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July 03, 2026
 

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BUREAUCRACY

A labor ministry official was convicted Tuesday for stalking a female subordinate and illegally entering her home.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 30, 2026
Labor ministry official convicted over stalking and trespassing
Tokyo District Court handed down its ruling on Atsushi Takabayashi, 39, who had been on leave since his indictment.
The Defense Ministry in Tokyo. Cases of administrative documents containing specially designated secrets being handled improperly were found at the ministry and the Cabinet Secretariat.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2026
Improper handling of secrets found at Cabinet Secretariat
Documents were stored inappropriately, such as being left in office drawers, instead of being kept in lockable safes, according to a report.
A 39-year-old male employee at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has been indicted on charges of stalking a subordinate in her 20s, sources have said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 25, 2026
Health ministry worker indicted for stalking subordinate
According to the prosecution, the health ministry worker repeatedly messaged his subordinate, secretly photographed her and entered her home without permission.
A survey conducted by the National Personnel Authority in December found that 16.1% of full-time national government employees said they "absolutely do not want" to relocate for work, while 36.5% said they would "prefer not" to do so.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2026
Government employees in Japan express reluctance to relocate for work
The National Personnel Authority urged government agencies to reassess whether relocations carried out largely as a matter of custom are still necessary.
Digital minister Hisashi Matsumoto answers questions at a Lower House plenary session in April.
JAPAN
May 6, 2026
Government to launch AI pilot program to boost efficiency and encourage tech’s adoption
Gennai, a generative artificial intelligence platform developed for internal use by civil servants, will be rolled out across 39 government agencies.
Tokyo Vice Gov. Akiko Matsumoto speaks during an interview at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government office in January.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 8, 2026
Recalling past struggles, these women hope for more gender equality in Japan
Two senior public servants looked back at the challenges they faced as female workers, 40 years after Japan enforced gender equality measures at work.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is developing a "Generative AI Platform," which will allow government employees to create AI applications to assist with their work.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2026
Tokyo government builds infrastructure to expand use of generative AI
Authorities in the capital aim to boost efficiency in public services and address growing concerns over labor shortages through AI.
Japan's Digital Agency said it will start in May a large-scale test of its generative artificial intelligence platform for administrative tasks.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2026
Digital agency to begin testing AI use for administrative tasks in May
The agency aims to ascertain the effects of generative AI utilization and sort out issues related to its use for work style and task process reforms.
More than 85% of national public servants took paternity leave in fiscal 2024.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 28, 2025
Record 85.9% of eligible Japan civil servants took paternity leave
Among them, the proportion of those who took child care leave for more than one month stood at 51.4%, exceeding 50% for the first time ever.
A National Personnel Authority official has attributed a dip in the competition ratio for national public service applicants to "the number of successful applicants rising in line with an increase in the number of planned hires by each ministry and agency."
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 12, 2025
Japan marks lowest level of competition on record for civil service applicants
Women made up a record high of 47.1% of all successful applicants, up from 43.0% in the previous year.
The National Personnel Authority recommended Thursday a 3.62% increase in average monthly base pay for public employees in the current fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2025
Japan’s public workers set to get largest pay hike in 34 years
The rise in wages will come as a welcome development for policymakers at the Bank of Japan, who are seeking broad-based and lasting growth to support stable inflation.
The National Personnel Authority plans to submit a proposal to raise bonus pay and the salaries for government employees to parliament and the Cabinet on Aug. 7.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2025
Government employees in Japan to see higher bonus pay on top of salary raise
This will mark the fourth straight year of increase in both salaries and bonuses for government employees amid rising salaries in the private sector.
The National Personnel Authority in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. The authority, , which makes recommendations for wage changes for national public servants, is expected to recommend pay hikes of at least 3% for central government workers next month.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2025
Central government workers to get a pay bump of at least 3%, sources say
The National Personnel Authority is looking to bridge the wage gap between public servants and private-sector workers.
A municipal library in Fujikawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, that opened in July 2023, has become a community hub.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2025
Work to consolidate public facilities gains traction across Japan
Municipal facilities such as libraries are increasingly being constructed within government office complexes in a bid to streamline public services.
Tokyo’s skyline keeps evolving, but the country’s drab, outdated government district, long hours, low pay and poor work conditions are driving young bureaucratic talent away just when it needs them most.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 11, 2025
Tokyo is missing ‘Blade Runner’ where it needs it most
Until the 1960s, Japan had strict prohibitions on developments higher than 31 meters (around 100 feet), a provision that kept cities dense but low.
An internal affairs ministry study group for reviewing regional administrative services compiled a draft report that stressed the need for reallocating tasks from a fresh perspective.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 17, 2025
Japan study group seeks review of local government tasks
The current approach to administrative work is “creating challenges in light of sustainability,” a government study group said.
A former nonregular government employee, who cooked lunch for a public school in the Tohoku region, says she was dismissed after she was made to take an open recruitment exam.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 19, 2025
Civil service contract workers fear lack of job security
Contracted civil servants are paid about half the salaries of regular staff or even less, and a fear of being dismissed hangs over their heads.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) responds to questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda (left) at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on April 14.
JAPAN / Politics
May 9, 2025
Hung parliament keeps Lower House Legislative Bureau busy
As each party pushes its own agenda by drafting its own bills, the workload increases for the bureau, which supports lawmakers in such matters.
A group of lawyers representing a former journalist — who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a now-deceased secretary of a lawmaker — speak at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday following a ruling that ordered the government to pay damages to her.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025
Government ordered to pay over sexual assault by lawmaker’s former aide
A Tokyo court ordered the ¥4.4 million ($30,850) payment to a former female journalist who was allegedly assaulted by the now-deceased government-paid secretary.
A Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry government building in Kasumigaseki, an area of Tokyo where the central government ministries are clustered
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2025
Japan should look at larger companies to set public servant pay: panel
Until 2005, the government looked at companies with at least 100 employees to decide their workers’ salaries.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

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