Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Japan Times
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer
A Finance Ministry project team compiled a set of proposals Monday to reform the ministry, focusing on achieving a more efficient working style and better work-life balance for its bureaucrats.
The ministry's officials are generally considered the elite of the nation's bureaucrats, but they also have a policy-wonk image.
Some of the 50 proposals encourage officials to use their paid vacation, take parental leave and have family members visit the ministry once in a while.
"In our ministry, not many male workers have had child-care leave, but I think if the situation is right they should take it more," said Hidenori Sakota, director of the ministry's policy planning and research division.
Sakota is part of the project team that has 20 members from various sections of the ministry.
The workload for central government bureaucrats is notoriously heavy. For instance, when budget-related bills are deliberated in the Diet, some Finance Ministry officials often have to work all night to prepare notes so Cabinet ministers can answer questions during committee sessions.
When Naoto Kan became finance minister in January, he instructed the bureaucrats under his sway to create an in-house project team to come up with suggestions for reforming the ministry and its work style, with the catch phrase "bureaucrats can go out on dates on weekdays."
The team's report calls for other reforms as well, such as more interaction with the private sector and other ministries.
Kan said that while the report is well-written, it should have addressed more specific issues.
"I'd give it a 77" out of 100, he said.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Population shrank by record 183,000 in '09
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Kyodo News
Japan's population has entered full-scale decline and shrank by a record 183,000 people over the past year, government data showed Friday.
As of Oct. 1, the population stood at an estimated 127,510,000 after shrinking by a record 0.14 percent, contracting for the second year in a row.
The year-on-year drop is the third to strike Japan since 1950, when comparable data first became available, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said in the report. The other two shrinkages occurred in 2005, when it fell by 19,000, or 0.01 percent, and in 2008, when it contracted by 79,000, or 0.06 percent.
The ministry said its estimate was based on the results of the 2005 national census, annual data on births and deaths, and immigration data on entries and departures.
The female population stood at 65,380,000, down 61,000, or 0.09 percent, as deaths outnumbered births by 5,000, marking the first natural decline.
The male population stood at 62,130,000, down 121,000, or 0.20 percent, for the fifth consecutive annual decline as deaths exceeded births by 54,000.
Japan's population has entered a stage of full-scale decline as both men and women recorded natural decreases, ministry officials said.
The figures in the latest report included foreigners who stayed in Japan for 91 days or more and foreign students. The number of Japanese came to 125,820,000, revealing a decline of 127,000, or 0.10 percent.
The number of people who entered Japan totaled 3,114,000, up 250,000 from the previous year, while those who left the country stood at 3,237,000, up 329,000, meaning that social factors caused the total population to shrink by 124,000.
Of the 124,000, foreigners accounted for 47,000, marking the first decline in 15 years linked to social factors.
The officials attributed the decline in the foreign population to the recession triggered by the collapse of trading house Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2008.
Many foreigners lost their jobs and returned to their home countries as the financial crisis unfolded, the officials said.
The number of people aged 65 and older came to 29,005,000, up by 789,000 and accounting for 22.7 percent of the population.
In contrast, those aged 14 or younger fell by 165,000 to 17,011,000. The productive segment of the population, or those between the ages of 15 and 64, came to an estimated total of 81,493,000, shrinking by 806,000.
Kyodo News
Japan's population has entered full-scale decline and shrank by a record 183,000 people over the past year, government data showed Friday.
As of Oct. 1, the population stood at an estimated 127,510,000 after shrinking by a record 0.14 percent, contracting for the second year in a row.
The year-on-year drop is the third to strike Japan since 1950, when comparable data first became available, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said in the report. The other two shrinkages occurred in 2005, when it fell by 19,000, or 0.01 percent, and in 2008, when it contracted by 79,000, or 0.06 percent.
The ministry said its estimate was based on the results of the 2005 national census, annual data on births and deaths, and immigration data on entries and departures.
The female population stood at 65,380,000, down 61,000, or 0.09 percent, as deaths outnumbered births by 5,000, marking the first natural decline.
