Today is the start of a new fiscal year in Japan and a host of new changes are set to kick in. . . some good for consumers and others not so good.
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Gasoline
Gasoline prices will drop by about 25 yen per liter.
Clinical treatment fees
Costs for emergency, after-hours clinical treatment will go up.
Dependent elderly health insurance
Anybody 75 and older who is a dependant of their offspring will have to start paying health insurance from October.
Metabolic syndrome health checks
Medical clinics will begin offering regular check-ups and health advice related to metabolic syndrome for people 40 to 74.
National Pension bite
Will rise 310 yen per month to 14,410 yen for everyone.
Pension rights of divorced spouses
Spouses automatically entitled to half of pension payments for the term of their marriage.
Car liability insurance
Will rise for all vehicles by an average 22.2 percent.
New recycling laws
More separation categories for PET bottles.
Rewards for oldters who give up their driver’s licences
Oldsters who surrender licences will be entitled to discounts and higher savings rates.
Recording of interrogations
Suspect questioning to be recorded in audio and video.
Recognition of A-Bomb victims
Relaxation of rules will exapand the roles of recognized victims.
Part-time workers
No more wage discrimination against part-timers who perform duties of full-timers.
Looks like some of these new laws are finally catching up to the times. I would have thought the second largest economic country would already have interrogation recording established. Although they seem to be ahead of the USA in part-time wage discrimination now. Good post, Edward.
Some good news there, though I think the petrol tax will be reinstated.
Yeah, can’t see the lower petrol prices lasting into May.
Is “wage discrimination” a socialist euphemism for employers paying employees what they’re actually worth?
It’s the issue of companies having employees work full-time (and more) but refusing to give them full-time contracts, so that they can evade their obligations in terms of full-timers’ benefits.
Gasoline? well you can walk or ride a bike..but the price of Kerosene (Heating Oil) in Japan..
“Kerosene sales rose 12.4 percent on a year earlier to 3.74 million kl (811,000 bpd), while sales of B and C type fuel oil, used largely by utilities to generate electricity for heating, rose 38.5 percent to 2.2 million kl (477,000 bpd).”
remora
A number of Eikawa companies employee teachers on part-time contracts in order to avoid paying benefits. Will these changes affect teachers rights at all?
It’d be interesting to know as I’m sure a large number of your readers are teaching.