Glossary

The UN organ with primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. It consists of five permanent members and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.

A framework in which UN Member States discuss proposals for Security Council reform. Support and positions expressed in negotiations differ from adoption and ratification of a Charter amendment.

Acceptance of a UN Charter amendment by Member States in accordance with their constitutional processes. Entry into force under Article 108 requires adoption by the General Assembly and ratification by two thirds of Member States, including all permanent Council members.

The point at which a legal instrument becomes effective. Particular obligations may have separate dates of application.

A Japanese abbreviation for anonymous and fluid criminal groups. The National Police Agency describes a concealed core receiving criminal proceeds and replaceable participants recruited through social media and similar channels. The label alone determines neither individual criminal responsibility nor applicability of a law.

Online services through which users share posts and interact with others. Recruitment routes discussed here also include job sites and introductions by acquaintances. Using a service does not itself establish involvement in crime.

An originator medicine with a generic counterpart. This scheme also includes so-called quasi-originator products approved on or before 30 September 1967 that have a generic counterpart with a different price. Japan's additional selected-care charge applies to specified eligible products and conditions, rather than automatically to every such medicine. Medical necessity and supply conditions also require examination.

A category within Japan's combined insured and uninsured care system, covering specified options such as room upgrades and eligible long-listed medicines. It differs from evaluation care intended to assess future insurance inclusion; eligibility and additional charges depend on the applicable conditions.

A Japanese health-insurance framework allowing benefits for the basic insured portion when specified uninsured care is combined with insured care. It has three categories: evaluation care, patient-requested care, and selected care. It does not make the uninsured portion an insured expense.

A Japanese scheme for combining insured care with care outside insurance, initiated by a patient's request and subject to checks of safety, effectiveness and an implementation plan to collect evidence for possible future insurance coverage. The uninsured portion is generally paid by the patient; requested treatment is not guaranteed.

A scheme under Article 34-2 of Japan’s wildlife law permitting a municipal mayor to carry out shooting of designated dangerous wildlife under specified conditions. It requires entry or a high risk of entry into areas of everyday life, urgent need to prevent harm, difficulty capturing the animal accurately and quickly without guns, and safety measures; it does not impose a duty to shoot.

Wildlife designated by cabinet order because its appearance in areas of everyday human life poses a high risk of harm to life or bodily safety. Brown bears, Asian black bears and wild boar are designated and are the species covered by emergency shooting.

The mechanism under Article 34-6 of Japan’s wildlife law by which the municipal mayor compensates losses ordinarily resulting from emergency shooting or entry onto land or removal of obstacles under Article 34-3(1). The affected person files a claim and the mayor decides and notifies the amount; it is distinct from a State Redress Act claim concerning personal injury.

Two ways a detection system can be wrong: a false positive classifies a target as present when it is absent, while a missed detection classifies it as absent when it is present. A rate of correct classification of captured images alone does not establish how many targets present in the field were detected.

The date from which a provision applies to covered persons or activities. Its scope, transitional arrangements and amendments also require checking.

A measure intended to examine changes or benefits relevant to the problem a program seeks to address. Its design distinguishes outcomes from immediate activity outputs; improvement in a measure alone does not establish the program's causal effect.

A model for on-demand network access to shared computing resources such as servers and storage. Using a cloud service alone does not determine who may view information or the conditions for providing it to third parties.

The belt of woodland, farmland, and grassland between settlements and the deep mountains, kept up by human tending. Through gathering firewood, cutting undergrowth, and farming, people and nature interacted cyclically, and it worked as a buffer separating human settlements from wildlife habitat.

A state in which a profession's total headcount is adequate, yet its members cluster in some fields and thin out in others, so socially necessary fields go understaffed. For veterinarians, the total is roughly flat, yet practitioners concentrate in small-animal care while food-animal practice and disease control run short.

A health-insurance benefit paid to support living costs when illness or injury prevents work and wages. While a work-injury claim is pending, it may in practice be paid provisionally even for a work-related case and clawed back if the injury is later certified as work-related.

A tsunami generated by a distant earthquake or similar event that reaches Japan's coast. Unlike a near-field tsunami, it arrives without strong shaking felt beforehand, so there is no natural trigger for evacuation and trust in the warning largely determines whether people flee.

The Japanese name for a UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve, an area that seeks to reconcile ecosystem conservation with sustainable local development. The Southern Alps is one such reserve, structured in three zones: core, buffer, and transition.

Under a 2023 special-measures law for victim relief, the competent agency may so designate a religious corporation against which dissolution has been sought and where many victims are expected. A designated corporation must submit its property inventory quarterly rather than yearly, and disposing of real estate requires prior notice and public notice.

The gap between those who can and cannot use information and communication technologies. It has a three-layer structure: access divide (device/connectivity), skills divide (operational ability), and outcome divide (differential benefits from digital use).

A tax provision that reduces property tax on residential land by up to one-sixth. Since demolishing a vacant house removes this exemption, it creates an economic incentive to leave deteriorating houses standing rather than clearing the land.

A designation under the Vacant Houses Special Measures Act for properties posing risks of collapse or sanitation hazards. Designated properties face graduated measures: advice, guidance, recommendation, order, and administrative subrogation.

A category established by the 2023 amendment to the Vacant Houses Special Measures Act. Refers to inadequately maintained vacant houses at risk of becoming Specified Vacant Houses. Properties receiving recommendations lose their residential land tax exemption.

Land whose owner cannot be readily identified from the property registry, or whose owner is identified but cannot be reached. The main cause is the failure to register inheritance; when estates pass down without division, the number of owners to trace multiplies. As of 2016 it covered roughly 4.1 million hectares nationwide (about 20% of the land, exceeding the area of Kyushu's main island), projected to reach about 7.2 million hectares by 2040 without countermeasures.

The practice of selectively presenting only favorable portions of data. By arbitrarily choosing time periods, subjects, or variables, diametrically opposite conclusions can be drawn from the same dataset.

A third variable that influences both variables under study. Overlooking confounding variables leads to mistaking spurious correlations for causal relationships.

First-line medical care that integrates initial consultation, diagnosis, and ongoing health management. The model, established in systems like the UK NHS and Nordic countries, positions general practitioners (GPs) as the primary gateway, providing mild-case treatment, chronic disease follow-up, and specialist referrals in an integrated way. Japan, with its direct-access-to-specialist clinic model, has not institutionalized a GP-based primary care system.

An approach to suicide prevention that physically limits access to specific methods of suicide. Examples include platform doors, pesticide regulation, and bridge safety nets.

The phenomenon where restricting one method of suicide leads to switching to another method. Meta-analyses across 62 countries confirm that complete substitution rarely occurs.

An experimental design that randomly assigns participants to intervention and control groups to test effectiveness. One of the highest-quality methods of evidence generation.

A theoretical model proposing that suicide risk manifests at the intersection of distal factors (genetic vulnerability) and proximal factors (acute stress).

Changes in gene expression that occur without alterations to the DNA sequence. Environmental stress can rewrite gene switches through mechanisms such as DNA methylation.

