Construction of Nicaragua's $50 billion Interoceanic Grand Canal, expected to rival the Panama Canal, will begin Dec. 22 after feasibility studies have been approved, the committee overseeing the project said on Thursday. The route suggested for the 172-mile (278-km) canal, which would be longer, deeper ...
The Abe administration's sudden plan to use participants in a controversial foreign trainee program to fill manpower shortages in the nation's construction industry smacks of a ploy that benefits only Japan. The government must first consider how these workers' rights will be protected as ...
Foreign workers fear exploitation as Olympic projects gather steam
My first Labor Pains column of the new fiscal year will look at the government's recent proposal for bringing in foreign workers. Various proposals on easing immigration restrictions for foreign workers have been bandied about in recent years, but they were inevitably scrapped because "Japan ...
The relatives of 23 elementary school students killed in the March 2011 tsunami in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, filed a lawsuit Monday blaming the city and prefecture for the school's failure to evacuate them to higher ground. In the lawsuit, filed at the Sendai District Court, ...
Sure winners in 2020 Tokyo Olympics? Gangsters
As Japan bets on a big economic boost from the 2020 Olympics, it might be dismayed by what's happening right now in Russia. Moody's doubts the Sochi Games will be much of a plus for that economy. Yet there is one sector of Japan's economy ...
Japan to expand number of alien workers in construction sector
Cabinet ministers discussed Friday how to raise the number of foreigners in the construction sector to ease a serious labor shortage caused by the rise in public works spending under the "Abenomics" stimulus policy, officials said. Ministers present at the meeting included Chief Cabinet Secretary ...
Komatsu bets on local concrete boom as global mining sales falter
Construction equipment maker Komatsu Ltd. expects spending on disaster reconstruction and prevention, as well as preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, to boost earnings in its home market. The Abe administration approved a disaster-prevention bill last month as part of an election commitment by ...
A test run was carried out Monday in the newly built Hokuriku Shinkansen Line — an extension of the Nagano Shinkansen Line — that will begin operations in spring 2015, linking the cities of Nagano and Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. The test run came 40 years ...
Contractors shunning low-paying work renovating older hospitals
Twenty-five national hospitals opened bids for rehabilitating their old buildings between April and September, but 21 were unable to find successful bidders because contractors are reluctant to accept low-cost orders due to labor shortages and rising personnel costs, according to the National Hospital Organization. In ...
National Stadium plan hit as too grandiose
The new National Stadium planned for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has come under the spotlight due to its huge size and massive costs, and for a design critics say doesn't fit in with its surroundings. Following are questions and answers regarding construction of the new ...
As Japan seeks to rebuild disaster-hit regions and gears up to build new facilities for the 2020 Summer Olympics, its construction industry finds itself short of new workers mainly as a result of shrinking construction investment since 2000. Young people's reluctance to accept physically tough ...
China will start a nationwide audit of government debt this week as the new Communist Party leadership investigates the threats to growth and the financial system from a record credit boom. The State Council, under Premier Li Keqiang, ordered the review, the National Audit Office ...
