KOJIMA Shinji    Department   Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University  College of Asia Pacific Studies    Position   Associate Professor
Language	English
Publication Date	2017/11
Type	Research paper
Peer Review	Peer reviewed
Title	Abe Shinzō's Campaign to Reform the Japanese Way of Work
Contribution Type	Joint Work
Journal	The Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus (Scopus)
Volume, Issue, Page	15(23),pp.1-17
Author and coauthor	Scott North, Charles Weathers (Equal Authorship)
Details	Prime Minister Abe Shinzō has made Work Style Reform (hatarakikata kaikaku) part of his core policy agenda, promising above all to remedy the Japanese way of work's two greatest problems: dangerously long work hours and grossly unequal wage gaps between regular and non-regular workers. However, critics charge that the proposals will likely aggravate these problems, given that labor policymaking is dominated by conservative business and political leaders bent on deregulation. This paper examines the current Work Style Reform proposals, explaining howthe work hour reduction and equal pay for equal work proposals are being promoted to the public, and why they ultimately fail as reforms from the worker point of view. Despite these serious problems, the government's effective marketing has helped to defuse potential resistance and the reform plans may become law in 2018.
ISSN	1557-4660