The hypothesis that specific genes are directly involved in mental illness or behavioral traits. Border et al. (2019) refuted the candidate gene hypothesis for depression in a large-scale study.

A trait determined by the cumulative small effects of many genetic variants. Mental illness and suicide risk are highly polygenic.

A method that uses genetic data from hundreds of thousands to millions of people to comprehensively search for genetic variants associated with specific diseases or traits.

A polymorphism in the gene involved in serotonin reuptake. S-allele (short form) carriers were thought to have higher anxiety, but this has been refuted by large-scale studies.

The hypothesis that individuals with certain genetic predispositions are maladaptive in adverse environments but more adaptive in favorable ones. Also known as the 'Orchid and Dandelion' hypothesis.

The view that genes unilaterally determine behavior and traits. Considered scientifically inaccurate in modern genetics.

The proportion of phenotypic variation in a population attributable to genetic factors. It indicates the relative ease of environmental intervention in a particular society, not the immutability of genetic traits.

A chemical modification where methyl groups are added to DNA molecules. One of the primary epigenetic mechanisms that suppresses gene expression.

A mental representation of self and others formed through early attachment experiences. Functions as a lifelong template for interpersonal expectations, emotion regulation, and stress responses; secure versus insecure models produce markedly different relational patterns.

The anxiety or fear that one is missing out on rewarding experiences others are having. A concept increasingly studied in social psychology with the rise of social media, shown to correlate positively with anxious attachment.

The psychological process of comparing oneself to others who are perceived as superior or more fortunate. Frequently occurs on social media and can lead to relative deprivation and lowered self-evaluation.

The subjective sense of injustice that one is not receiving what one deserves. Arising from comparison with others, it can form the psychological basis for hostility and aggressive behavior.

A cognitive bias toward interpreting others' ambiguous actions as hostile. Associated with insecure attachment styles and relative deprivation, making aggressive responses more likely.

A motivational model proposed by Abraham H. Maslow, arranging five levels of need (physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization) hierarchically. Attachment problems concern the safety (Layer 2) and love/belonging (Layer 3) levels — more fundamental than the esteem needs (Layer 4) often conflated with them.

An approach to policy making and evaluation based on objective evidence such as statistical data and research findings.

A framework in science studies proposed by Funtowicz & Ravetz (1993). In situations of high uncertainty, high stakes, and urgent decisions, normal scientific procedures alone are insufficient; knowledge co-production by an extended peer community (including citizens and stakeholders) is required.

A framework that visually maps the causal relationships from inputs to activities, outputs, and outcomes of a program.

A planning method that works backward from long-term social change goals to specify necessary intermediate outcomes and causal pathways of intervention.

A framework where multiple sectors (government, business, NPOs, etc.) collaborate under a shared agenda to address social issues.

A social impact evaluation method that converts social, environmental, and economic outcomes into monetary values and expresses them as a ratio to input costs.

The total income generated by a nation's economic activities. Calculated by subtracting capital depreciation and indirect taxes from GDP, then adding subsidies. Used as the denominator for Japan's national burden rate, though most countries use GDP, making Japan's figures appear higher for the same burden level.

The situation where eligible individuals do not access welfare benefits they qualify for. Japan's public assistance take-up rate is estimated at approximately 22.9%.

A technique that guides people's behavior in desirable directions by adjusting defaults and information presentation while preserving freedom of choice.

The study of how humans perceive and manage interpersonal distance. Cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall systematized four zones (intimate, personal, social, public) in 1966.

Cultural groups where physical touch and close interpersonal distances are common in communication. Includes Southern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, contrasted with non-contact cultures (Northern Europe, East Asia).

A temperamental trait characterized by lower neural response thresholds to environmental stimuli. Found in an estimated 15–20% of the population and studied as the biological basis of Highly Sensitive Persons (HSP).

A cognitive bias where people overestimate the extent to which others share their beliefs, behaviors, and judgments. Named by Ross et al. (1977); a meta-analysis of 115 tests confirmed an effect size of r=0.31.

The tendency to preferentially consume information consistent with one's existing attitudes and beliefs. A behavioral manifestation of confirmation bias, prominently observed in social media comment and news consumption.

"Cognition about cognition" — the ability to observe and evaluate what you are thinking and why. Defined by Flavell (1979) and widely studied as a foundation for self-regulation, learning, and decision-making.

A reinforcement condition where rewards are delivered at irregular intervals. Produces the most extinction-resistant behavior patterns and is a core concept explaining the addictiveness of slot machines and social media infinite scroll.

The compulsive consumption of negative news and content. The amygdala's threat-scanning and dopamine's information reward form a feedback loop, evoking anxiety and existential dread.

The idea that connections among people, and the trust and norms of reciprocity arising from them, constitute a resource a society can draw on. Robert Putnam distinguished bonding capital, which links similar groups, from bridging capital, which links different ones.

Efforts to ensure that people marginalized by poverty, discrimination, or disability can participate in and benefit from society. The counterpart of social exclusion.

A principle that views disaster recovery not as mere restoration but as an opportunity to overcome societal vulnerabilities and build a more resilient society. Established as one of four priority actions in the 2015 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

A program offering nonprofits access to Google tools including Ad Grants (up to $10,000/month in search ads), free Google Workspace, and the YouTube Nonprofit Program.

A search advertising program within Google for Nonprofits that provides eligible organizations up to $10,000/month in Google Search ads. Capped bidding strategies have a $2 limit; eligible conversion-based Smart Bidding can exceed it based on performance. Monthly CTR of at least 5% applies except to accounts using only Smart Campaigns.

The ratio of clicks to impressions for an ad, calculated as clicks ÷ impressions × 100. Google Ad Grants requires maintaining an account-wide CTR of 5% or higher.

A Google Ads search ad format that allows up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, with Google's machine learning automatically selecting the best combination for each search query. Ad Grants requires at least one RSA per ad group.

Keywords set to prevent ads from showing for specific search terms. They block irrelevant impressions, helping maintain CTR. Essential for Ad Grants compliance with the 5% CTR requirement.

A specific search phrase of three or more words. Despite lower search volume, long-tail keywords tend to have higher CTR and conversion rates due to clearer search intent. Especially useful when an Ad Grants bidding strategy is subject to the $2 CPC cap.

A corporation established under the Act on Promotion of Specified Nonprofit Activities. It conducts public benefit activities in one or more of 20 designated fields and requires certification from the supervising authority. A minimum of 10 members is required for establishment.

A general incorporated association whose articles of incorporation ensure non-profit status. By meeting requirements under Article 3 of the Corporation Tax Act Enforcement Order, income from non-profit activities is tax-exempt.

An index that comprehensively measures price changes of goods and services purchased by households. Published monthly by the Statistics Bureau of Japan, it shows price change rates relative to a base year of 100.

An index comparing regional price levels relative to the national average of 100. Calculated by prefecture and city in the MIC Retail Price Survey. Housing and food costs are the primary drivers of regional variation.

A tax where the burden as a share of income falls more heavily on lower-income groups. Consumption taxes are considered regressive because lower-income households spend a larger share of income on consumption, though some argue they are proportional over a lifetime.

