Nipponica

In 2022, the ministry conducted a special inspection of more than 200,000 Self-Defense Forces personnel about “power harassment” after a female former SDF member made accusations of sexual abuse under her real name.

Last December, the ministry announced it would punish 245 employees, mainly SDF staff called “uniformed officials.”

Action should be taken against any harassment but I am hesitant to think that this will make any kind of real difference in actual future change towards more equitable workplaces.

Koike, 71, secured a third consecutive four-year term, defeating Shinji Ishimaru, a 41-year-old social media-savvy former mayor from Hiroshima Prefecture, who closely contested second place with Renho, a 56-year-old former lawmaker backed by the main opposition party.

The election was initially expected to be a neck-and-neck race between Koike and Renho, both former TV anchors. However, Ishimaru, relatively unknown in Tokyo before the official campaign began, significantly boosted his profile by expanding his election activities through social media.

More of the same. Again.

“They are distasteful. As a Japanese citizen I feel embarrassed, as I see many foreign visitors pass by those billboards and they must wonder what’s going on,” said Mayumi Noda, an office worker. “As a voter, I think it’s outrageous and disrespectful to the other candidates who are seriously competing.”

A record 56 candidates, including incumbent Governor Yuriko Koike, who seeks her third four-year term, are running in the election. Many of the candidates are fringe figures or influencers seeking even more exposure. They include a man dressed as The Joker, who supports freedom of sexual expression, including allowing polygamy to help Japan’s falling birth rate.

While the exploitation of the traditional poster advertising system was a nice way to show its flaws, there is a more nihilist element in these elections than usual. Even moreso than in the British elections on Thursday, which featured its usual cast of characters like Elmo, Count Binface, and Rishi Sunak.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is scheduled to hold a summit meeting with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand on Thursday on the sidelines of a NATO summit, which is set to begin Tuesday in Washington, a U.S. government official said Friday.

NATO and the four countries are expected to discuss cyber affairs, countermeasures against false information and Ukraine aid, while keeping China and Russia in mind.

"Japan and Britain are important partners sharing values and principles. We will further promote the bilateral relationship with the new administration," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a regular press conference.

The aim is to utilize the know-how of Japan and the Southeast Asian country in removing mines and help other nations struggling with the issue, including Ukraine.

Partnerships like this are a great way to move forward to use the mistakes and wars of the past to help alleviate suffering in the conflicts of today. Cambodia had a dark history with landmines and now has a large share of knowledge of the damage they cause and how to eliminate them.

The SDF has acknowledged that the force's Sapporo Provincial Cooperation Office was involved in such activities, describing them as being "unique to Sapporo." Children's cafeterias are eateries or facilities that provide free meals to kids including those from families that have trouble putting food on the table.

Under an April 2003 notice from the vice defense minister, the then Defense Agency (now the Defense Ministry) stated that recruitment activities targeting junior high school students were to be carried out through their parents or school officials in charge of career guidance. One expert who spoke with the Mainichi Shimbun pointed out that if the Sapporo office were recruiting children directly, they may be running afoul of the notice.

The SDF is really taking this strategy from the US military in American schools. Can think of several shadow recruitment events that occurred in my schools in the past.

Japan will need 970,000 more foreign workers than it will have in 2040 to meet the nation's economic growth target, a new estimate shows, highlighting the country's challenges in attracting and retaining overseas talent.

The cultural and monetary barriers in place that keep workers from coming to Japan are working. Incentivizing pregnancies isn't working so Japan either needs to make the country more welcoming for immigrants or double down on robotification and hope Snatcher isn't brought to real life.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a news conference it was "regrettable" that China has set up a small buoy in the waters off Japan's western main island of Shikoku and north of the southernmost Okinotori Island "without explaining its purpose and other details."

The article later says that the alleged purpose of the buoy is for tsunami monitoring but an email or two to Tokyo would have been a nice gesture. A similar buoy was installed around the Senkakus last year.

Taiwan Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu on Wednesday called for stronger relations between the island and Japan during his meeting with a group of Japanese parliamentarians in Taipei, emphasizing that lawmakers on both sides have the "responsibility" to maintain exchanges.