News On Japan

Japan's Minimum Wage Talks Delayed After Deadlock

TOKYO - The final deliberations to set this year’s guideline for raising the minimum wage have ended without a consensus between labor and business representatives in Japan, resulting in a postponed outcome.

The discussions, which began at 2 p.m. on July 23, lasted for about eight hours. However, due to significant differences in opinions between labor and business representatives, the meeting was adjourned without reaching a resolution.

According to sources, adjustments are being made to set the minimum hourly wage in the mid-1,050 yen range.

In previous discussions, labor representatives had been advocating for a substantial increase, while business representatives maintained a cautious stance.

If a resolution is reached at around 1,050 yen, it would represent an increase of about 50 yen from the current national average of 1,004 yen, marking the largest hike in history.

The deliberations are scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. on July 24.

Source: ANN

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Typhoon No. 18 remained a strong storm as it passed near Minamidaito Island on August 25, with Okinawa's main island and the Amami region expected to experience their most severe rain, winds and waves late at night through around midnight. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the typhoon was near Minamidaito Island at 9 a.m. on August 25 and was moving west-northwest at 20 kilometers per hour.

The Japanese government plans to reuse low-radioactivity soil generated by decontamination work after the Fukushima nuclear accident at government office complexes in Saitama and Sendai, marking the first such reuse outside Tokyo.

An 85-year-old couple have donated a combined 400 million yen to Osaka City with a request that the money be used to create a giant Myaku-Myaku statue about 20 meters tall at the former site of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, envisioning a landmark that could become a lasting symbol of the event and of renewed prosperity for Kansai and Japan.

Lawson plans to cut prices on its main line of onigiri rice balls by 10 yen from September 29 as falling rice prices begin to feed through to retail costs.

Police have established a temporary police post in the whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, ahead of the September 1 opening of the annual drive hunt for whales and dolphins.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Business NEWS

Tokyo stocks fell on August 25, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 64,980.53, down 0.8%, as investors sold semiconductor and electronics shares ahead of Nvidia’s earnings while a weak yen, elevated bond yields and renewed U.S. pressure on Iran kept risk appetite subdued.

Japan's traditional neighborhood public baths are struggling with rising fuel, labor and operating costs, but unlike most businesses they cannot freely raise prices because admission fees remain regulated under a postwar price-control law introduced in 1946.

Tokyo stocks fell on August 24, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 65,528.09, down 488.27 points, or 0.74%, as global bond-yield pressure and caution ahead of Nvidia’s earnings triggered selling in artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares, even as the broader TOPIX edged higher.

Suzuki has unveiled a prototype of its first kei-class electric vehicle, the e SKY, which is scheduled to go on sale during the current fiscal year with a driving range of 310 kilometers, among the longest offered by a domestically produced kei EV.

Following the fare revision, a labor union representing taxi drivers in the prefecture and other groups held a news conference calling for the proportion of operating revenue paid to drivers to be raised from its current level to at least 60%.

China's exports of rare-earth magnets to Japan fell by more than half in July from a year earlier, while shipments of tungsten carbide remained at zero for a sixth consecutive month, according to trade data released by Chinese customs authorities.

Japan's nationwide core consumer price index rose 1.8% in July from a year earlier, with the pace of inflation accelerating for a second consecutive month as higher food prices and a rebound in energy costs outweighed a sharp decline in rice prices.

Mitsubishi Electric said on August 20 that it will acquire U.S.-based PCI Energy Solutions, a developer of software used to manage electricity trading and other energy operations, in a deal worth about 220 billion yen, the largest acquisition in the Japanese company's history.