The social history of Nihon koku (Japan)

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Japan slump dries up jobs—and hopes
By Cynthia Mayer, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday 12 May 1996. Suddenly, college grads can't find work. Hardest hit are the women. Japan's economy has been in a six-year slump, and for women college graduates, work has been especially difficult to find for the last two years.
Japanese Court Recognizes Ainu As Indigenous People
From the Forest Peoples Programme, 3 April 1997. In what could be a landmark case for the Ainu of Japan, on 28 March 1997 a local court in Sapporo, Hokkaido, recognised the Ainu people as an indigenous and minority people. Japan has been one among a number of Asian Governments that have denied that emerging international legal principles which recognise the rights of indigenous peoples apply to Asia.
Statement of protest
Committee for Struggle against Unemployment of Day Laborers, 27 November 1997. Since the bubble economy was over, Japan has been depressed, so the number of homeless people who are obliged to sleep on the streets is increasing. The policy has been always eviction and dismissal, not welfare, job or housing.
Amid Recession, The New Poor Demand Safety Nets
By Suvendrini Kakuchi, IPS, 11 September 1998. Many people feel Japan is in an economic rut, locked in recession and headed for a deflationary cycle. Distressed companies need more credit but banks are unable to respond, and firms are hard pressed too because demand is falling and people are holding on to their savings, forcing companies to cut back on investments and fire staff.
Japanese facing up to changing times
By Michiko Yamada, Mainichi Shimbun, Wednesday 14 July 1999. Experts suggest that the average Japanese face has undergone fundamental changes this century as the nation metamorphosed from being a basically feudal society into a modern, industrial state. Computer images that compare the average face now with that of 100 years ago.