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Nippon Keidanren weakens commitment on job security
Revised guidelines have put members of the nation’s largest business group on a collision course with their labor unions during talks next spring over job security and pay hikes. Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), in its guidelines for the 2009 shunto spring labor-management negotiations released Tuesday, simply said employment is an “extremely important issue” and…
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Asylum claims nearly double
Swamped, the Foreign Ministry is running out of support funds The number of people seeking asylum in Japan is surging toward a new record, and the government is grappling to deal with the flood, a nonprofit support organization has warned. Due to the rapid increase, to almost double the number of last year’s applicants, the…
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Masukawa concedes importance of English-speaking ability
Toshihide Masukawa, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics, delivered a speech in Japanese at the Nobel Lectures 2008 held in Stockholm on Monday, but later admitted the importance of English speaking ability. Apparently frustrated at being unable to communicate with other Nobel Prize-winners, Masukawa, 68, said ruefully: “As a scientist, I want to…
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Minimum wage far below cost of living for men in 20s in metropolitan area: survey
Men in their 20s in and around Tokyo need to earn 1,345 yen an hour to maintain the minimum standard of living — far more than the current minimum wage of 766 yen, figures from a labor think tank have shown. For men in their 20s living by themselves, the institute found that they needed…
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Japan is least healthy place in the world to work
The workaholic nation of Japan has been crowned the most unhealthy country in the world to be an employee. Japan is home to the highest rates of employees suffering from work-related health problems, according to a new global survey. As many as three in five Japanese workers complain that they have become ill or unhealthy…
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Revised Nationality Law enacted
The revised law was approved at a House of Councillors plenary session by a majority vote, although nine lawmakers from New Party Nippon and the People’s New Party, including NPN leader Yasuo Tanaka, voting against it. Haruko Arimura and Seiichi Eto, both Liberal Democratic Party members, and upper house Vice President Akiko Santo, former LDP…
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Law revision sparks family joy
Families seeking Japanese nationality for children born out of wedlock to Japanese fathers and foreign mothers were overjoyed at the passing of a revision to the Nationality Law on Friday. The revision will enable a child born out of wedlock whose parents are unmarried to obtain Japanese nationality and take his or her father’s name…
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Communist leader urges Japan PM to protect part-timers, smaller businesses amid economic slowdown
The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) leader has urged Prime Minister Taro Aso to take emergency measures to protect the employment of non-regular workers and smaller businesses amid the economic slowdown. It is extremely rare for the JCP leader to meet exclusively with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) head. In the meeting on Friday, JCP…
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Sour Strawberries Preview
Featuring interviews with Nambu FWC allies Kanagawa City Union, Zentoitsu Workers Union, activist Arudou Debito, and scenes from the March in March 2008 march through Shibuya, Tokyo:
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Japanese paternity gives nationality to kids born to unmarried foreign mothers
A revised bill of the Nationality Law that allows children born to unmarried Japanese fathers and foreign mothers to acquire Japanese nationality with only the father’s acknowledgement of paternity was enacted on Friday after passing in the House of Councillors plenary session. In article three of the current law, children of unmarried parents cannot obtain…