Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is a cabinet level ministry of the Japanese government. It is commonly known as Kōrō-shō in Japan. The ministry provides services on health, labour and welfare.
The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare is a member of the Cabinet and is chosen by the Prime Minister, typically from among members of the Diet.

History

It was formed with the merger of the former Ministry of Health and Welfare or Kōsei-shō and the Ministry of Labour or Rōdō-shō in January 2001.

Organization

The ministry contains the following sections as of 2019:

The Minister's Secretariat
The Health Policy Bureau
The Health Service Bureau
Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau
The Labour Standards Bureau
The Employment Security Bureau
The Human Resources Development Bureau
The Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau
The Social Welfare and War Victims' Relief Bureau
The Health and Welfare Bureau for the Elderly
The Health Insurance Bureau
The Pension Bureau
The Director-General for Policy Planning and Evaluation
Affiliated research institutions
Councils
Regional Bureaus
* Narcotics Control Department
External Bureaus

Investigations

Highway tour bus companies

After a fatal bus accident on April 29, 2012, where a bus bound for Tokyo Disneyland crashed in Gunma Prefecture killing seven and injuring 39 others, the ministry launched an investigation into highway bus companies. Investigations were carried out at a total of 339 businesses. It was discovered that 95.6% were violating the Labor Standards Law and the Industrial Safety and Health Law. 219 businesses broke the law by having their drivers work behind the wheel more than the legal maximum of eight hours a day and 40 hours a week, or longer than what was agreed upon with their labour union. It also found 37 businesses,, did not provide "at least one day off a week," which the law obliges employers to give their drivers. Also, it found that 260 did not observe standards involving bus driver working hours, which prohibit them from working more than 16 hours a day in combined driving and office time. The ministry said it took "corrective measures" with those who violated the laws.

Criticism

Published ministry employee and outspoken critic Moriyo Kimura states that the ministry's medical officers are "corrupt and self-serving." Kimura states that the officers, who number 250, have little experience and see no patients nor practice medicine after being hired by the ministry. Thus, says Kimura, Japan's public health policies lag behind other developed countries, by "decades".