks resumed in Tokyo.
