On the occasion of his visit, Angel Gurría presented the brochure "Policies for a revitalisation of Japan" and met with government and business representatives.

The labour market recovery in Japan began strongly but has weakened since.

Gains in female education attainment have contributed to a worldwide increase in women’s participation in the labour force, but considerable gaps remain in working hours, conditions of employment and earnings.  More specific data for Japan are available in this country note.

OECD Secretary-General will visit Japan on 22-24 April to launch the Economic Survey of Japan. During his stay in Tokyo, Mr. Gurría will also meet government officials and representatives from the business and labour communities amongst others.

Japan is poised for an economic expansion, but long-term growth prospects remain contingent on additional efforts to revitalise the economy and reduce unsustainable levels of public debt, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Japan.

Cities can generate growth and jobs while becoming greener – this is the message of the OECD’s new Green Growth in Cities report. Drawing on case studies of Paris, Chicago, Kitakyushu and Stockholm, the report identifies green policies that can respond to urban growth priorities and suggests how to implement and finance them.

Though gone 50 years ago this week, John F. Kennedy remains an icon of our times. The OECD stands as a living tribute to his legacy.

Japan has good health outcomes and has rapidly increased its spending on health care in recent years. It now needs to focus on improving efficiency of its health system in order to continue delivering high-quality care while containing costs, according to a new OECD report.

The effective age of labour market exit in Japan is one of the highest in OECD. Retirement-income adequacy may be an issue for future cohorts of retirees...

Japan joined the OECD in 1964, the same year it hosted the summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. OECD membership signalled Japan’s successful transition into a fully industrialised economy, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida writes on the 50th anniversary of his country’s accession.

Firstly, and most importantly, this year marks Japan’s golden jubilee: 50 years as a member of the OECD. Japan was our first Asia-Pacific member country, and has paved the way to strengthen the OECD’s ties within the region. This year, for the second time, Japan is chairing our Ministerial Council Meeting – the most important annual decision-making event of the Organization, said Angel Gurría.

After two decades of low growth and persistent deflation, Japan is showing signs of renewed economic dynamism. But to regain its primacy as a leading economic powerhouse and raise the well-being of its citizens, Japan needs a structural reform package to narrow the productivity gap with leading OECD countries, notably by increasing the labour participation of women and older citizens.

Mr. Angel Gurría was in Japan from 6 to 10 April 2014 to commemorate the country’s 50th anniversary of membership of the Organisation. The OECD Secretary-General was received in Audience by Crown Prince Naruhito, and held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Abe, to whom he presented the report “OECD Better Policies Japan - Advancing the Third Arrow for a Resilient Economy and Inclusive Growth”.

The OECD has now grown into an institution of truly global relevance. And Japan, which was the first Asian country to join the organisation, is now a world economic giant. It is a great honour to introduce the Chairman of the 2014 Ministerial Council Meeting, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Due to serious concerns about the extremely low level of enforcement of Japan’s offence of bribing foreign public officials – just three prosecutions since 1999 – the OECD Working Group on Bribery recommended in December 2013 that Japan establish an Action Plan to organise police and prosecution resources to be able to proactively detect, investigate and prosecute cases of foreign bribery by Japanese companies.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is increasingly recognised worldwide as an efficient waste management policy to help improve recycling and reduce landfilling of products and materials. This Forum took place on 17-19 June 2014, in Tokyo, Japan, to identify key challenges and opportunities for further developing EPR policies.

An ecosystem assessment is a social process through which the findings of science concerning the causes of ecosystem change, their consequences for human well-bring, and the management and policy options are evaluated. The main objective of the paper is to draw insights from experience in the UK, Japan, Spain and Portugal of the added value to policy making of undertaking national level ecosystem assessments.

The Japan-OECD Policy Forum on Urban Development and Green Growth will address cities’ unique role in creating synergies between environmental and economic objectives to advance green growth. Asian cities in particular are at the centre of this challenge. This event is organised as a commemorative event for the 50th Anniversary of Japan's Accession to the OECD.

While the outlook for many OECD countries remains subdued, Emerging Asia is set for healthy growth over the medium term. Annual GDP growth for the ASEAN -10, China and India is forecast to average 6.5% over 2015-19. Growth momentum remains robust in the 10 ASEAN countries, with economic growth averaging 5.6% over 2015-19.

This publication highlights new evidence on policies to support job creation, bringing together the latest research on labour market, entrepreneurship and local economic development policy to help governments support job creation in the recovery. It also includes a set of country pages featuring, among other things, new data on skills supply and demand at the level of smaller OECD regions (TL3).

Highest life expectancy in Japan has been attained through a series of public health actions and universal health coverage.

Japan could help laid-off workers find a job more quickly by improving co-ordination between public employment services and companies, as well as ensuring that all workers benefit from adequate Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, according to a new OECD report.

