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The Japanese Labor Market

The Japanese Labor Market

The Japanese market has been an attractive market for many foreign companies (gaishikei) for a very long time now despite the sluggish growth over the last 20-30 years. However, companies that are looking to operate their business from within Japan are facing various challenges when looking at the Japanese labor market. Let’s look at the labor market from a macro perspective. Breakdown of the Japanese labor market Let’s look at some numbers: Japan’s total population: 126 million working-age population (15-60):…

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Review of the JET Programme

Review of the JET Programme

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET) is a Japanese government initiative “aiming primarily to promote grass-roots internationalisation at the local level“. In its 32 year history, it has brought 68,000 people from 73 countries to Japan. Let’s take a moment to review if the programme delivers on its promises.

Understand Your Financial Situation

Understand Your Financial Situation

We already discussed the 4 rules to get started with personal finance but let’s take a closer look at getting a better grip on your financial situation. Knowing that you want to achieve financial independence is great because it gives you a goal. But in order to achieve that goal you need to know what your starting position is. Map out the status quo Grab a piece of paper and a pen or pull up a spreadsheet. And now write…

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The Fitness Industry In Japan

The Fitness Industry In Japan

I have the pleasure of working in the fitness industry in Japan and contributing to its development. The industry has changed a lot in other markets and Japan is also catching up. However, there are a few characteristics that are rather unique to Japan. In order to drive the necessary change in the industry, those characteristics have to be understood and addressed.

5 Aspects Of Healthy Eating

5 Aspects Of Healthy Eating

Eating healthy is not rocket science. We all know what to do. Cut out the junk food, eat more veggies, reduce your sugar intake, drink more water and tea. However, we aren’t always able to make the necessary changes. Here are the 5 aspects to consider when changing your diet and eating healthy. 1. Willpower & Habit According to Charles Duhigg, author of “the power of habit” almost half of our daily decisions are based on habit (source). If you…

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4 Rules to Get Started With Personal Finance

4 Rules to Get Started With Personal Finance

This topic is really dear to my heart and it is frustrating that although it affects every single one of us, none of us learn about it in school or even university. We all pay bills, we all (hopefully) earn money, we all pay taxes (usually) but do we really know how all this works? How are we expected to win this game if we don’t know the rules? Aiming for Financial Independence? If you are looking to achieve financial…

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“Manual keigo” – The future of polite speech

“Manual keigo” – The future of polite speech

In his latest article Allan Richarz explains how the changing demographics and influx of immigrant workers affects “manual keigo” – the scripted polite language used of service industry workers in cafes and convenience stores. Japanese customer service is generally great and being addressed politely obviously if part of it but after a while it loses its value when you hear that the employees, native or not, just go through their script. We use polite language to express our respect for…

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Keen On Health & Fitness?

Keen On Health & Fitness?

Health & fitness are key areas of everyone’s life. It doesn’t matter what your job is, your daily schedule looks like but you need a healthy body & mind to do those things. But how do you stay healthy? How to you take care of your fitness? Check out my other website (including some healthy recipes) to learn more. The best place for you to get started is here.

The Fitness Industry In Japan

The Fitness Industry In Japan

As some of you might know, health & fitness is a huge passion of mine and I am very excited to share some of the insights into the Japanese fitness industry. I gained those insights during what some of my friends call my “sabbatical” but that is a story for another time.

Why You Should Stay Away From Trans Fats

Why You Should Stay Away From Trans Fats

We’ve already covered that many processed foods are bad for your health. By now hopefully a lot of people know that the excessive amount of sugar (and other sweeteners) is one of the big culprit. However, there’s another one that a lot of us are not aware of yet – Trans fats. But what are trans fats and why should you stay away from them as much as possible?