Labor-starved Japan taps foreigners and seniors to drive its buses
TOKYO -- As Japanese bus operators struggle to compete with other transport companies for drivers, some are finding ways to tap talent outside the usual corners, including students from Southeast Asia and retirees seeking second careers.
In March, bus company Jotetsu agreed to a tie-up with the city of Sapporo, where it is based, and language school operator Hokkaido Arbeit Johosha. The plan is for Jotetsu to bring students on as drivers after they graduate from the two-year school. The city, which wants to maintain its bus routes, will cover part of the students' tuition and wages.
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Asahi Shimbun
27 minutes ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Group: Illegal sports bets total 6.5 trillion yen from Japan
Hironori Inagaki, representative director of the Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion, explains the state of sports betting markets. (Kosuke Inagaki) Gamblers in Japan illegally bet 6.5 trillion yen ($46 billion) on sports through overseas websites in 2024, a sign the nation should ratify an international treaty on preventing match-fixing, a group said. Betting on sports competitions has become a huge business in many countries. But most forms of sport gambling, including online wagering on competition outcomes, are prohibited in Japan. The Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion (C-SEP) released its estimated Japanese wager amount during a symposium in Tokyo on May 14. C-SEP, a Japanese general incorporated foundation aimed at expanding the sports industry, said these overseas websites have been gaining a 'free ride' on sport competitions in Japan. Last year, 4.9 trillion yen was wagered through such sites on baseball, soccer, basketball and other sports played in Japan, C-SEP officials said. Of this amount, 3.8928 trillion yen was wagered by people overseas and 1.0183 trillion yen was placed in bets by residents of Japan. Soccer, including matches, accounted for the largest slice of the bets, at 2.8534 trillion yen, followed by Nippon Professional Baseball, at 882.9 billion yen, and basketball, including games, at 522.3 billion yen. About 60 percent of the bets on Japanese soccer were placed from China, compared with just over 10 percent from Japan. Sixty percent of the bets on Japanese baseball were placed from Japan, the officials said. Some sports betting websites overseas were found livestreaming the action from professional sport competitions in Japan, as well as using team logos and even portraits of athletes, without permission, the officials added. C-SEP Representative Director Hironori Inagaki, who is also a lawyer, recommended that Japan ratify the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, which the Council of Europe brought into effect in 2019. More commonly known as the Macolin Convention, the international arrangement calls on public authorities and sport organizations to work together to prevent match-fixing and other irregularities. Inagaki said the convention has been signed by 43 countries and ratified by 14 so far. 'There is a pressing need, for Japan as well, to build a similar arrangement and join a similar framework of international cooperation,' Inagaki said. Yuki Ota, an Olympic fencing medalist and an International Olympic Committee member, also took part in the symposium. He explained that 1.65 trillion yen was bet on events at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. 'Many Japanese athletes compete in the Olympic Games, so there is a need for integrity education,' Ota said. Toshikazu Yamaguchi, president of the Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings newspaper publisher who is also owner of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team, expressed remorse over the recent revelation that some ballplayers, including Giants' members, were involved in illegal gambling on online casinos. 'With the spread of smartphones, there is a greater risk than a decade ago of players being involved in gambling,' Yamaguchi said. 'Japan should work toward signing and ratifying the Macolin Convention to prevent the nation's sporting world from being polluted with gambling and manipulation, which are descending on us from overseas.' He also pointed out there is no joint public-private body in Japan to address the issue. 'We should learn from cases overseas and promptly discuss the matter,' he said. (This article was written by Kosuke Inagaki and Taisuke Goto.)
The Mainichi
36 minutes ago
- The Mainichi
Rice, other daily goods up for grabs as new Japan crane game prizes
KAWAGOE, Saitama -- At a game center in this eastern Japan city near Tokyo, children try to win prizes in a crane game. But here, the winnings are not limited to stuffed animals and candy -- 900-gram packs of white rice are also up for grabs. "I got it!" exclaimed a child as a large bag fell with a thump from the crane game's hook. The loot? A 900-gram pack of Koshihikari prewashed rice. The child's reaction was just like they had won a stuffed animal, all the same. Responding to surging rice prices and increased consumer demand, the amusement center of Mandai Shoten's Kawagoe location in Saitama Prefecture began offering bagged rice as crane game prizes in late May. About six months ago, the location intensified its use of daily essentials as prizes, aiming to attract more families. In addition to bread, melons and strawberries, practical goods have also been available as prizes, with toilet paper once in the lineup. After consulting with a supplier about turning high-priced rice into a prize, the store introduced a crane game stocked with 900-gram bags of rice. The initial batch of 90 bags sold out within days, prompting a reorder due to the game's popularity. Store manager Hiroshi Fukasawa, 43, stated, "Even with soaring prices, there is always a desire to have fun somewhere in our hearts. By making daily necessities into prizes, I hope people will think, 'Maybe I can get these for less than buying them,' and come play casually." Yotaro Sakamoto, 40, who won a bag of rice with his family on the third attempt, commented, "I thought it would be hard to hook the prize, but I was lucky to get it. Lately, rice has been so expensive that there have been times I couldn't buy any. Now I can enjoy Koshihikari rice, if only a little." (Japanese original by Daiki Takikawa, Photo and Video Department)
Kyodo News
an hour ago
- Kyodo News
Japan PM aims for nominal GDP to reach 1,000 tril. yen in 2040
KYODO NEWS - 8 hours ago - 22:02 | All, Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday that Japan should aim to boost its economy to 1,000 trillion yen ($7 trillion) in nominal terms in 2040, instructing his ruling party executives to include it in a pledge for this summer's nationwide election. The size compares with a nominal gross domestic product of around 600 trillion yen in 2024, which met a target set about a decade ago. Japan, however, had lost its status as the world's third-largest economy to Germany the previous year. Ishiba said that while giving priority to ensuring that wage growth consistently outpaces inflation, his Liberal Democratic Party will seek to achieve an over 50 percent increase in average income in the same time frame. The goals were set as the country's major political parties are looking at ways to woo voters with their campaign pledges for the House of Councillors, or upper house, election, with opposition parties calling for reducing the consumption tax to ease the pain of inflation on households. "I wanted to share with Japanese people what specifically a strong economy will look like," Ishiba told reporters. "I've instructed party executives to target nominal GDP of 1,000 trillion yen in 2040 and over 50 percent growth in average income at the top of our election promises" for the upper house contest, he added. Nominal GDP shows the size of an economy in current prices. Japan's economy expanded in 2024 when the country was reeling from the yen's persistent weakness and the resulting cost-push inflation. In the run-up to this summer's upper house election, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the biggest opposition force, is seeking to temporarily remove the consumption tax on food, currently at 8 percent, and offer cash handouts. Party leader Yoshihiko Noda said Monday that combatting inflation is a major theme for the upper house race, which will replace half of the 248-member chamber. Ishiba, however, has taken a cautious stance on lowering the consumption tax rate on food as an inflation-relief measure. The LDP's election chief Seiji Kihara said the party will consider "effective" cash handouts with the use of surplus tax revenue when it formalizes its election platform. Related coverage: Japan's top negotiator eyes U.S. trip this week for 6th tariff talks Many see continued cuts in bond buying as appropriate: BOJ chief Ueda Japan PM says mutual understanding "deepened" with Trump over tariffs