A tax credit system where the excess amount beyond tax liability is paid out as cash. Adopted in many countries to mitigate consumption tax regressivity, including Canada's GST/HST Credit and the US EITC. Japan began formal discussions on implementation in 2026.

A measure of wage purchasing power calculated by dividing nominal wages by the consumer price index. Even if nominal wages rise, real wages decline if prices rise faster.

Inflation caused by rising supply-side costs such as raw materials, energy, labor, and logistics. Because it occurs without demand expansion, wages tend not to keep pace, eroding real purchasing power.

The share of food expenditure in total household consumption spending. Generally higher at lower income levels, it serves as a living standard indicator. In Japan, it reached 28.6% in 2025, the highest in 44 years, driven by food price inflation.

The aggregate economic and social disadvantages incurred by having children, including wage losses (motherhood penalty), increased education and housing costs, and institutional disadvantages. Conceptualized in the Japanese context by Kaori Suetomi and Keita Sakurai.

The phenomenon where mothers experience reduced wages, promotion prospects, and labor force participation due to childbirth and childcare. OECD studies show women's earnings drop 20–60% after the first child.

A form of discrimination where individuals are treated based on statistical tendencies of their group rather than individual ability. When employers apply group-level tendencies like 'women are more likely to quit' to individuals, it reproduces gender gaps in hiring, placement, and promotion.

The concentration of genders in different occupations. Horizontal segregation refers to men and women working in different occupations, while vertical segregation refers to men dominating higher-level positions within organizations. A major structural driver of the gender wage gap.

A statistical method that decomposes wage gaps into a portion explained by differences in observable characteristics and an unexplained portion attributable to discriminatory treatment. Independently proposed by Ronald Oaxaca and Alan Blinder in 1973, widely used in gender wage gap analysis.

A concept introduced by Claudia Goldin in her 2014 American Economic Review paper. It refers to labor practices where workers who can put in long hours within the same occupation are rewarded non-linearly. The structure leaves a residual gender gap even when measured per hour, because the parent shouldering childcare cannot meet the time demands.

A category of insured persons under Japan's National Pension. It applies to the spouse of a Category 2 insured (employees enrolled in Employees' Pension) whose annual income is below 1.3 million yen. The spouse can qualify for National Pension benefits without paying contributions. Introduced in 1986, the system has been targeted for abolition or downsizing by Keidanren, Rengo, and others.

A French income tax scheme. Household income is divided by the number of family members (spouse, children, etc.) before applying progressive tax rates. Tax reductions scale with the number of children, linking the design to fertility policy. The benefit grows with household income. Adoption proposals in Japan exist, but a key concern is that the system could preserve spousal labor-supply adjustment incentives.

The government-set price paid to care service providers under Japan's Long-Term Care Insurance system. Revised every three years by MHLW, it effectively caps provider revenue and thus directly affects staff wages.

An add-on to care reimbursement designed to improve care worker wages. In FY2024, three separate allowances were consolidated into a single 'Care Worker Treatment Improvement Allowance.' Providers must file wage improvement plans and meet career path requirements to qualify.

A form of labor requiring workers to manage and suppress their own emotions while displaying organizationally appropriate expressions. Coined by sociologist Arlie Hochschild, it is prominent in care work, nursing, and service industries, and is a major contributor to burnout.

Bank deposits with no transactions for 10 or more years. Under Japan's Dormant Deposits Utilization Act (effective 2018), these funds are channeled to private-sector public interest activities through JANPIA as the designated fund distribution organization.

A systematic approach to assessing infrastructure condition, predicting deterioration, and prioritizing renewal within limited budgets to optimally maintain facility functions. In water utilities, tracking pipe aging rates and replacement rates forms the foundation.

A PFI method where the government retains ownership of public facilities while delegating operational rights to private operators. In water utilities, Miyagi Prefecture became Japan's first adopter in 2022.

The proportion of pipelines exceeding their statutory useful life (40 years for water pipes). As of FY2022, the national average reached 23.6%, projected to rise to approximately 69% by 2042 at the current replacement pace.

A public pension paid to individuals whose daily life or work is restricted due to illness or injury. It consists of Disability Basic Pension (Grades 1–2) and Disability Employees' Pension (Grades 1–3). Eligibility requires meeting three conditions: first medical examination date, premium payment, and disability status.

The date of the first medical consultation for the condition causing the disability. It serves as the starting point for determining disability pension eligibility. A structural problem arises when medical records exceed the 5-year retention period, making proof difficult.

An approach that views disability as an impairment of individual bodily functions, with medical treatment as the solution. Contrasts with the social model. Japan's disability pension certification criteria have been criticized for relying on this model.

A condition where equivalised disposable income falls below 50% of the median (the poverty line). In the 2021 survey, the poverty line was ¥1.27 million/year. Unlike absolute poverty, it measures the gap from a society's standard of living.

Workers whose income falls below the poverty line despite being employed. In Japan, single-parent households epitomise this structural problem: their employment rate is the highest in the OECD (86%) while their poverty rate is also among the highest (44.5%).

The concurrent use of multiple medications, generally defined as 5–6 or more drugs. It increases the risk of drug interactions and adverse events, and is a major challenge in geriatric medicine.

A chain reaction where a drug's side effect is mistaken for a new condition, leading to additional prescriptions. One of the key mechanisms driving polypharmacy.

Any harmful reaction associated with drug use, including side effects, medication errors, and unintended health consequences from drug interactions. Falls, delirium, and renal impairment are common in the elderly.

A practice where healthcare providers 'prescribe' participation in community activities and social resources rather than medication. Institutionalized in the UK NHS with link workers connecting patients to community resources. Gaining international attention as a loneliness countermeasure.

A psychological scale developed at UCLA to measure loneliness. Characteristically avoids using the word 'lonely' directly, instead indirectly assessing the lack of social connection. Adopted in Japan's national loneliness surveys.

A form of democracy in which citizens make political decisions through elected representatives. Contrasted with direct democracy, it resolves the problem of scale while being based on the principle of popular sovereignty, though the gap between representatives and voters is a persistent challenge.

The subjective belief that one's political participation can influence politics. Divided into internal efficacy (belief in one's ability to understand and participate in politics) and external efficacy (belief that government responds to citizens). A major determinant of voter turnout and political participation.

The study of how ignorance is produced and maintained. Systematized by Robert Proctor in 2008. Analyzes the absence of knowledge not as a natural state but as a social product actively manufactured by industry, power, and institutions. The tobacco industry's manufacture of doubt is the canonical case.

A concept proposed by Miranda Fricker in 2007, referring to injustice in the production and circulation of knowledge. It takes two forms: (1) testimonial injustice, where a speaker's testimony is wrongly discredited due to prejudice, and (2) hermeneutical injustice, where an experience goes unrecognized because society lacks the concepts to articulate it.

The balance of digital-related items (cloud computing, digital advertising, software licenses, data transmission, etc.) within the services balance of international payments. In Japan, the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan began compiling it in the early 2020s. The 2024 figure was approximately ¥6.65 trillion, with some analyses projecting expansion to roughly ¥45 trillion by 2035.

