News On Japan

Japan's massive health and labor ministry targeted for breakup

Aug 02 (Nikkei) - The Japanese government is considering splitting the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, concluding that the mammoth bureaucracy with an extensive portfolio is incapable of responding to the complex needs of an aging society.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will submit a proposal as early as this month recommending a split, which will be part of a broader government review of its 13 agencies and ministries created through a reorganization 20 years ago.

The goal is to break up the ministry into two entities by 2020, with one covering health- and welfare-related duties and the other handling labor ministry matters.

The ministry, created through the merger of the Labor and the Health and Welfare ministries in 2001, currently handles everything from running national social welfare programs to promoting change in the nation's workplace culture.

Japan has undergone a sea change since 2001. Creating sustainable pensions and medical insurance programs is deemed urgent to cope with the aging society while workplace reform that improves productivity has become imperative amid acute labor shortages. Yet the ministry's overstretched portfolio is preventing swift responses to those issues, even resulting in a series of missteps.

In 2007, it came to light that the ministry could not match about 50 million pension accounts to their owners. Scandals have been rampant since then, ranging from data leaks to a failure to pay out pensions. More recently, the ministry published faulty data on hours worked by those on flexible schedules, forcing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration to curtail the scope of work reform legislation.

Part of the problem involves understaffing. A combined 31,000 people work at the ministry and its affiliated bodies this fiscal year, down by about 6,000 from a decade ago. The ministry is often dubbed the "Forced Labor Ministry" for the notoriously long hours of its employees. Nearly two decades after the merger, the two former ministries have yet to become a fully integrated organization.

And with only one cabinet minister fielding parliamentary inquiries on bills the ministry submits to the Diet, the legislative process often becomes bogged down.

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

A suspicious object feared to be explosive was discovered at a high school in Sapporo on the afternoon of November 22nd, causing temporary chaos. The object was found to have been brought to the school by one of its students.

China says it will resume allowing visa-free visits by Japanese nationals on short-term trips from the end of this month. (NHK)

Japan is facing a deepening crisis of poverty and inequality, with rising reports of 'invisible homeless' individuals and growing economic hardships among the population. Discussions over reforms to the country's tax and welfare systems have taken center stage, as policymakers grapple with how to provide meaningful support.

A special lighting ceremony was held on November 20th at Ueno Toshogu Shrine, located in Ueno Park, Taito Ward, Tokyo. The event featured a unique lighting design created by renowned lighting designer Motoko Ishii.

A Japanese pharmaceutical company has announced the successful commercialization of fiber made from silk produced by bagworms.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A man with a distinctive snake-like tattoo on his face has been arrested for shoplifting and assaulting a convenience store employee in Tokyo. The suspect, identified as 49-year-old Masakatsu Echizenya, is accused of stealing items from a store around noon on November 15th and violently attacking the employee who confronted him.

Hifumi Kato, affectionately known as 'Hifumin,' has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records for the longest-running chess puzzle column in a magazine.

A male caretaker at Tennoji Zoo in Osaka has been sent to prosecutors on suspicion of stealing vegetables and fruits used as monkey feed.

The operator of a strip theater in Osaka's Tenma district, advertised as "Western Japan's largest," has been arrested alongside nine others for exposing dancers' lower bodies to customers, police announced.

Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine in Nachikatsuura Town, Wakayama Prefecture, has begun producing traditional calligraphy artwork for next year’s New Year celebrations.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested five people on suspicion of violating Japan's Employment Security Act. They are believed to have run a nationwide operation to recruit women via social media to work in the sex industry. (NHK)

A human hand was discovered protruding from the ground at a cemetery in Nara City on November 18th, around 1:30 p.m.

Tanikawa Shuntaro -- a renowned Japanese poet who used his keen sense of observation in creating a vast body of work -- has died of old age. He was 92. (NHK)