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An aging Japan slowly opens up to foreigners
Yanti Kartina left her family in Indonesia and joined 200 other nurses in moving to Japan, where a rapidly growing elderly population has created a desperate need for careers in old-age homes and hospitals. The nurses, who are expected to learn Japanese and requalify as they work, are seen as an important test case as…
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Tanigaki touts foreign tourism to boost economy
Attracting more foreign tourists can help offset the loss of economic vitality foreseen as the nation ages and the population declines, tourism minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Monday. “Even if we work hard to expand internal demand while the population declines, it won’t be enough,” Tanigaki said in an interview with The Japan Times. “It will…
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Once a ‘gaijin,’ always a ‘gaijin’
Gaijin. It seems we hear the word every day. For some, it’s merely harmless shorthand for “gaikokujin” (foreigner). Even Wikipedia (that online wall for intellectual graffiti artists) had a section on “political correctness” that claimed illiterate and oversensitive Westerners had misunderstood the Japanese word. I take a different view: Gaijin is not merely a word;…
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More children born with a foreign parent
Japan needs to deal with legal ramifications, experts say One of every 30 babies born in Japan in 2006 had at least one parent originating from overseas, according to a recent government survey. The survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry found that the mother, father or both parents of 35,651 babies born here…
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Goodwill ceases operations; union stages protest
Scandal-ridden temp staff agency Goodwill Inc. closed its doors for good Thursday, leaving at least 900 registered workers unable to find new jobs and a union grumbling about unpaid wages and other problems. According to Goodwill officials, about 1,600 temp workers out of the approximately 6,000 registered with the agency in late June have been…
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Nova head avoids fresh indictment
The Osaka District Public Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday it will not indict the former president of Nova Corp. for failing to pay the salaries of non-Japanese teachers and Japanese personnel. Nozomu Sahashi, 56, is already under indictment for embezzling ¥320 million from reserve funds for corporate workers at the failed foreign-language school chain. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080730b1.html
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Future unclear for dispatch workers
Management, labor at odds over plans to ban daily-paid temporary staff The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry still faces many hurdles with its plan to toughen regulations on temporary dispatch workers due to the gulf between the opinions of management and labor sides on toughening regulations. A ministry panel issued a report aimed at reversing…
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Steps eyed to triple foreign students here
Goal to enroll 300,000 by 2020 The government, hoping to boost the ranks of foreign students in Japan to 300,000 by around 2020 from 118,500 at present, unveiled steps Tuesday that include simplifying immigration procedures and allowing candidates to complete admission and accommodations applications in their own countries. “We aim to accept 300,000 students from…
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Some temp workers may be banned from jobs lasting less than a month
The government is considering banning staffing firms from dispatching one type of worker to jobs that last 30 days or less to enhance the protection of temporary workers, government sources said Sunday. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry initially planned to prohibit temporary staffing agencies from dispatching registered workers for day-labor jobs by submitting a…
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Plight of workers
…the shift from permanent employment toward part-time and temporary hiring that emerged during the prolonged economic slump has not been reversed, despite the economic turnaround Japan has seen in the past several years. Many people who failed to land full-time jobs after college graduation are now stuck in nonregular positions as they grow older. Unlike…