February 27, 2019 Naho Bushimata Current problem facing Japan Currently, Japan is facing a declining birth rate and an aging population. It has decreased the number of young workers and affected the Japanese economy. This is why the Japanese government has managed to promote work style reform. Before getting into this issue, take a look at the Japanese employment system. Two types of employment Companies in Japan have two types of employment, full-time and non-regular. Usuall

February 27, 2019 Hinano Ikeda New type of relationship Recentry, it is said that many young women are working on ‘papa-katsu(papa-activity) in Japan. There is no clearly information about when ‘papa-katsu’ became popular. But since last year, ‘papa-katsu’ word has become popular. This means young women who including university students are given financial support from a middle-age man who has a high- income. It doesn’t matter if they have a wife or children. The reason rich

Sae Kanazawa February 27, 2019 In Japan, poverty level of single-mother family is one of the serious social problems. There are about 52 billion households in Japan. Among them, about 1.24 million are single-mother households. “Poor family” here means a household with less than half of the average-annual family income. The Causes of Poverty Why does single mother family become poor? Why can not they earn enough income to maintain their living? The reason lies in the differ

Erika Iijima February 27, 2019 Do you like yourself? Do you take care for yourself? A lot of Japanese teenagers have low self-esteem. Low self-esteem could lead some problems such as a suicide and bullying. In Japan, lots of teenager commits suicide every year. Is this the sad tendency unique to Japanese? Current Situation in Japan According to a survey on self-esteem by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2016, most of Japanese t

Nami Sasai February 27, 2019 Japanese people begun to see more and more foreigners throughout Japan these days. They seem like tourists or workers. Why is the number of foreign workers increasing rapidly in Japan? The time when Japan needs to live closely with foreigners seems to come now. For a country of island with mono-cultural society, can Japan incorporate diversity in itself? Depopulating Japan According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, there are curre

Palette Editorial Team December 23, 2018 Palette editors overview the basic facts and figures about Japanese women in workforce. Following the article to look back the history of female labor, we observe the trends after 1980s. This article is based on the presentations at the University of Colorado and Showa Women’s University Joint Workshop for Students, held in May 2016. Equal Opportunity in the Workplaces In 1986, a new law of Equality Employment Opportunity Law was ena

Palette Editorial Team December 23, 2018 The 2016 Gender Gap Index released by the World Economic Forum showed Japan ranked 114 out of 144 countries, down from 111th in 2016. Palette editors introduce the basic facts and figures about Japanese women in workforce. This article is based on the presentations at the University of Colorado and Showa Women’s University Joint Workshop for Students, held in May 2016. International Comparison of Female Roles in Workplaces Internation

Yoshika Maeshiro July 26, 2018 The Present Situation About Japanese Nursery Schools Now Japanese government promotes women empowerment to secure labor force population, and the problem of children on the long nursery school waiting lists also gathers people’s attention. The more the working women increases, the less are the slots at the nursery schools, which they can leave their children. According to the report of Nursery and the Relevant Circumstances published in April 1s

July 26, 2018 Misa Ogura Currently in Japan, local revitalization is a buzz word. Yokosuka city is not an exception. Yokosuka city is located in the southeastern part of Kanagawa prefecture. It is known for Sarushima, the only uninhabited island in the Tokyo Bay, a popular summer BBQ venue foryoung people. Surrounded by the Tokyo Bay and Sagami Bay, Yokosuka area is a perfect place for marine sports. And in May 2017, the ANA Windsurfing World Cup was held at Tsukui Beach. Bec

July 26, 2018 Mamiko Yuasa Even though the Paris Agreement had set up from 2 years, however, the supply of primary energies occupy fossil fuels more than 90% in Japan (see Figure 1.). This country had Great East earthquake on March 11, 2011, and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had broken. Japan were taken the place to the fossil fuels and have a plan to create 40 new fossil fuel facilities. The reason why, other country labeled Japan as “an environment developing countr