A structural phenomenon in which dependence on cognitive offloading technologies such as AI yields short-term efficiency gains but produces long-term decline in human thinking, judgment, and learning capacity. An analogy to technical debt. Documented through EEG experiments at MIT Media Lab, deskilling among medical practitioners, and generative-AI hallucinations in legal filings.

A long-term decay of skills and judgment among professionals due to technical automation or cognitive offloading. Theorized by Braverman (1974) in labor process theory. Recently revisited in medicine (decline in polyp detection rates among colonoscopists), law (AI hallucination cases), and education (learning capacity decline under generative-AI dependence).

An institutional mechanism by which administrative agencies publish draft policies, regulations, or standards and invite public opinion before adoption. In Japan, formalized in the 2005 amendment of the Administrative Procedure Act. The submission period is, in principle, at least 30 days. Agencies are accountable for responding to submitted opinions, but because the procedure occurs after the main structure of the draft is fixed, there is a practical limit to the scope of revisions possible.

Goods with characteristics between pure public goods and pure private goods. Many can benefit from them, yet rivalry arises when use concentrates in particular periods or users, so their provision and allocation require social coordination. Education, roads, and water infrastructure are common examples. Equipment that is sufficient when circulated locally also approaches this character when optimized collectively rather than owned individually.

The balance of services (travel, transport, telecommunications/computer/information services, charges for use of intellectual property, other business services, etc.) traded across borders in the international balance of payments statistics. Japan has long run a services-balance deficit, with recent years showing pronounced expansion in digital-related items.

An investment company funded jointly by the government and private investors, which invests in or lends to fields where private capital alone is hard to raise. It must pick projects that make sense as policy while also recovering its money as an investment, so it looks for deals that satisfy both tests at once. Its operation follows shared guidelines, and its progress against both policy indicators and cumulative profit-and-loss targets is verified periodically.

A phenomenon in which industry effectively dominates regulatory agencies, making regulations serve industry interests rather than the public good for which they were intended. Theorized economically by Stigler (1971), with Shapiro (2012) distinguishing informational capture and decision-making capture. Birhane et al. (2026) systematized its application to Big AI through 27 mechanisms in 5 categories.

The bidirectional process of regulatory capture, completed when regulators themselves — not the regulated parties — actively adopt industry narratives. A key concept Birhane et al. (2026) included in their paper title. Cases analyzed include deregulatory moves by the EU Commission, UK government, and German authorities.

A problem-solving research methodology that accumulates knowledge through the design and evaluation of artifacts (frameworks, taxonomies, models, etc.). Formalized by Hevner (2007). Adopted by Birhane et al. (2026) to construct their regulatory capture taxonomy. Methodologically aligns with the grounded-theory approach of the ISVD Agnotology Lab.

A state in which two parties to a transaction hold different amounts or qualities of information. The gap grows when the seller does this every day while the buyer does it a handful of times in a lifetime. The wider it is, the more the better-informed side can set price and terms in its favour. Fraud and inflated quotes work by exploiting that gap.

The exclusive right to use the customer-drawing power carried by a name or likeness. It has no basis in statute in Japan. The Supreme Court held that a name or likeness symbolises the personality of the individual, who therefore holds a right not to have it used arbitrarily, and that the exclusive right to its customer-drawing power forms part of that right derived from personality. Unauthorised use becomes unlawful where the purpose is solely to exploit that drawing power, such as using it as a product to be appreciated in itself, attaching it to differentiate goods, or using it in advertising.

The method used to apportion single-member House of Representatives seats among Japan's prefectures. Each prefecture's population is divided by a common divisor and the quotient rounded up, with the divisor chosen so the totals match the number of seats. Because quotients are rounded up, even the least populous prefecture receives at least one seat. It is applied on the large-scale census held once a decade and has been in use since the 2020 census.

A way of commissioning large-scale condominium renovation in which inspection, design and construction supervision are outsourced to a consultant while the contractor is selected separately. It is meant to let a management association choose a contractor transparently despite lacking expertise; but when the consultant is tied to a particular contractor, the consultant ends up on the opposite side of the client's interest. Japan's transport ministry named this conflict of interest in a January 2017 notice.

A series of reforms that have progressively extended Employees' Pension and health insurance to part-time workers. Those working at least 20 hours a week and earning at least 88,000 yen a month qualify. The firm-size threshold was over 500 employees when the scheme took effect in October 2016, over 100 from October 2022, and over 50 from October 2024; the 2025 reform removes it entirely by October 2035. Those newly covered move from Category 1 or Category 3 of the National Pension into the Employees' Pension.

The number of months actually paid divided by the number of months due. The denominator excludes months covered by statutory exemption, full application-based exemption, the student deferral scheme, general deferral, and maternity exemption. As a result, the rate rises when more people are exempted or deferred, even if the amount collected does not change. It is not the share of all insured persons who paid.

A graded classification of monthly earnings used as the basis for calculating social insurance premiums. Actual salary is mapped to grades 1–50 (for Employees' Pension), and premiums are calculated by applying the rate to the fixed amount for each grade. Revised annually in September based on the average of April–June earnings.

A small-scale PPP/PFI initiative (typically under 1 billion yen) for revitalizing underused public properties such as vacant houses and abandoned schools. MLIT established a dedicated platform in 2024.

A system under Japan's Urban Parks Act that publicly solicits private operators to develop and manage revenue-generating facilities (e.g., cafés) alongside park facilities. Established by 2017 law revision with up to 20-year permits.

An umbrella term for public-private collaboration in delivering public services and managing public infrastructure. PFI specifically leverages private finance for infrastructure, while PPP encompasses PFI plus designated manager systems and comprehensive outsourcing.

A dialogue-based market survey conducted before public tender to gather private sector opinions and ideas on utilizing public assets. Used to pre-validate feasibility and appropriate conditions.

A system under Japan's Local Autonomy Act that allows private operators and NPOs to manage public facilities. Introduced in 2003 to improve efficiency and service quality, though typically short designation periods (3-5 years) can hinder long-term investment.

A corporation established as provided for by Japan's general law on independent administrative institutions (Act No. 103 of 1999) and by an individual act for each institution. It carries out public tasks that must be performed reliably and that the state need not run directly itself, but that might not necessarily be carried out if left to private bodies, or that need to be run by a single body (Article 2 of the general law). The law sets three types. The National Museum of Art and the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage belong to the type that works to medium-term objectives set by the minister.

Operational objectives that the competent minister sets for a period of three to five years, issues to an institution and publishes, under Article 29 of Japan's general law on independent administrative institutions. They set the period and cover the quality of services, operational efficiency and financial improvement. The institution then draws up a medium-term plan based on them and has it approved by the minister (Article 30).

Money the state provides to an independent administrative institution to fund its operations. It rests on Article 46 of Japan's general law on independent administrative institutions, under which the government may, within its budget, provide all or part of the amount needed to fund the institution's work. Because the money comes from taxes and other public funds, the institution must try to use it properly and efficiently (Article 46(2)).

