Another major change not mentioned in the article is the revisions to Japan's labor law that now makes it a requirement to hire any "fixed-term" (=yearly contra

Another major change not mentioned in the article is the revisions to Japan's labor law that now makes it a requirement to hire any "fixed-term" (=yearly contract) worker who has been at the same company for five consecutive years on a permanent basis from year 6, or else terminate employment by the end of year 5. This will go into effect for people who have been working at the same place for years at the end of this fiscal year (March 2018). There are still some differences, such as lack of a retirement bonus and there may be some lingering status issues ("tenured" staff traditionally rank higher).