Recent news

It has long been a problem for married Japanese women who wish to carry on using their maiden name for professional purposes, in spite of the Civil Code obligation to adopt the husband’s family name …

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Measures to relax the visa requirements for nationals of five Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have just come into force …

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The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has proposed an amendment of the Labour Standards Act that will set a new upper limit to overtime working hours and heavily penalise any violations …

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On the 24th of July, the majority of employees in some 1000 companies in Tokyo will spend their day teleworking …

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One of the major barriers to the employment of women in Japan is the availability of day care centres for pre-school children …

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An anti-passive smoking bill is currently before the Japanese parliament …

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Having sought to encourage the growth of contract and atypical working over a decade ago – in order to reduce unemployment and contain pay growth – the Japanese government is now struggling to deal with the consequences …

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The incidence of Karoshi (death by overwork) is becoming headline news in Japan following a number of suicides and heart attacks by many talented young professionals …

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The incidence of Karoshi (death by overwork) is becoming headline news in Japan, following a number of suicides and heart attacks by many talented young professionals …

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Japan has announced that a relaxation of visa rules for Chinese visitors would come into effect on October 17th 2016 …

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A pilot “technical interns” programme which has so far permitted 192,000 skilled foreign workers, mainly from India and SE Asia, to work in Japan for up to three years is to be extended by allowing them to stay for up to five years …

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Japan’s complex personal tax system reflects a past social system where jobs were for life and women were not expected to have careers …

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The emergence of long-term negative interest rates and price deflation is driving many Japanese companies and individuals into a cash economy …

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The Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has agreed to pay special leave allowances to employees laid off after revelations last month concerning fabrication of its fuel economy test results for several models …

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Although price levels remain virtually static in Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pressing for even small rises in spending power as a way to boost the country’s lacklustre economy …

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