Society

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.

Do Bears Prefer Acorns or Berries?

Bear sightings across Japan have already climbed to nearly twice the level recorded during the same period last year, prompting entry bans in mountain areas behind Kyoto’s Ninna-ji Temple and the cancellation of hiking events in Kansai, while new research suggests that the key to reducing encounters may lie in understanding what bears eat in each region.

Copper Thieves Target Japanese Shrines

Copper roofing panels were stolen from several shrines in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, including a city-designated cultural property, in the latest case amid a nationwide surge in copper thefts targeting shrines and temples across Japan, where soaring metal prices have fueled crimes that leave historic religious buildings damaged, exposed to the elements, and facing repair costs of millions of yen.

1200-Year-Old Temple on Miyajima Reduced to Ashes

Flames broke out on the morning of May 20th on Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, home to one of Japan's World Heritage sites, destroying Reikado Hall near the summit of Mount Misen.

From Bento Boxes to Garbage Bags, Rising Costs Hitting Daily Life Across Japan

Uncertainty surrounding the situation in the Middle East is beginning to affect daily life in Japan, as concerns over crude oil supplies spread to restaurants, cleaning services and even household garbage disposal systems across the Kansai region.

Tochigi Robbery-Murder Suspect’s Wife Posted Dance Videos on Social Media

A 25-year-old woman arrested as a suspected ringleader in a robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture once posted cheerful dance videos on social media and was remembered by those who knew her as an energetic and outgoing young woman.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Garbage Burnoff Spreads to 3 Buildings in Okayama

A fire that broke out in Kagamino, Okayama Prefecture, shortly after noon on May 20th destroyed three buildings, including a home, after flames from open burning spread to dead leaves and then to nearby structures.

Gang Members Arrested After Opening Office Near Nursery

Six people, including a senior member of a group affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate's Kohei-ikka faction, have been arrested on suspicion of opening a gang office in a prohibited area near a nursery school in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward.

Six Police Officers Injured After Man Sprays Liquid at Station

A man who visited a police station in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in the early hours of May 21st allegedly sprayed a transparent liquid inside the building, causing six police officers to complain of eye and throat pain and be taken to hospital with minor injuries.