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August 12, 2026
 

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LABOR LAWS

Since April 2024, the amount of overtime doctors can perform has been capped at a maximum of 960 hours per year.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 14, 2026
15% of doctors put in over 960 hours of overtime, health ministry survey finds
The results come despite yearslong efforts to address overwork in the medical industry.
People take part in the traditional May Day labor union march in Paris on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 4, 2026
From Paris on May Day: Rethinking work and solidarity in Japan
May Day came and went last Friday in the City of Light, prompting reflections on its meaning in France compared with Japan.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi addresses a May Day event in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2026
Takaichi vows support for wage hikes at May Day event
The prime minister also called for cooperation to achieve ¡°sustained wage hikes that outpace inflation.¡±
Yukimi Takahashi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in December, held prior to the 10th anniversary of the death of her daughter, Matsuri Takahashi.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Apr 1, 2026
Labor officials worry work-style reform progress could backslide
The administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has started discussing a possible easing of working-hour regulations.
The government adopted a bill Friday to support logistics systems that let truck drivers limit work to day trips.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
Government adopts bill to promote drivers¡¯ work-style reform
Under the bill, the government will subsidize the costs of drawing up plans for multiple logistics firms to relay cargo.
A labor ministry survey showed Thursday that 10.5% of workers want to work longer hours, including 0.5% who would want to exceed the 80-hour monthly overtime cap.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
One in 10 Japanese workers want to labor longer, survey shows
Meanwhile, 30.0% hope to reduce their work hours, and 59.5% are satisfied with the status quo, according to the labor ministry survey.
Yukimi Takahashi, the mother of Matsuri Takahashi, who died as a result of overwork, speaks to reporters in front of her daughter's portrait in Tokyo on Dec. 5.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2025
Mother in Dentsu suicide case opposes any easing of labor laws
The mother has spearheaded efforts to prevent kar¨­shi, including through speaking engagements at schools and labor unions.
According to the latest survey conducted by the labor ministry, Japanese companies' employment rate of workers with disabilities was 2.4%.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2025
Japan firms facing challenge of employing more workers with disabilities
According to the latest survey conducted by the labor ministry, Japanese companies¡¯ employment rate of disabled people was 2.4%.
A Loro Piana SpA luxury clothing store in Milan on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2025
Italy cracks down on sweatshops supplying Armani and Dior
For a decade, a Chinese tailor toiled in a three-story building on the outskirts of Milan, working 13 hours a day making high-end garments for brands including Italian cashmere label Loro Piana.
The working conditions cited by prosecutors shed light on the differences in wealth between people purchasing luxury goods and many of those making them.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2025
LVMH¡¯s Loro Piana faces court oversight in Italy labor probe
In some factories, working hours mostly exceeded the 8-hour legal standard, employees slept on shop floors and were paid a fraction of Italy¡¯s legal minimum, prosecutors said.
Shogakukan's office in Tokyo. The Fair Trade Commission issued a warning to Shogakukan and Kobunsha for failing to clearly indicate terms and conditions for freelancers they outsource work to.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ FTC gives first warning over freelance law breaches
Shogakukan and Kobunsha, both based in Tokyo, were urged to take preventive measures under the law, which came into effect in November 2024.
Japan has enforced tougher rules on companies to protect workers from heat after 30 workplace deaths and roughly 1,200 injuries were reported last year that were associated with high temperatures.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025
Protect workers from heat waves or face fines, Japan tells firms
The revised legislation is a rare global example of a national-level policy on heat safety for employees.
The logo of Jetstar Airways on an aircraft parked outside a maintenance hangar in Melbourne, Australia, on Feb. 27.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 22, 2025
Jetstar Japan fined for failing to provide adequate cabin crew breaks
This is the first time a ruling has been handed down in Japan regarding flight attendants¡¯ rest time, according to the plaintiffs.
A construction site in Tokyo in July 2018. Businesses failing to take measures to prevent severe heatstroke among employees will be subjected to criminal punishment from June.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 13, 2025
Japan to get tough on businesses not taking heatstroke countermeasures
Violators will be punishable with up to six months¡¯ imprisonment or a maximum fine of ?500,000 ($3,380).
Without the well-developed road infrastructure of many parts of Honshu, it has never been easy to be a truck driver in Hokkaido, Â鶹´«Ã½ second-largest island but largest prefecture in terms of landmass-
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Mar 3, 2025
Hokkaido trucking industry faces challenges from overtime cap
Without the well-developed road infrastructure of many parts of Honshu, it has never been easy to be a truck driver in Hokkaido.
A Dior store front in Rome. Despite passing audits, Dior's contractors in Italy have been accused of labor abuses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 2, 2025
Inside luxury goods¡¯ broken audit system
Revelations of worker exploitation in Dior¡¯s Italian production chain have exposed flaws in supply chain audits and triggered judicial action.
Jetstar Japan has been ordered to pay back wages to two cabin crew members for the periods they were suspended.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 3, 2024
Jetstar Japan loses lawsuit over disciplinary action against cabin crew
The Tokyo District Court ruled that the airline¡¯s suspension of two cabin crew members in relation to a pay dispute in 2022 was unjustified.
The labor ministry will urge companies to take action against the practice of forcing employees to buy their own products to meet sales quotas.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 26, 2024
Japan steps up measures against firms forcing workers to buy own products
The labor ministry will define such practices as a form of power harassment and require companies to take action when they occur.
Workers repair a damaged road on Jan. 7 in the aftermath of an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2024
New minister promises ample budget for disaster resilience
¡°Improving the country¡¯s resilience is an extremely important task,¡± Hiromasa Nakano said in an interview.
An expert committee convened by the health ministry has proposed introducing a limit on consecutive workdays.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 13, 2024
Japan to ban employees from working for 14 consecutive days
Employers are currently required to provide one day off a week, but loopholes mean some employees can work up to 48 days in a row.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Strong wind and heavy rain forecast as tropical storm approaches Japan
Tropical Storm Chan-hom is expected to make landfall in northern Kanto between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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