CRIA Global – Japan Workplace Knowledge for All Workers

    Read the original article (in Japanese): ｢中居正広がいなくなり､新浪剛史も退場した｣ 多くの人が"消えた"ーー残酷すぎる｢新時代の現実｣ | メディア業界 | 東洋経済オンライン “People Keep ‘Disappearing’” “Lately, people seem to keep disappearing.” Broadcasters embroiled in scandals. CEOs resigning. Famous figures suddenly suspending all activity. These are no longer rare, once-or-twice-a-year headlines. They now arrive almost continuously. And with them come familiar reactions. “Society has become suffocating.” “Justice has gone too far.” “Everything turns into a scandal.” The frustration is understandable. But when these incidents involve  corporate activity , the era has already changed. Let’s be direct. We now live in a society where misconduct and harassment are eliminated not merely because they are immoral, but because they have become rationally, catastrophically unprofitable. Yes—misconduct and harassment are morally wrong. That is a given. But what we are witnessing is not the result of people suddenly becoming more virtu...

  Read the original article (in Japanese): 「東京の給料には勝てない…なら働き方で勝負」――若者や女性に選ばれる職場に　日置市が市内22社と共同体、3年かけ対話へ 若者や女性から選ばれ、働き続けたいと思える職場に－。鹿児島県の日置市役所や市内の企業２２社が連携し、理想的な仕事のあり方を 373news.com Preface | Regional Areas Cannot Compete on “Equal Terms” The message put forward by Hioki City in Kagoshima Prefecture — “We can’t beat Tokyo on salary. So we’ll compete on how we work.” marks a clear turning point in the discourse on regional revitalization. The first point that must be emphasized is this: the direction itself is not wrong. Structurally, it is almost impossible for regional areas to compete with major cities under the same employment conditions. And yet, for many years in Japan, idealistic arguments such as “regional areas have their own appeal” have been endlessly repeated. As a result, talent either remained concentrated in cities or continued to flow out of regional areas, leaving them exhausted. At the very least, Hioki City’s attempt takes a step away from this illusion and makes a...

  Read the original article (in Japanese): 【従業員エンゲージメント】日本は世界最下位、米国は第2位、意外な第1位は？ | 戦略のデザイン | ダイヤモンド・オンライン Prologue | Japan’s Productivity Crisis Is Not About “Systems” but About “Values.” Few countries work as hard as Japan and reap so little in return. People are diligent, work long hours, and carry a strong sense of responsibility—yet productivity sits at the bottom of the G7, wages have barely risen in 30 years, and global competitiveness keeps sliding. Why does a nation that tries so hard produce so little? Public discourse often blames “systems”: insufficient work-style reform, slow DX adoption, weak investment. These matter—but the real cause lies far deeper. Japan’s productivity is being eroded by a cultural pathology, quietly embedded in the foundations of its society: age supremacy . Age determines everything—promotion, career mobility, reemployment prospects, compensation. Experience and results come second. This has turned Japan into a country that discards experi...

  Read the original article (in Japanese): 面接官が好印象を抱いた就活生の「逆質問での行動」とは？ 『ありのままの自分で、内定につながる　脇役さんの就活攻略書』は、特別な経歴や夢がなかった“普通の就活生”である著者が、10 diamond.jp Prologue｜The Futility of the “Should You Take Notes?” Debate — The Real Issue Beneath It “Should I take notes during the reverse-question part of an interview?” This question itself shows how ritualized Japanese hiring has become. Whether a candidate takes notes is merely a tactical choice. Take them if helpful; don’t if they interrupt the flow. Yet in Japan, even this action has a “correct answer,” and students who mimic it are “evaluated” favorably — an absurd situation. The point is not the act of taking notes. The problem is that companies treat such trivial behaviors as evaluation criteria , losing sight of the true purpose of hiring. Hiring is a strategic act that shapes a company’s future. But in reality, meaningless rituals dominate — the number of knocks, posture, reverse-question finesse, formulaic “gakuchika,” and other beh...

  Read the original article (in Japanese): 外科医も官僚も定時退勤が当たり前。「なぜ可能？」短時間労働の国デンマークのゆるく見えて実は合理的な労働観 長時間労働に追われていた新聞記者の著者は、39歳でデンマークに移住。そこで目にしたのは、誰もが短時間で仕事を切り上げ、自由 diamond.jp Prologue｜Why Denmark Can Leave at 5 p.m.—and Why Japan Cannot In Denmark, even surgeons and government officials leave work around five o’clock. Parents—regardless of job title—appear at daycare by four. This is possible not because Denmark is relaxed, but because its society has collectively accepted a rational principle: life comes first, work second . Productivity is the outcome of a healthy life, not the proof of moral worth. Japan, however, treats labor as something closer to a virtue, or even a moral obligation. Expressions such as “being busy is a good thing” or “those who do not work shall not eat” still carry real social force. The pressure to demonstrate diligence—whether meaningful or not—continues to shape the lives of millions. The consequences are no longer abstract: Japan ranks last among the G7 in pr...