Latest news with #Toyooka
NHK
26-07-2025
- Climate
- NHK
Dangerous heat continues across Japan on Sunday
Japanese weather officials expect Sunday to be another scorching day across the country. Temperatures are expected to reach dangerous levels of 38 degrees Celsius or higher in the Kinki region. People are advised to continue taking measures to avoid heatstroke. The Meteorological Agency says a high-pressure system will cover areas near the country's main island of Honshu, bringing sunny and hot weather. Daytime highs will rise to 35 degrees or higher in many regions, with 39 degrees forecast for Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, and 38 degrees in Kyoto City. Heatstroke alerts have been issued for 20 prefectures, including Kyoto and Nagasaki. The continued sweltering heat over an extended period has led to a rise in the number of people who have been taken to hospital with symptoms of heatstroke. Some patients have died. People are advised to use air conditioning, consume adequate amounts of water and salt, and take breaks during outdoor activities.
Japan Times
14-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Fukushima looks to local initiatives to combat population decline
As the number of children continues to fall, Fukushima Prefecture is set to launch a public-private partnership initiative in the current fiscal year involving young professionals from businesses, organizations and financial institutions to identify challenges faced in the prefecture and in each region. The goal is to share a sense of crisis between the public and private sectors and mitigate the outflow of young people, especially women, which has been a major factor behind population decline and the falling birth rate. According to the health and welfare ministry, the number of babies born in Japan in 2024 was 686,061 — a figure below the 700,000 threshold that came 15 years earlier than projected by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. In Fukushima Prefecture, the number of births declined for the ninth consecutive year to 8,216, and the total fertility rate fell to a record-low 1.15, one of the lowest in the country. Although marriage numbers have shown signs of recovery nationwide, they are still falling in Fukushima. The prefecture is looking into unique local initiatives elsewhere for clues to ease the pace and impact of the declining birth rate to build sustainable communities in the future. Toyooka's example The city of Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture, is one example that has garnered national attention in advancing a public-private partnership for the past eight years to tackle depopulation. The city is taking measures to alleviate gender gaps in various aspects of society, which are said to have led to an exodus of young women. Although Toyooka is the central city of the Tajima region in the northern part of Hyogo Prefecture, its population has declined by over 10,000 from about 90,000 in 2005 when six municipalities merged to form the present-day city of Toyooka. The city began taking steps after its original indicator, called the 'youth-return rate,' showed an acute outflow of young women. The rate compares the number of those in their teens who left the city for education to those who returned for work in their 20s. Between 2010 and 2015, 52.2% of young men returned, while only 26.7% of young women did. In 2018, then-Mayor Muneharu Nakagai launched an initiative to improve the workplace environment, as he was concerned that the male-centric society may have been behind the stark difference in the youth-return rate. The first step Nakagai took was establishing a public-private council to recruit companies committed to creating workplaces that are inclusive and rewarding to workers regardless of gender. Sixteen businesses joined the initiative at the outset. Shinji Okamoto, chairman of the Toyooka Chamber of Commerce and Industry who headed the council, recalled thinking that businesses couldn't be blamed for population decline. However, after attending the council's lectures and meetings, his perspective changed. Okamoto runs Toho Seiko, a precision spring manufacturer, in Toyooka. He admits he hadn't previously paid attention to the gender gap in his company. But in reviewing the tasks of his 120 employees, he realized there were stereotypical gender divisions in their roles and pay, such as men using machines to manufacture products while women handled weighing and inspections. In the course of a series of reforms, the company saw its first male employee take child care leave. It also ended the practice of women serving tea in the office and sent female employees to city-run career development courses. In 2022, the company revised its evaluation system to make it more fair for all employees. In 2023, four female employees passed the national exam for certified spring manufacturing technicians — a first for the company — with other women joining the ranks in the following years. Nakata Kogei, a wooden-hanger maker in Toyooka, is another company that joined the council's initiative from the outset. President Shuhei Nakata, 46, said the initiative resonated with his thinking. After his second child was born, he took a month of child care leave in 2019 and introduced formal 'parental leave' at the company. Nakata revised the company's work evaluation system and made a strict policy against workplace harassment. Along with efforts to make value-added products, these workplace improvements began to attract women to the company, even those with no ties to Toyooka. The company now has 65 employees, and women account for nearly 40%, up from around 10% before. Female employees are active in various roles, including in overseas sales, utilizing their language skills. An association of heads of local districts in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture, holds a meeting to discuss issues related to the gender gap in society. | Fukushima Minpo 'We offer equal opportunities for all employees based on their ability and willingness, regardless of gender,' Nakata said. The council has grown to 124 member organizations, ranging from manufacturing and construction to retail businesses, which are mostly small and medium-size companies. Their collective efforts are making steady progress to overturn a common assumption that rural areas lack workplaces that leverage women's skills and experiences. Raising awareness In March 2021, the Toyooka municipal government also drafted a 'gender gap elimination strategy,' advocating for systems and customs rooted in traditional gender roles to be overhauled. The city has been reaching out to community organizations, schools and families to raise awareness in every corner of society. The strategy targets unconscious bias and rigid gender roles in household and community activities, officials say. In outreach programs, awareness-raising training and workshops are held for heads of local administrative districts and community leaders. On the education front, sessions are offered for nursery and kindergarten staff members, school teachers and administrators, as well as junior high school student councils. The city also distributes original picture books featuring storks to schools and kindergartens as early-learning materials about gender and diversity. Such measures are beginning to yield results, albeit small ones. At a meeting of an association of district heads, one district shared a conversation about gender roles in a local danjiri fall festival. Women, who are traditionally assigned to host rest areas for male mikoshi (portable shrine) carriers, asked that their roles be streamlined. The district leader reported plans to rethink the festival operations, saying, 'We want to create a community where children who grow up here will want to stay in the future.' In response to the city's call, the district also reviewed its disaster response system. Out of the five disaster-prevention committee members, two seats were allocated to women who had previously been assigned to supporting roles such as preparing food. 'No quick fix' Efforts to alleviate gender gaps as part of regional population strategies are spreading to other areas, including Nanto in Toyama Prefecture and Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture. The government's 2025 white paper on gender equality, approved at a Cabinet meeting on June 13, also emphasized the need to eliminate biased views on traditional gender roles in rural areas as part of efforts to rectify an overconcentration of people in Tokyo. Still, even Toyooka has yet to halt its population and birth rate declines. Officials say it takes time to create a society where men and women support each other to make childbirth and parenting easier. Kiyomi Harada, head of the city's diversity and gender gap division, stressed the importance of continuous efforts. 'As a government, we aim to offer opportunities for dialogue while raising awareness.' Okamoto, the head of Toyooka's public-private council, said he takes on many leadership roles in local communities out of a belief that 'businesses only work when people live there.' He noted that both Toyooka and places like Fukushima, where he makes frequent business trips, face challenges in battling population declines. 'There's no quick fix for the declining birth rate,' Okamoto said, adding that each member of the community should face the issue from their own perspective. 'Things will not change without involvement from a wide range of people, including from businesses.' This section features topics and issues covered by the Fukushima Minpo, the prefecture's largest newspaper. The original articles were published June 15 and June 16.
