Abe vows to prepare for foreign workers

Dec 11, 2018 | News On Japan

Dec 11, 2018 (NHK) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to do all he can to ensure the smooth operation of a new program that will bring more foreign workers to the country.

Abe held a news conference on Monday evening at the close of an extraordinary Diet session. The Diet last week enacted into law a controversial bill to revise Japan's immigration control law that created 2 new categories of visas for foreign workers.

Abe stressed the need for the new program, saying Japan is suffering from a nationwide labor shortage and the country needs more foreign workers.

He pledged to promptly build a solid operational framework that puts a ceiling on the number of foreign workers and limits the length of their work-stay, adding it is not an immigration policy.

The Prime Minister said the government will fully take into consideration concerns raised about the program in the Diet, and will also see that its technical trainee system will also be managed properly.

On compiling Japan's budget plan for the next fiscal year, Abe said the budget will ease concerns over the future of the economy. He said all means necessary will be included to put the country's economy on a new growth oriented path to ensure that a positive economic outlook will be maintained.

Japan is set to raise its consumption tax from 8 percent to 10 percent next October.

Abe said the government will fully address ways to minimize the impact of the tax hike while offering free education to preschoolers in an effort to invest in the future of young children.

Typhoons No. 28 and 29 Bring High Waves to Japan's Pacific Coast

Two typhoons moving across the Pacific southeast of Japan are expected to remain well away from the Japanese mainland, but powerful swells could bring rough seas to a wide stretch of the country's Pacific coastline throughout the three-day holiday weekend, according to forecasts updated at 3 a.m. on October 10.

Cyberattacks Spread Across Japan

A series of cyberattacks has disrupted business operations and exposed millions of customer records across Japan, with a ransomware attack on a cloud service provider affecting 495 companies and local governments nationwide, while convenience store operator Lawson has disclosed a separate breach involving more than 2.15 million personal information records.

Japan's First 360-Degree Projection Mapping Opens in Osaka

Japan's first 360-degree projection mapping show will open at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts on October 10, transforming the historic building into an immersive world of light, music, and seasonal imagery, with organizers hoping the attraction will also help stimulate the city's nighttime economy.

Tokyo University Professor Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Tokyo University of Science professor emeritus Kenzo Soai has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with French chemist Henri B. Kagan for discoveries that transformed scientists' understanding of how chemical reactions can favor one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.

US Military Halts All Okinawa Operations for 48 Hours

The US military suspended activities by all forces stationed in Okinawa for 48 hours from noon on October 7, an unusual measure following the arrest of a US Marine in connection with a robbery and murder case that has renewed scrutiny of crimes involving American service members.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Most Sightings of Fugitive Yoichi Hatta Reported in Kanto

Police in Oita Prefecture have revealed that the Kanto region accounts for the largest number of reported sightings of Yoichi Hatta, a fugitive wanted in connection with a fatal hit-and-run incident in Beppu in 2022, with authorities preparing to distribute new wanted posters nationwide from November as the search enters its fifth year.