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Haraguchi positive on foreigner voting rights
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi responded positively Thursday to the proposed granting of voting rights to foreign nationals with permanent residency in gubernatorial, mayoral and local assembly elections. “Some conclusion should be reached on the matter, and I want to seek a realistic response,” he said in an interview with news organizations. A…
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Kamei blames Keidanren for rise in suicides
The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) is responsible for the recent increase in the number of family murder-suicides, according to financial and postal affairs minister Shizuka Kamei, an outspoken politician who has stirred controversy since his appointment last month. Firms have stopped treating people as humans and this has led to an increase in families…
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2 gangsters held over holding of ex-Nova boss
Two members of the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate were arrested on the spot Monday on suspicion of confining the former president of the failed language school chain Nova Corp. inside a Tokyo hotel, police said. According to senior police officials, the two men confined Nozomu Sahashi, 58, who has been sentenced to 3-1/2 years’ imprisonment for…
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Brace for a possible spring shock
When spring approaches next year, many foreigners in Japan could be in for a rude awakening: From April 1, all those who apply to extend their visa in Japan will be asked to show proof of enrollment in one or other of Japan’s main national health systems, the shakai hoken (social health insurance and pension)…
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Yakuza nabbed for confining disgraced ex-president of NOVA in hotel room
Several men including a yakuza member have been arrested for confining the former president of failed English conversation school Nova for several days in a hotel room, police said. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) arrested several men on Monday, including a member from a gang related to the Yamaguchi-gumi criminal syndicate, on suspicion of confining…
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Ozawa positive about granting local voting rights to non-Japanese
Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa says he will try to take the issue of giving foreigners local voting rights to next year’s regular Diet session. In a meeting with South Korean lawmaker Lee Sang Deuk in Tokyo on Saturday, Ozawa told Lee he favors granting local suffrage to permanent residents of Japan,…
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New law: no dues, no visa
An article from July that concerns every foreigner working in Japan. Are you enrolled in Shakai Hoken or did Interac tell you you weren’t eligible? Are you going to have to pay up to two years of back pay into the system next year because Interac/Maxceed did not register you into the system when you…
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Few answers for language market
Japan’s language-related business sales have been on the decline, falling for the fourth straight in year in fiscal 2008, according to a market research firm. English-language schools, the largest segment of the language market, admit they are hurting from a decline in adult classes and blame the sluggish economy and the fallout from the Nova…
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Liberation In Iwate
In 2007, I recieved an email from an Interac employee that was interested in being directly hired by his BOE. He had tried in earnest to improve his working conditions through Interac, but they were uninterested in signing him up for Shakai Hoken, unemployment insurance, giving him a raise, etcetera. At the time I was…