Megumi Kitazawa July 26, 2018 At the Closing ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared as Super Mario, a Japanese game character. This is a visible example that Japan has a “characteristic” culture featuring characters of manga/anime and video games. In the summer of 2020, Tokyo will host the Olympic Games and it will be a big opportunity for Japanese pop culture industry to grow in the global market. Super Mario (Courtesy: Alexas_Fotos

Mai Watanabe July 26, 2018 Poverty of Children Weakens Japan In the world, 9.6% of people lives under $1.9 per a day. It is called “absolute poverty.” 60 million of children cannot attend school because of poverty.On the contrary, 90% Japanese think that they belong to the middle class. This thinking appeared in 1970s, and it is continuing to prevail among young or old people. So, most of the people think that poverty problem is only developing country’s problem, but in reali

Aya Uchiyama July 26, 2018 How we Japan have keep “monozukuri” in industries As I studied abroad in Boston, I realized that “Made in Japan” products are really respected globally for being high quality . Nowadays, the more Japanese brands like Toyota, Uniqlo, and Muji have opened new branches and stores all over the world, the more the image of “made in Japan” increases its reliance in overseas markets and Japan today is known for creating some of the most functional, useful

July 26, 2018 Akari Aoki “About one out of thirteen Japanese is sexual minority.” That fact became clear by a survey of a major advertisement agency Dentsu Inc. In 2015, them in-company unit Dentsu Diversity Lab (DDL) conducted an extensive research in terms of LGBT and other sexual minorities and obtained 69,989 respondents from all over Japan. Courtesy: M Tänzerin mit Fächer http://foto.wuestenigel.com/tanzerin-mit-facher/tm_source=33207483130&utm_campaign=FlickrDescription

July 20, 2018 Yui Kubota Japan Need Female Workers There are big differences in parenting environments and advantages/disadvantages of child-rearing in each country. In japan, the percentage who do not satisfied with the parenting environments over 60. Japanese society are pushing female to working place because we recognize female has potential for improving our labor shortage. Japan facing with the low birthrate problem and less workers. On the other hand, the non-fulltime

July 26, 2018 Homare Itoh In 1970, the first wireless phone appeared in Japan. Personal cell phones have come a long way since their introduction in the late 1980s. Once a simple wireless communication device was developed, it has evolved into a personal computer, combining with a video game system, and equipped with a camera and phone into one convenient, pocket-sized piece of technology. As these smartphones become more sophisticated and more prevalent, the pros and cons of

July 25, 2018 Yumeka Nakata Do you know how many foreigners move to Japan as labor force? According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of foreign workers in Japan exceeded 1 million for the first time as of the end of October 2016. About 40 % them are the foreign residents who have permanent resident status (like Japanese Brazilians.) Others include specialists (interpreter, experts, and scholars) and foreign students. What is the best immigrant policy for Japan, which is

July 21, 2017 Akari Aoki, Homare Ito, Yumeka Nakata, Mamiko Yuasa, Mai Watanabe As Tokyo will host the next Olympic Games in 2020, preparations are accelerating. In this article, we’d like to focus on the differences from the first Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, featuring the spokesperson of 2020 Games in Tokyo. “Sports have a power to change the world and the future,” said Hikariko Ono*, spokesperson of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. “The O

July 20, 2017 Yui Kubota, Yoshika Maeshiro, Misa Ogura, Megumi Kitazawa On May 25 in 2017, special lecture named "Women and Technology" was held in Showa Women's University. The guest speaker was Kotomi Kobayashi who is the managing director of Manabelle Co., Ltd. As an entrepreneur and a mother as well, she is representing Manabelle (manaberu, literally meaning “you can learn”), a company developing applications for vocational training. Codebelle is one of the applications

July 13, 2017 Akari Aoki, Megumi Kitazawa, Mai Watanabe, and Misa Ogura In Japan, people usually graduate from college in March and start working as freshmen employees from April 1. Most Japanese companies officially start recruiting of college students in June and from the next April the newly-employed are sent to in-company vocational training program. Big Japanese corporations have the practice of life-long employment system so that it is very important for college-grads t