Front page. On the 22nd, the Fair Trade Commission imposed the first administrative penalty on Google for discontinuing the provision of technology to LINE Yahoo and restricting the company’s ability to distribute search-linked advertisements to other companies’ portal sites. Based on the Antimonopoly Act’s commitment procedure, which does not result in a finding of violation, the improvement plan submitted by Google was approved. The restrictions lasted for more than seven years, during which time advertisers and portal site operators had only one choice: Google.
Second page. On the 22nd, the government conducted a comprehensive review of national funds, which are used to promote medium-to-long-term policies but are said to have accumulated wastefully, and transferred 546.6 billion yen to the national treasury, which it determined had no prospect of being used. They announced that they would return it. They also announced the abolition of 11 dormant projects that used the fund, and whose role as subsidy payments had already ended, with expenditures continuing only for administrative purposes. Numerical targets have been set for all projects that will continue to be viable, allowing for verification of results. This was reported at the Digital Administrative and Financial Reform Conference on the same day.
Third page. [Beijing] On the 22nd, a lawyer for the bereaved family of a former Chinese comfort woman who suffered sexual violence at the hands of the Japanese military during the Sino-Japanese War filed a complaint with a high school in Shanxi province demanding compensation and an apology from the Japanese government. It has been submitted to the People’s Court (High Court). According to Chinese media, this is the first time in China that a lawsuit has been filed against the Japanese government over comfort women. All similar lawsuits in Japan ended in failure, but the government took action based on the Japanese government’s loss in the comfort women lawsuit in South Korea. The focus is on whether Chinese courts will accept the complaint. The decision is expected to take approximately one month.
Fourth page. On the 22nd, the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced the 2024 new employee attitude survey. When asked how long they would like to work at the company they are working for, 26.4% of respondents said they would change jobs if given the chance, exceeding the percentage of respondents who answered “until retirement” (21.1%) for the first time in 18 years since fiscal 2006.
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