At tourist and cultural facilities, setting separate prices for the same facility or service for residents of Japan and for visitors who live abroad. The medium-term objectives for the National Museum of Art (February 2026) call for introducing such dual pricing within the objectives period.

A hypothesis proposed by Tichenor et al. (1970) stating that as mass media information increases, higher socioeconomic groups acquire knowledge faster, widening rather than narrowing the knowledge gap between social strata. A foundational theory showing that more information does not automatically reduce inequality.

A concept of cumulative advantage named by Merton (1968), derived from Matthew 25:29 ('For to everyone who has, more will be given'). Originally describing recognition bias in science, it applies to education, information access, and economic inequality — initial advantages compound over time.

A concept theorized by Chatman (1996) through small worlds theory. The information-poor exhibit four characteristics — distrust of outside sources, self-protective secrecy, risk aversion, and situational relevance — that isolate them from available information. A social-psychological mechanism of information exclusion distinct from physical access barriers.

The practice of making scholarly articles freely available online without restrictions. Launched as an international movement with the 2002 Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI). The author-pays Article Processing Charge (APC) model has become dominant, creating new inequalities through cost-shifting.

The ability to obtain, understand, evaluate, and apply health information. Nutbeam (2000) proposed a three-level model: functional (reading/writing), interactive (social skills for eliciting information), and critical (analytical assessment and autonomous use). A framework demonstrating that information availability alone is insufficient.

An index measuring a local government's fiscal strength, calculated as the 3-year average of standard fiscal revenue divided by standard fiscal demand. Municipalities scoring 1.0+ are non-grant recipients. A fundamental metric for assessing fiscal capacity when selecting PPP/PFI methods.

A procedure under Article 87 of Japan's Building Standards Act for changing a building's designated use. Confirmation application is required when the new use is a special building exceeding 200㎡. For existing non-conforming buildings, compliance with current standards (retroactive application) is required, with fire code and seismic standards creating major practical challenges.

An umbrella term for businesses that leverage the value and appeal of marine and fishing village resources to meet diverse domestic and international needs, generating local vitality, income, and employment. Institutionalized as 'Fishery Port Facility Utilization Business' in the 2023 amended Fisheries Port Act. Includes experience tourism, direct sales, dining, and aquaculture.

A building that was lawful when constructed but no longer meets current standards due to subsequent law revisions. Unlike illegal construction, continued use is permitted, but compliance with current standards may be required for extensions, renovations, or change of use. Pre-1981 buildings under the old seismic code are the typical example.

An administrative system for handling minor traffic violations through payment of fines rather than criminal proceedings, commonly known as the 'blue ticket.' Introduced for motor vehicles in 1968, its scope was expanded to include bicycles from April 2026. Payment of the fine avoids a criminal record, but non-payment triggers criminal proceedings.

A quantitative indicator comparing the total cost of a PPP/PFI approach against traditional public procurement. It calculates the difference between the Public Sector Comparator (PSC) and the PFI lifecycle cost (PFI-LCC) in present value terms.

A regulation requiring local governments to prioritize consideration of PPP/PFI methods over traditional procurement for public facility projects above a certain scale. First requested by the Cabinet Office in 2015, with the target expanded to municipalities with populations of 50,000 or more in 2025.

A phenomenon where inflation pushes nominal incomes into higher tax brackets despite no change in real purchasing power. Under progressive taxation, rising prices function as an automatic tax increase.

The proportion of value added by corporations distributed as labor costs (wages, bonuses, employer social insurance contributions). A decline indicates growing corporate profits alongside stagnant worker compensation, helping explain the coexistence of rising corporate tax revenue and wage stagnation.

A labor market condition where the buyer (employer) holds dominant power, suppressing wages below competitive levels. Particularly visible in single-industry rural areas and occupations requiring specific qualifications.

Business failures primarily caused by employee turnover, recruitment difficulties, or rising labor costs. According to Teikoku Databank, a record 441 cases were recorded in FY2025, with firms of fewer than 10 employees accounting for approximately 75%.

An education ICT policy launched by MEXT in 2019 to provide every student with a personal device and high-speed network access. Stands for Global and Innovation Gateway for All. Entered its second phase (device renewal) from FY2024.

A portmanteau of Education and Technology. An umbrella term for services and technologies that leverage AI, cloud computing, and big data to make education more efficient and individually optimized.

An international reading literacy assessment for fourth graders conducted every five years by the IEA. In the 2021 cycle, Sweden's score dropped 11 points, sparking debate about the link to digital education.

Technology that automates routine computer operations (data entry, transcription, reconciliation, etc.) using software robots. Municipalities increasingly adopt RPA for counter services and payroll processing, significantly reducing task hours.

A taxation system where higher tax rates apply to larger amounts of income or assets. Japan's inheritance tax uses an 8-bracket progressive structure (10%–55%).

A fixed deduction from taxable amounts. Japan's inheritance tax basic exemption is ¥30M + ¥6M × number of legal heirs. A 40% reduction in 2015 doubled the number of taxable estates.

Levying multiple taxes on the same economic value. In inheritance tax, the structure of taxing assets already subject to income tax draws criticism.

A system that defers or exempts inheritance/gift tax when successors of SMEs acquire unlisted shares. A special provision was established in 2018.

Defined by MEXT as students who have been absent for 30 or more days per year for reasons other than illness or financial hardship. The 30-day threshold has been unchanged since 1992. Students attending free schools are counted as non-attending unless their home school grants formal attendance recognition.

Enacted in December 2016, this law formally recognizes the right of non-attending students to rest, promotes cooperation with free schools and private facilities, and mandates the establishment of night junior high schools.

Japan's foundational law on school education (enacted 1947), establishing school types, objectives, standards, teacher qualifications, and the textbook system. Article 34 mandates textbook use (screening, adoption, and free distribution), and the legal status of digital textbooks is determined by amendments to this article.

A textbook in digital format used by learners on devices (tablets, PCs, etc.). Introduced from FY2019 as a 'material usable in combination with print textbooks' under the School Education Act. Following the April 2026 cabinet decision, the amended law scheduled for April 2027 implementation will formally designate digital textbooks as official textbooks. A three-option system — print-only, combined, or digital-only — is adopted.

A system in which the Ministry of Education reviews and approves manuscripts prepared by Japanese textbook publishers before authorizing their use as school textbooks. Manuscripts are assessed for conformity with curriculum guidelines, content accuracy, and appropriateness of expression. Only approved textbooks may be used in schools (School Education Act, Article 34). Crucially, Japan's digital textbooks undergo this screening — distinguishing them from Sweden's unscreened digital materials.

An experimental design for causally verifying the effects of an intervention. Participants are randomly assigned to intervention and control groups, equalizing all conditions except the intervention itself, thereby eliminating confounding factors. Considered the 'gold standard' for causal inference in medicine, policy evaluation, and educational research. In education policy, scale and ethical constraints often make RCT difficult — and no published RCT of Japan's learner-use digital textbooks exists.