The male population stood at 62,130,000, down 121,000, or 0.20 percent, for the fifth consecutive annual decline as deaths exceeded births by 54,000.
Japan's population has entered a stage of full-scale decline as both men and women recorded natural decreases, ministry officials said.
The figures in the latest report included foreigners who stayed in Japan for 91 days or more and foreign students. The number of Japanese came to 125,820,000, revealing a decline of 127,000, or 0.10 percent.
The number of people who entered Japan totaled 3,114,000, up 250,000 from the previous year, while those who left the country stood at 3,237,000, up 329,000, meaning that social factors caused the total population to shrink by 124,000.
Of the 124,000, foreigners accounted for 47,000, marking the first decline in 15 years linked to social factors.
The officials attributed the decline in the foreign population to the recession triggered by the collapse of trading house Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2008.
Many foreigners lost their jobs and returned to their home countries as the financial crisis unfolded, the officials said.
The number of people aged 65 and older came to 29,005,000, up by 789,000 and accounting for 22.7 percent of the population.
In contrast, those aged 14 or younger fell by 165,000 to 17,011,000. The productive segment of the population, or those between the ages of 15 and 64, came to an estimated total of 81,493,000, shrinking by 806,000.
Redress OK'd for Minamata sufferers
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Kyodo News
The government on Friday adopted the redress measures for unrecognized Minamata disease sufferers at a Cabinet meeting, including a ¥2.1 million lump-sum payment and ¥12,900 to ¥17,700 in monthly medical allowances per person.
Under the scheme, the sufferers, expected to total more than 35,000, are relieved of medical expenses for treatment, including acupuncture and moxibustion therapy.
The government plans to start accepting applications as early as May 1, the anniversary of the official recognition of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease in 1956, when a memorial service for the victims is held each year in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture.
It will be the largest settlement since a rescue package was compiled in 1995 by the government for unrecognized sufferers of the nation's worst industrial pollution case.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters: "I feel pain when I think about the hardships of those who have suffered for a long time. As a state, I apologize for that."
The neurological illness caused by mercury-tainted water that was released into the sea by chemical maker Chisso Corp. has affected coastal residents in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures. It was also confirmed in Niigata Prefecture in 1965, which was found to be caused by wastewater from a Showa Denko K.K. plant.
Redress applicants are required to submit medical certificates.
The move came after the Kumamoto District Court presented settlement terms, including the lump-sum payment and medical allowances, in a damages suit filed by unrecognized sufferers against the central and Kumamoto Prefectural governments, as well as Chisso.
Both sides have basically agreed to accept the court-brokered settlement plan.
Kyodo News
The government on Friday adopted the redress measures for unrecognized Minamata disease sufferers at a Cabinet meeting, including a ¥2.1 million lump-sum payment and ¥12,900 to ¥17,700 in monthly medical allowances per person.
Under the scheme, the sufferers, expected to total more than 35,000, are relieved of medical expenses for treatment, including acupuncture and moxibustion therapy.
The government plans to start accepting applications as early as May 1, the anniversary of the official recognition of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease in 1956, when a memorial service for the victims is held each year in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture.
It will be the largest settlement since a rescue package was compiled in 1995 by the government for unrecognized sufferers of the nation's worst industrial pollution case.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters: "I feel pain when I think about the hardships of those who have suffered for a long time. As a state, I apologize for that."
The neurological illness caused by mercury-tainted water that was released into the sea by chemical maker Chisso Corp. has affected coastal residents in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures. It was also confirmed in Niigata Prefecture in 1965, which was found to be caused by wastewater from a Showa Denko K.K. plant.
Redress applicants are required to submit medical certificates.
The move came after the Kumamoto District Court presented settlement terms, including the lump-sum payment and medical allowances, in a damages suit filed by unrecognized sufferers against the central and Kumamoto Prefectural governments, as well as Chisso.
Both sides have basically agreed to accept the court-brokered settlement plan.
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