The Scourge of Overtourism
Japan is facing the problem of “overtourism.” Between 2010 and 2017, annual visitors to Japan grew from 8.6 million to 28.7 million. The Japanese media refers to the problem as “tourism pollution.”
Category Archives: Economy
New Train Station on the Yamanote Line
JR East is constructing a new train station on the Yamanote Line between Shinagawa and Tamachi. The station will connect to the Keihin-Tohoku Line, Yamanote Line, and the Shinkansen.
Fight for $15 Reaches Japan
Protesters gathered in the Shibuya district of Tokyo on October 2. They want McDonald’s to raise its minimum wage to 1,500 yen per hour (about US$13).
Defrauding the Tsunami Victims
Two Director-Generals of the Fisheries Agency from 2011 and 2012, Masanori Sato and Kazuyoshi Honkawa, have been accused of taking funds from the victims of the 2011 tsunami and distributing them to the whaling industry. This is the contention of Ren Yabuki, the Director of the NGO Life Investigation Agency, and he has now launched a lawsuit against these officials.
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.
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.