AI-equipped digital textbooks introduced in South Korea in March 2025 across three subjects — English, mathematics, and ICT. The Ministry of Education called them the world's first. AI features were designed to enable personalized learning based on each student's proficiency. However, five months after launch, persistently low connection rates (0.3–0.5% for middle and high school students in Sejong City) emerged, and on August 4, 2025, the South Korean National Assembly passed legislation downgrading AIDT from 'textbook' to 'educational material.'

A 2023 MEXT plan titled 'Ensuring Learning for All — Non-Attendance Countermeasures.' Its three pillars are: (1) securing diverse learning venues, (2) detecting early distress signals via 1-device-per-student, and (3) making school climate visible through mandatory surveys. The plan targets 300 specialized schools for non-attending students nationwide.

A tax avoidance technique that exploits the gap between the assessed value (road-front price method) and market value of real estate for inheritance tax purposes. The typical scheme involves the decedent purchasing rental property late in life using loans, compressing assessed value to 30–40% of market price and claiming the remaining debt as a deduction. This approach was progressively closed by the 2022 Supreme Court ruling, the 2024 condominium assessment directive, and the 2027 five-year rule.

Article 6 of the Basic Notice on Property Valuation. It allows alternative valuation methods, authorized by the NTA Commissioner, when the standard valuation method would be 'clearly inappropriate.' The Supreme Court affirmed its application in the April 2022 Tower Mansion Tax Avoidance case, establishing it as the legal basis for overriding standard valuations when ordinary tax fairness would be violated.

The period during which lifetime gifts from the decedent to heirs are added back ('clawed back') into the taxable estate for inheritance tax purposes. Japan's clawback period was extended from 3 to 7 years in the 2023 tax reform, phased in from 2024 to 2031. France uses 15 years and the UK uses 7 years, illustrating international variation.

Total Allowable Catch. A management method that sets an annual cap on catches per species, within which fishing operations are managed. In Japan, it is operated under the Act on Preservation and Control of Living Marine Resources (TAC Act). Compared to vessel- or operator-based systems such as Norway's IVQ (Individual Vessel Quota) or Iceland's ITQ (Individual Transferable Quota), per-vessel revenue stability is harder to secure under a species-level cap.

A facility category under Japan's revised Health Promotion Act (fully enforced April 2020) for second-hand smoke control. Schools, hospitals, child welfare facilities, government office buildings, and passenger transport vehicles where minors and patients are primary users fall under this category. The premise rule is on-site smoking prohibition; designated outdoor smoking areas must satisfy three conditions — physical partitioning, signage, and restricted general access. Type-1 is stricter than Type-2 (restaurants, workplaces, etc., where indoor smoking is prohibited as a rule).

A facility category under Japan's revised Health Promotion Act covering most premises used by many people, including restaurants, workplaces, hotels, railways, and passenger ships. The default rule is no indoor smoking, but smoking-only rooms (food and beverage service not permitted) and heated-tobacco-only smoking rooms (food and beverage service permitted) may be installed when conditions are met. Type-2 sits between Type-1 (on-site prohibition) and the transitional category of existing small restaurants.

A restaurant category established as a transitional measure under the supplementary provisions of Japan's revised Health Promotion Act. Eligibility requires three conditions in combination: in operation as of April 2020, capital or contributed funds of 50 million yen or less, and customer floor area of 100 square meters or less. Eligible establishments may designate the entire premises as a smoking-permitted room — allowing simultaneous smoking and food service — subject to signage, prohibition of entry by persons under 20, and notification. Although designed to phase out over time, succession of ownership and renovation tend to keep the category in continued use.

A designated area inside a Type-2 facility under Japan's revised Health Promotion Act used solely for smoking. Requirements include an air-inflow speed of at least 0.2 meters per second at entrances, wall structures preventing smoke leakage, exhaust to the outside, and signage. Food and beverage service is not permitted, and entry by persons under 20 is prohibited. Unlike heated-tobacco-only smoking rooms, both cigarettes and heated tobacco may be used here, representing the standard design that decouples smoking from food service.

A category of tobacco products that heats tobacco leaves without combustion; brands such as IQOS, glo, and Ploom have spread widely in Japan. Japan's revised Health Promotion Act treats cigarettes and heated tobacco under different smoking-room categories, and heated-tobacco-only smoking rooms are designed to allow food and beverage service. While mainstream-smoke carcinogen levels are reported as lower than cigarettes, the Science Council of Japan notes that diffusion has outpaced the establishment of scientific evidence on unmeasured chemicals and second-hand exposure.

Article 8 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), 'Protection from Exposure to Tobacco Smoke.' It requires each Party to adopt and implement effective legislative, executive, and administrative measures providing protection from exposure to tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces, public transport, indoor public places, and, as appropriate, other public places. Japan ratified the convention in June 2004, but the revised Health Promotion Act targets indoor space in facilities above a certain scale — exempting many small restaurants under the existing-restaurant transition — and this gap from a comprehensive smoke-free standard is the central point of international comparison.

The phenomenon where nicotine and other chemicals from tobacco smoke remain on clothing, hair, curtains, carpets, walls, and other surfaces after the smoke itself has dissipated, then re-emit over time. It is also called residual second-hand smoke. Young children — who crawl on floors and frequently put objects in their mouths — are more exposed, and links to allergies, bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis, and possible brain-development effects are reported. Ventilation and air purifiers cannot fully remove residue; indoor smoke-free conditions are considered the only complete prevention.

A judicial doctrine in civil tort law that judges the unlawfulness of nuisances — noise, soot, odor, vibration, smoke — by whether they exceed the limit a reasonable person should tolerate under social convention. The tolerance-limit assessment weighs the nature and degree of harm, locality, balance of interests, public nature of the act, continuity, and whether prior consultation occurred. In second-hand smoke disputes such as balcony smoking or smoke flowing across property boundaries — spaces outside the jurisdiction of Japan's revised Health Promotion Act — it functions as the practical adjudication framework.

The annual cap on overtime work introduced with criminal penalties under the 2018 Working-Style Reform Act. The general rule sets the cap at 720 hours per year (excluding holiday work), with multi-month averages within 80 hours and single-month limits below 100 hours. Three sectors — commercial driving, construction, and medical doctors — received a five-year exemption period on grounds of operational specificity, with the main rules taking effect on April 1, 2024.

A permit system under Article 41-3 of the Labor Standards Act that allows intermittent on-call duty (night duty / day duty) at medical institutions to be exempted from working-hour regulations (overtime caps, overtime premiums, etc.) upon approval by the Labor Standards Inspection Office director. Under physician work-style reform, hospitals use it to shift night and weekend duty off the labor-time clock, but the approval criteria are limited to duty 'requiring almost no work.' If 'work of the same nature as ordinary duty' occurs after approval, it must be counted as labor time and may trigger permit revocation.

The level of overtime work used by Japanese labor authorities as a benchmark for adjudicating death from overwork (deaths from cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease). Sustained overtime of 80 hours per month over two to six months, or single-month overtime of 100 hours or more, is considered to have a strong causal relationship with onset. The annualized figure of 80 hours × 12 months = 960 hours is referenced as 'one year at the karoshi line.'

