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).
Category Archives: Economy
Facebook and the Impoverishment of the News Media Industry
Facebook has been killing real journalism through the destruction of brands and its interception of advertising revenues.
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.
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.
