November 19, 2009
While we're all aware of China's 'one child policy', what few people, especially those of us who have to battle through central London's tourist hoardes, have noticed is that the Japanese population is dwindling, too.
But never let the Japanese be accused of failing to take a bull by its, er, 'horns'. Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFJ), Japan's biggest banking group, has implemented 'family time', an inititiave tacked onto a doomed government campaign to increase the national birth rate.
MUFJ staff are to be sent home at ten past five, rather than the customary 7pm, in the hope that they will go forth and multiply - for once, not in the mathematical sense.
But there are signs that the Japanese workforce have more than a passing resemblance to their contemporaries here. One female MUJF staffer told the Times: "I'm not sure how many babies will be conceived this week, but the bar next door to the headquarters should do well." Guru says buy that girl a drink!
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