It was with immense sadness that I learned of the tragic execution of Kenji at the hands of the terrorists from Islamic State. We strongly condemn this terrible and odious act, as well as other killings carried out by ISIS.

The OECD event "Risk Governance and Resilient Cities" will examine how risk governance can better manage complex risks and how to improve the resilience of cities to these risks.

The Japanese economy is on a path to stronger growth, but fundamental structural reforms are urgently needed to promote a more robust recovery, address high levels of government debt and reverse a trend toward declining living standards, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Japan.

Mr. Gurría presented the 2015 OECD Economic Survey of Japan, held several meetings including with the Prime Minister, took part in the launch event for the Education 2030 project and delivered a keynote speech at the International Symposium on Corporate Governance and Japan’s Growth Strategy.

This country note provides information on latest trends in income inequalities as well as key findings from the 2015 OECD report "In it Together: Why less inequality benefits all".

Agriculture is a provider of commodities such as food, feed, fibre and fuel, and it can bring both positive and negative impacts on the environment. Yet most policy measures target farm systems, inputs and practices and agricultural infrastructure (driving forces) rather than the provision of agri-environmental public goods (environmental outcomes).

This 4-page online document presents the key findings from OECD Pensions at a Glance 2015 and why it is important for Japan. It also identifies two key pension policy measures which would help improve the performance of pension systems in Japan

Achieving strong growth in the global economy remains elusive, with only a modest recovery in advanced economies and slower activity in emerging markets, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook.

On the occasion of the 5th anniversary of 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, shared his sustained support for the victims and their families.

The Secretary-General met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as several Ministers and high-level authorities of Japan. He spoke at a number of events and also presented the OECD Territorial Review of Japan and the publication Japan: Boosting Growth and Well-being in an Ageing Society.

Japan, one of the founding members of the OECD Development Centre, conveyed its intention to return as a member. Prime Minister Abe and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida confirmed Japan's commitment to the OECD Secretary General Gurría and Development Centre’s Director Mario Pezzini during their visit to Tokyo earlier this week.

The Secretary-General presented OECD’s recent analysis and recommendations on the world economy, on more balanced and efficient financial markets for growth, and on progress on the international tax system. He also spoke at the G7 High-Level Symposium “Future of the Global Economy”, organised by the Japanese G7 Presidency.

The Secretary-General attended the G7 Leaders’ Summit and spoke at the outreach sessions “Stability and Prosperity in Asia” and “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals”.

Japan, one of the founding members of the OECD Development Centre, makes a welcome return to the Centre. Japan’s re-entry is one of the milestones during a seminal week of activities at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, including celebrating the 2016 OECD Week, holding its Ministerial Council Meeting and convening a High-Level Meeting of its Development Centre Governing Board.

This country note provides an environmental tax and carbon pricing profile for Japan. It shows environmentally related tax revenues, taxes on energy use and effective carbon rates.

Biographical note of Japan's Permanent Representative to the OECD.

OECD Secretary-General was in Tokyo on 13-14 April 2017, on an official visit to Japan. During his visit, he presented the OECD Economic Survey of Japan 2017 and held hold bilateral meetings with several High Level Officials.

The Japanese economy has gained momentum and is creating jobs, according to a new OECD report. The latest OECD Economic Survey of Japan, presented in Tokyo by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, says that per capita growth rates in recent years have matched those across the OECD – a major improvement. The Survey underlines the key role Abenomics has played in the economic revival.

Facilitating female employment is particularly important given Japan’s shrinking and ageing population, which has already contributed to labour shortages.

To improve productivity and help address socio-economic challenges, such as ageing, Japan needs to strengthen its innovation performance.

The OECD has appointed Masamichi Kono as a Deputy Secretary-General. He will replace Rintaro Tamaki, who will be stepping down after six fruitful years in the post.

The fourth annual edition of Revenue Statistics in Asian Countries covers seven countries, including Kazakhstan for the first time. It shows that the tax-to-GDP ratio in all these countries are lower than the OECD average of 34.3% in 2015, which highlights that scope remains for increasing tax mobilisation, especially in Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and the Philippines to achieve sustainable growth.

Selected findings for Japan from the report "The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle"

Selected findings for Japan from the report "Preventing Ageing Unequally"

This note presents selected country highlights from the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2017 with a specific focus on digital trends among all themes covered.

Key findings for Japan from the report "Pensions at a Glance 2017"

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, was in Tokyo on an official visit from 11 to 13 April 2018. He held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Abe as well as with several Ministers and high level Japanese officials.

The Co-operative Research Programme (CRP)'s Call for Applications for conference sponsorship and research fellowships for funding in 2019 is now CLOSED. The CRP supports work on sustainable use of natural resources in agriculture, forests, fisheries and food production.