Japan's outdated corporate family model
Waka Ikeda is a Tokyo-based freelance journalist covering society, culture and the movie industry.
With Japan's fertility rate sitting at a paltry 1.2, the issue of work-life balance has gone from office chitchat to existential crisis. Some officials are advocating a four-day workweek for public servants, but are more fundamental changes needed?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
34 minutes ago
- Japan Today
Brazil's Supreme Court justices agree to make social media companies liable for user content
Minister Luiz Fux, left, Google Brazil's rapporteur, talks with Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberto Barroso, during the court's resumption of social media regulation cases regarding online disinformation, in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) By MAURICIO SAVARESE and ELÉONORE HUGHES The majority of justices on Brazil's Supreme Court have agreed to make social media companies liable for illegal postings by their users, in a landmark case for Latin America with implications for U.S. relations. Brazil's top court decided to rule on two different cases to reach an understanding on how to deal with social media companies as reports of fraud, child pornography and violence among teenagers become rampant online. Critics warn such measures could threaten free speech as platforms preemptively remove content that could be problematic. Gilmar Mendes on Wednesday became the sixth of the court's 11 justices to vote to open a path for companies like Meta, X and Microsoft to be sued and pay fines for content published by their users. Voting is ongoing but a simple majority is all that is needed for the measure to pass. The ruling will come after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned of possible visa restrictions against foreign officials allegedly involved in censoring American citizens. One such official reportedly is Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has taken measures against social media outlets he deemed to have not complied with Brazilian law. The only dissenting Brazilian justice so far is André Mendonça and his vote was made public last week. The court is yet to decide how such regulations will be enacted. Mendonça said free speech on social media is key for the publication of information that "holds powerful public institutions to account, including governments, political elites and digital platforms.' Justice Flávio Dino, the first to vote on Wednesday, reminded his colleagues that recent cases of school shootings in Brazil were stimulated on social media. He read out postings by one user who said he was happy by watching families of dead children 'weeping, bleeding, dying.' 'I think social media has not made humanity closer to what it has produced in best fashion,' he said. The social media proposal would become law once voting is finished and the result is published. But Brazil's Congress could still pass another law to reverse the measure. The current legislation states social media companies can only be held responsible if they do not remove hazardous content after a court order. Public debate on regulating social networks increased in Brazil in the aftermath of the Jan. 8 riot in 2023, when supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro ransacked Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in the capital, Brasilia. Platforms need to be pro-active in regulating content, said Alvaro Palma de Jorge, a law professor at the Rio-based Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think tank and university. 'They need to adopt certain precautions that are not compatible with simply waiting for a judge to eventually issue a decision ordering the removal of that content,' Palma de Jorge said. Wednesday's ruling brings Brazil's approach to big tech closer to the European Union's approach, which has sought to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms. Rendering platforms automatically accountable for content on their platforms may infringe freedom of speech as they could resort to preemptively removing content, according to the Sao-Paulo based Brazilian Chamber of Digital Economy, an organization that represents sectors of the digital economy. 'This type of liability favors large companies with robust legal structures, to the detriment of smaller, national players, which negatively impacts competition,' said the organization, adding that the decision may increase barriers to innovation. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
‘A Unique Country in Asia': Sex and politics make for strange bedfellows
The political is personal in Kenji Yamauchi's 'A Unique Country in Asia,' constantly intruding on the most intimate moments. During the film's opening scene, protagonist Yoko (Ami Chong), a stay-at-home wife and clandestine sex worker, gets so distracted talking about the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that she forgets to finish servicing a client. This being a film that's acutely sensitive to social graces, the john is far too polite to kick up a fuss. Abe seems to be a constant topic of discussion for Yoko and she doesn't lack for conversation partners. Her days are spent tending to a succession of smartly dressed gents, not all of whom share her distaste for the late politician — as divisive a figure in death as he was in life. A young man gets struck off her client list after outing himself as an active Liberal Democratic Party supporter; Kimura (Kenji Iwaya), an older regular who professes to be a fellow hater, gets treated to special favors.
Nikkei Asia
3 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
The new US-China dance
Abishur Prakash is the founder of The Geopolitical Business, Inc., a Toronto-based strategy advisory firm, and produces the Mr. Geopolitics insights for global leaders. For a moment, there was respite from the economic war. The Geneva meeting led to a tariff pause. Talk of a "great rebalancing" spread, potentially redesigning the U.S.-China relationship on a scale unseen since the China Opening in 1972.