One of the additional health-safeguard measures introduced under Japan's physician work-style reform. Except when an on-call duty permit applies, continuous duty after night shift is limited to 28 hours from the start of the prior day. The 28-hour ceiling applies to A-tier, B-tier, linked-B-tier, and C-2-tier physicians, while C-1-tier (clinical residents) operates under a 15-hour rule (with an exception extending to 24 hours when alignment with supervising physicians requires it). After continuous duty, a 9-hour or 18-hour inter-shift interval is mandatory.

The standard freight rate level for general trucking services, formally announced by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism under Article 63-2 of the Cargo Vehicle Transport Business Act. It aims to improve driver working conditions and secure appropriate freight rates. The March 2024 revision raised the rate level by an average of 8% and added new compensation lines for loading and unloading. It is not legally binding but serves as a reference for freight contract negotiations.

An individual proprietor who runs a business through his or her own labor without employing workers. Common in the construction industry, since these workers are formally proprietors, they sit outside the working-hour regulations of the Labor Standards Act. Many serve at the bottom of the general-contractor / subcontractor structure and perform the actual on-site work, but the overtime caps and social-insurance coverage that would apply to workers do not reach them — in industry debate over working-hour reform, this is treated as an 'exemption zone.' Special enrollment in workers' accident compensation insurance is available.

A provision of Japan's high-cost medical expense benefit under which the out-of-pocket ceiling is lowered from the fourth month once a household has reached the monthly ceiling three times within the preceding twelve months. For the bracket covering annual income of roughly 3.7 to 7.7 million yen, the reduced ceiling is 44,400 yen. Because it counts months, it reaches people with costs almost every month but rarely reaches people whose large costs arrive every few months. The August 2026 revision left the amount unchanged and introduced a new annual cap aimed at long-term patients who fall outside this way of counting.

A provision under Japan's long-term care insurance that caps what low-income residents of care facilities and short-stay users pay for food and accommodation, with the difference from the standard cost paid by the insurance. Formally called the benefit for designated facility residents. Eligibility rests on residence-tax exemption, and that group is then divided into tiers from 1 through 3-B by pension income plus total income, each with its own cap. Savings are also tested, and exceeding the limit removes eligibility entirely.

A system under which a guardian appointed by the family court manages property and enters or approves contracts on behalf of a person whose decision-making capacity is impaired by dementia, intellectual disability or mental illness. It has three statutory tiers, graded by the degree of impairment, alongside a separate voluntary arrangement allowing a person to choose a guardian in advance. Once begun it normally continues until the person dies, and where a professional serves, remuneration is paid from the person's own assets.

An arrangement under which Japanese language instruction replaces part of the regular curriculum for pupils who need it, counted as formal teaching in credits and school records. It began in primary and lower secondary schools in fiscal 2014 and became available in upper secondary schools in fiscal 2023. Whether a pupil receives it depends on each school's capacity, and take-up differs sharply between compulsory and upper secondary education.

A welfare service in which a person with a disability works under an employment contract with the provider. Labour law and the minimum wage apply, which distinguishes it from Type B, where there is no contract and participants receive an allowance instead. Providers must ensure that revenue from productive activity, less necessary costs, at least covers total wages paid, so wages are not to be funded from the benefit payment. Base remuneration is set by a score combining several assessment items.

A local government employee appointed under the Local Public Service Act for a term not exceeding one fiscal year. The system began in April 2020, consolidating the previously scattered legal bases for temporary and part-time staff and making end-of-term allowances payable. The term expires at the end of the fiscal year and a fresh appointment follows. Positions are either full-time, matching a regular officer's hours, or part-time; in practice the latter accounts for the great majority.

A volunteer firefighter who takes part in a limited range of duties or hours, such as major disasters only, weekday daytime only, or outreach and prevention work only. It sits alongside the standard category covering all activities, and was introduced to bring in people who cannot take part in the traditional form because of work or family circumstances. Whether the arrangement exists is decided by each municipality.

An unpaid part-time special local government post, commissioned by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare under the Community Welfare Commissioners Act, to take enquiries from residents in an assigned area and connect them to support. The holder also serves as a child welfare commissioner. Terms run three years and are renewed nationwide at the same time. Quotas are set by prefectural ordinance after consulting municipal heads, so they do not fall automatically when recruitment does; shortfalls therefore appear in the figures as vacancies.

A scheme under which a local authority commissions people who have moved their residence registration from an urban area to a depopulated one to carry out community support work. It began in FY2009 under guidelines issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Terms run roughly one to three years, with the honorarium and activity costs covered by special local allocation tax measures. The scheme is designed so that members settle in the area after their term ends, and the ministry surveys where former members go each year.

A resident, typically an older or disabled person, who cannot evacuate unaided when a disaster strikes and needs particular support to do so safely. Under Article 49-10 of the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act, municipal heads must identify such residents and maintain a register recording their name, address, contact details and the reason assistance is needed.

A plan drawn up for each resident requiring evacuation assistance, setting out who will help them, where they will go and by which route. Article 49-14 of the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act makes this a duty of effort for municipalities. Because registers are mandatory while plans are only a duty of effort, it is common for a person to appear on a register with no plan attached.

A death caused not by the direct impact of a disaster such as building collapse or tsunami, but by the strain of displaced living or the interruption of medical and nursing care, and certified as disaster-caused under the Act on Provision of Disaster Condolence Grants. Municipal review panels rule on each case individually. In recent major earthquakes such deaths have repeatedly outnumbered direct ones.

A statistical model that places the difficulty of each item and the ability of each test-taker on a single common scale. Because it does not require everyone to answer the same items, results stay comparable across years even when the questions change. In the 2026 national survey in Japan, lower secondary English was reported this way, on a scale centred on 500.

The lens for improving lessons set out in Japan's 2017 and 2018 curriculum revisions. It asks pupils to engage with problems of their own accord, widen their thinking through dialogue with others, and connect and re-examine what they know. The aim is not to change the format of lessons but the quality of the learning within them.

The price set for each medical procedure under Japan's public health insurance. Revised periodically by the government, it directly determines the revenue of hospitals and clinics. It is a separate system from the care reimbursement schedule that prices long-term care services, with a different revision cycle and a different administering body.

A national tax levied on the income an individual earns over a year, structured progressively so that the rate rises with income. It is distinct from national income, which measures the total income of an economy: one is a tax, the other a measure of economic scale.

A condition in which stimuli such as sound, light, or touch are experienced as far more intense or distressing than most people find them, including misophonia, a strong aversion to particular sounds. Unlike sensory processing sensitivity, which describes an innate temperament, it is framed in terms of interference with daily life.

A device that emits an artificial driving sound when an electric vehicle travels at low speed. UN ECE Regulation No. 138 mandates it below 20 km/h. It exists to reduce the danger of pedestrians failing to notice a vehicle that is too quiet, and so pushes in the opposite direction from noise reduction.

A field that explains economic behavior by building in the regularities of actual human choice, on the premise that people do not always decide rationally. It deals with tendencies such as feeling losses more strongly than gains, or accepting whatever option is set as the default.

