Quote of the Day
Rice shortages that began last year have seriously affected food banks nationwide.
Hiroaki Yoneyama, who heads the National Association for the Promotion of Food Bank, with which 65 organizations are affiliated. Rice shortages are pushing food banks to the brink of closure and threatening to hurt the most needy in society. Read
Japan and European members of the G7 should avoid teaming up and making (U.S. President Donald) Trump feel isolated.
Former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki, highlighting the importance of maintaining the Group of Seven framework at this weekend's G7 summit in Canada, in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump's reluctance on global cooperation. Read
The government has an obligation to explain the process to the public because of the huge amount of taxpayer money spent on the Abenomask contract.
Hiroshi Kamiwaki, a constitutional law professor at Kobe Gakuin University, who has demanded information disclosure about the project several times since April 2020. The Abe government delivered cloth masks to every household to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The masks, which became known as Abenomasks, were criticized as too… Read
Wage increases for nonregular workers are being put on the back burner.
Tetsuya Obayashi, a negotiation executive committee member and the chairperson of the Tokyo Youth Union. Amid significant salary increases for full-time employees in this year's spring labor negotiations, wage hikes for nonregular workers, who make up 37% of the overall workforce in Japan, have seen little progress. Read
The cost of education for one child through college is said to be more than ¥10 million, which makes me cautious about getting married and having children.
A 31-year-old man in Kanagawa Prefecture, who works full-time for an advertising company. In a recent nationwide poll by the Yomiuri Shimbun, economic insecurity among young people stood out as the main reason for the low birthrate in Japan. Read
There is a serious labor shortage, mainly in the transportation and nursing care sectors. To maintain Japan’s society and economy, we need to have a perspective on how Japanese and foreign workers can coexist in harmony.
Tomoya Suzuki of the NLI Research Institute. Many small and midsize companies are actively hiring foreign workers. Read
Are there any skilled workers in the United States who are willing to do the job for a monthly pay of $400? The idea of making iPhones in the United States is an illusion.
Yuqing Xing, professor of international economy at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, saying it is not viable to shift iPhone production to the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump is vigorously seeking to restore America's manufacturing might by imposing unprecedented steep tariffs on imports from nations… Read
Many foreign travelers who visit multiple destinations in Japan face language barriers when arranging their baggage transportation.
A Yamato Transport spokesperson. Yamato has teamed up with online retailers so that customers can leave their luggage at 40,000 locations across Japan, including convenience stores. From there, the items are shipped back to their homes. Read
It is infuriating to walk around Tokyo the whole day, and not find a single bin to throw away your plastic wrapping from your sandwich.
Hong Kong resident Ruben Verebes. He visited Japan for the first time in September 2024 and said he was annoyed by the difficulty of finding a place to throw litter away. Read
The Japanese sword experience was one of our main programs, so this is a real blow to us.
The president of the Yamagata tourist association. A program that lets foreign tourists use real Japanese swords as part of the martial art iaido was suddenly canceled in January in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, because it violated the Firearms and Swords Control Law. Read
