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Japanese population declines by record 180,000 to 127.51 mil.
Japan’s estimated population decreased for the second year in a row, declining by a record 183,000, or 0.14 percent, from a year earlier to 127,510,000 as of Oct. 1, 2009, government data showed Friday. It was the third year-on-year decline in Japan’s population since 1950 when comparable data became available, the Ministry of Internal Affairs…
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Homeless fighting park renovation
Protesters fear Nike deal leaves them in cold A group of protesters camped out in Tokyo’s Miyashita Park [the site of most March in Marches] has stalled Shibuya Ward’s plan to renovate the site in collaboration with sporting goods maker Nike Inc. The protesters argue a public park built with taxpayer money should be available…
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Gov’t drafts guidelines for teaching Japanese to foreign residents
A government subcommittee has drafted guidelines for the first time on teaching Japanese to foreign residents of Japan in order to support them in their daily lives, government officials said Thursday. The draft guidelines compiled by a Council for Cultural Affairs subcommittee lists examples of words and phrases that foreigners should be encouraged to learn…
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Woman sues Prada Japan for firing her after she reported inappropriate remarks
A former division manager at Prada Japan has filed a lawsuit against the company for firing her after she reported inappropriate remarks by a superior, it has been learned. The 36-year-old former manager with the Italian fashion house’s Tokyo office filed a suit against Prada Japan with the Tokyo District Court, seeking the reversal of…
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[Questionable] Justice for former JNR workers
A 23-year-old labor dispute affecting former workers of the now-defunct Japanese National Railways (JNR) is likely to be resolved, as the National Railway Workers’ Union (Kokuro) and other bodies concerned have accepted a ¥20 billion settlement plan. Under the plan, worked out by the coalition government and Komeito, 910 households will each receive ¥22 million…
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Ultranationalist ‘citizens groups’ on the march
“Get out of Japan!” “Cockroach.” “Kimchi.” Those were just some of the insults hurled at a demonstration on Feb. 21 in Tokyo’s Minato Ward. More than 100 protesters belonging to several groups describing themselves as “active conservatives” gathered in front of a building that houses both the consular affairs department of the South Korean Embassy…
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For Japan to thrive, the wall must come down
More than 20 years have passed since the Berlin Wall fell, yet Japan remains shut out from the rest of humanity by its own wall. Though it is a shapeless partition that we cannot touch, it nevertheless cuts off the country from the world beyond its shores. What are the characteristics of this invisible barrier?…
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End to long JR dispute inspires mixed feelings
Former national railway workers have mixed feelings about Friday’s settlement of a 23-year-old dispute over Japan Railway companies’ refusal to hire them when Japanese National Railways was privatized in 1987. “Sixty of our coworkers have passed away. I deeply regret I can’t share the joy of the resolution with them, but we can embark on…
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23-yr dispute over JR’s refusal to hire union workers to be settled
Representatives of union workers decided Friday to accept a proposal in which the government would pay each worker roughly 22 million yen, bringing to an end a 23-year-old dispute over the refusal of Japan Railway companies to hire them. The ruling parties and the opposition New Komeito party presented the roughly 20 billion yen settlement…
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The ALT Scam
Cross-posted from the Fukuoka General Union. Throughout Japan Boards of Education have been moving away from the JET program in favour of outsourcing ALT jobs to dispatch companies. In Fukuoka it has come to the point that most BOEs subcontract out their work. This page is aimed to shed some light on the current systems…