A survey method that gives randomly selected citizens briefing materials and a chance to discuss, then measures how their views shift before and after. James Fishkin has run it since 1991. Where an ordinary poll measures what people think now, this measures what they think after deliberating.

A procedure for investigating and disclosing the effects a road or facility will have on noise, air, and water before it is built, governed in Japan by the Environmental Impact Assessment Act. For roads that have gone through it, soundproofing subsidies are sometimes provided to houses along stretches expected to exceed noise standards.

The exclusion of a person's account from a discussion on the grounds that it does not count as knowledge. Belonging to the lineage of Miranda Fricker's work on epistemic injustice, it locates the harm not in the loss of a chance to speak but in the loss of credibility when speaking.

A business that pools money from multiple investors to acquire and operate real estate and distributes the returns. Licensed under the Real Estate Specified Joint Enterprise Act, its crowdfunding form, which allows small contributions, is used to finance the reuse of old houses and closed schools.

A method that calculates, for each birth cohort, what it pays to government and receives from government over a lifetime, then compares the balance. Because it looks across a whole life rather than a single fiscal year, imbalances between generations appear as monetary amounts.

The view that when attributes such as race, gender, class, and disability overlap, they produce a distinct disadvantage that cannot be explained by adding each one up. Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the concept in a legal context.

A German scheme that enrolls freelancers in designated fields, such as artists and writers, in public pension and health insurance. Their own contributions are held down to employee-like levels, with the remainder covered by levies on commissioning firms and by the state. It is cited as an example of creating an intermediate category for work that fits neither the employee nor the self-employed box.

The idea of steering people toward preferable choices by changing defaults and presentation while leaving freedom of choice intact, proposed by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. It uses neither prohibition nor penalty, but raises the question of who decides what counts as preferable.

A habit of thought in which the conclusion comes first and reasoning is assembled from whatever evidence supports it. Because it feels like careful thinking from the inside, adding more information does not necessarily resolve the disagreement.

An approach that brings users into the design process as decision-makers rather than as people to be consulted. It began in 1970s Scandinavia, where workers themselves examined the technology to be introduced into their workplaces.

An area designated under the City Planning Act as one where urbanization is to be restrained. Strict limits apply to new construction and changes of use, so closed schools and old houses located there often stall at the procedural stage even when a use has been found.

A rice price derived from point-of-sale records. MAFF’s nationwide weekly publication uses sales data from about 1,000 supermarkets and reports an average per 5kg of milled rice including tax; it does not exhaustively cover every retailer and variety.

MAFF’s measure based on negotiated staple-food rice contracts between shippers and wholesalers or other buyers. It basically reports first-grade brown rice per 60kg including freight, packaging and tax, and differs from farm receipts and retail sale prices.

A reference published by the certified Rice Stable Supply Support Organization for costs in rice production, collection, wholesale and retail. It excludes profit and guarantees neither an actual transaction price nor a minimum price.

The ability to use services and information regardless of disability or other circumstances. Shared components and the actual interface and added functions need to be checked.

Instructions or procedures describing how an AI agent should perform work. A plan for sharing skills differs from released materials that users can obtain and use.

AI that combines tasks such as searching and creating materials in response to instructions. Available actions and accessible materials depend on the environment’s specifications and settings.

Software license conditions defined by Amazon. These differ from the MIT License, so users should check the covered files and applicable provisions.

An interface through which systems call functions and exchange information in a specified format. Each specification defines the destination and information exchanged.

A designated helper records the choice of a voter who cannot write because of illness, injury or similar circumstances. The helper does not select the candidate for the voter.

A tendency to place excessive trust in automated output and insufficiently check errors or omissions. Even a neatly presented AI summary requires comparison with underlying material.

The percentage of active capsaicin and related capsaicinoids in bear spray. Japan’s Ministry of the Environment recommends approximately 1.0–2.0% in its August 2026 requirements; this differs from the percentage of OC pepper extract, which also contains other constituents.

A pepper extract containing oils, pigments and other constituents as well as pungent compounds such as capsaicin. Equal OC percentages may contain different active-ingredient percentages, so they cannot be compared directly with CRC concentration.

Voting in braille by an eligible voter with a visual impairment who uses braille. Zentsuji’s electronic-voting guidance retains the conventional paper procedure.

License conditions permitting sharing and adaptation with requirements including attribution and indication of changes. Users should check the applicable conditions when reusing a work.

Minerals important to economic activity or security whose supply concentration or disruption is a concern. Covered minerals depend on the country and policy framework.

The EU regulation for online intermediary services. It covers notices about illegal content and challenges to decisions; the laws defining illegality remain distinct.

A route to challenge platform moderation decisions before a body certified under the DSA. Its decisions are non-binding; the service and access conditions must be checked.

Voting through equipment at a polling station, with the ballot saved to electronic storage media. The method discussed here differs from internet voting at home.

The EU regulation governing provision and use of AI. Prohibitions and transparency rules have distinct scopes, conditions and application dates.

A document collecting frequently asked questions and answers. Readers should check its scope and date and distinguish it from conditions stated in other documents.

A model trained on large amounts of language data that can generate text in response to inputs. Producing plausible text does not establish factual accuracy.

Local Government Wide Area Network, an administrative network interconnecting local governments' internal networks in Japan.

A framework defined by Article 2, item 12, in the Japanese local transport law version taking effect on 16 October 2026. A local authority selects and supports an operator through local resources to restore or continue services on routes or service areas wholly or partly suspended or discontinued, or at risk of this.

Time allowed in logistics between a transport request or order and loading or delivery. Japan’s shipper criteria call for sufficient time for carriers to arrange measures such as consolidated loads and joint delivery.

A document recording parties’ understandings or intentions to cooperate. Its legal effect depends on the document; it is distinct from evidence of completed facilities or delivery.

A license permitting software use, modification and redistribution subject to conditions including retention of copyright and permission notices. It does not guarantee operation or maintenance.

An agreement establishing conditions for purchasing or taking a producer’s output. Contract formation and actual delivery or payment require separate evidence.

A configuration installed and operated on an organization’s own equipment. Reducing external transmission does not eliminate access control, updating or answer checking.

Software whose source code is available for use, modification and redistribution under its license conditions. Publishing code differs from providing a running service or promising permanent maintenance.

A policy or mechanism intended to keep prices above a specified level. The U.S.–Japan minerals plan calls for feasibility and design discussions; it does not set a minimum price for every transaction.

Testing whether a technology is feasible for a specified use under specified conditions. A successful trial does not establish safety or effectiveness for other uses or production deployment.

In MLIT’s 2026 listing survey, areas where transport is absent or difficult to use. Municipalities assess local circumstances and residents’ or users’ needs, rather than applying a single nationwide distance threshold.

A mechanism for submitting proposed code changes to a repository for inclusion. Each project’s policy determines whether it accepts such proposals.

A document introducing a project, its use and related documentation. Specific conditions and settings should be checked together with the documents it links to.

A method that retrieves relevant materials and uses the retrieved information to inform a language model’s answers. Search scope, access permissions and correspondence between sources and answers require separate checks.

A place that stores source code and related documents. Public availability differs from provision of an operated service.