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Tag - oecd

 
 

OECD

Japan¡¯s real challenge in the age of artificial intelligence is not technological progress but rebuilding the trust and human connections that help young people feel heard, supported and safe.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 12, 2026
Japan¡¯s real AI problem is not technology. It is trust.
People who feel they matter are more likely to seek help when they need it because they trust that someone will listen. People who feel invisible often remain silent.
Mathias Cormann (left), secretary-general of the OECD, and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meet at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 13, 2026
OECD chief sees Japan¡¯s zero consumption tax plan as costly
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi¡¯s administration plans to reduce the consumption tax on food items to zero for two years to cope with inflation.
Restoring democracy in Russia will require challenging Vladimir Putin¡¯s authoritarian rule by rebuilding locally accountable governments that can deliver public services and foster political accountability.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2026
Putin should be challenged to restore local democracy in Russia
Before the 1990 elections, many experts had assumed that the main effect of local democracy would be to deliver more autonomy for regions populated by ethnic minorities.
Kawada Robotics demonstrates one of its prototypes at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo in March 2022. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is wise to accelerate science and technology integration with national security and diplomacy.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 31, 2026
Takaichi rallies support for a ¡®new technology-driven nation¡¯
Positioning science and technology at the core of national strategy is not new.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, meet in Tokyo on March 6. Takaichi is Japan¡¯s first female prime minister, while Canada has not had a woman serve in the post in more than three decades.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 13, 2026
Mirrors and blind spots: Japan, Canada and gender equality
Canada¡¯s numbers do not describe a country that has solved gender inequality. They suggest one that may be coasting on a progressive reputation not fully matched by outcomes.
The Chateau de la Muette, headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris, France. The OECD¡¯s detailed peer-review system is essential to global economic stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2026
In a fragmented world, the OECD matters more than ever
In a global marketplace, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development remains essential.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi meets with his Swiss counterpart, Martin Pfister, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Japan should revitalize the OECD as a hub for middle powers, moving beyond the Group of Seven and Bretton Woods.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 23, 2026
After Davos, middle powers matter more than ever
Japan is well placed to act as a custodian of cooperation among countries that still depend on functioning markets but can no longer rely on a single guarantor.
Japan's labor productivity plunged to 28th in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and has been slow to recover ever since.
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2025
Japan¡¯s labor productivity falls to 28th among OECD countries
The country¡¯s per-hour productivity stood at ?5,720, or $60.1, the survey released Monday showed, based on OECD data.
Japanese teachers work significantly longer hours than their peers in other countries, with time spent on extracurricular activities being a heavy burden, an OECD study shows.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 7, 2025
Teachers in Japan still work the longest hours, OECD survey finds
Teachers worked an average of over 50 hours per week, but much of it was spent on out-of-classroom work.
People attend a protest following U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tehran on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 23, 2025
U.S. strikes on Iran come at fragile moment for the global economy
The biggest economic impact from a prolonged conflict in the Middle East would likely be felt via surging oil prices.
OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann delivers a speech at OECD headquarters in Paris on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 3, 2025
Trade war cuts global economic growth outlook: OECD
After 3.3% growth last year, the world economy is now expected to expand by a ¡°modest¡± 2.9% in 2025 and 2026, the OECD said.
Japan ranked 14th out of 36 developed countries in the latest child well-being survey, improving from 20th place in the previous survey released in 2020, a report by a UNICEF research institute showed Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 14, 2025
Japan ranks 14th in UNICEF child well-being survey
Top positions in the latest overall rankings were held by the Netherlands, Denmark and other European countries.
Japan's labor productivity ranked last place among the Group of Seven major economies in 2023.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2024
Japan¡¯s labor productivity rises to 29th among OECD countries
Japan¡¯s per-hour productivity in 2023 came to $56.8, or ?5,379 based on purchasing power parity, up two notches from the all-time low logged the year before.
Japan ranked second in both literacy and numeracy, and tied with Finland for first place in problem-solving in an international OECD survey of adult skills.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 11, 2024
Japan retains strong results in OECD¡¯s adult skills survey
Overall, Japan¡¯s scores exceeded the OECD average across all age groups though they tended to decline with age.
People walk near the entrance of the venue of the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 20, 2024
Development banks seek private money for climate change fight
Development banks committed to increasing?their lending to poorer countries to $120 billion a year by 2030.
The total fertility rate dropped to 1.5 children per woman in 2022 from 3.3 in 1960 on average across OECD countries, a report from the organization has said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 21, 2024
Birth rates halve in richer nations as costs weigh, OECD report says
Many in OECD member countries are now choosing to have children later in life or not at all, the report said.
Some major world economies want to finalize a plan ahead of this year's U.N. climate summit to halt new private sector funding for coal projects.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 8, 2024
Major world economies seek to halt new private sector coal financing
The biggest pushback on the OECD proposal to halt new private sector funding for coal projects has come from Japan, sources said.
Foreign technical interns work at a food processing factory in Kazo, Saitama Prefecture
JAPAN
May 30, 2024
OECD criticizes fees for foreign technical trainees in Japan
The OECD said that the trainee program has been used to satisfy labor demand instead of passing on skills.
Ecuador has sought funding to fight the effects of climate change, including a June 2023 flood that followed heavy rains in Esmeraldas. So far, the developed world has offered the debt-strapped nation more loans than grants.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 23, 2024
Rich nations reap climate finance dividend, benefiting from rates and terms
Developed nations have pledged to send $100 billion a year to poorer countries to aid adaptation, but money from the deals is being funneled back into rich economies.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Dec. 19.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 11, 2024
OECD urges Bank of Japan to gradually raise interest rates
The central bank should thus continue efforts to make the yield curve control more flexible, the organization said.

Longform

Social camouflaging can help neurodivergent people navigate social situations, but researchers say the effort often comes with significant emotional and mental strain.
The challenge of being neurodivergent in Japan¡¯s culture of conformity

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