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Comment by anonsivalley652 | Hacker News Reader

Does that really mean voluntary, strong suggestion or mostly mandatory?

I am not a native speaker, but it seems a "要請" from the government is basically something like a government order, even though it seems "polite". For example, I see usages of "政府からのデータ要請", "request from the government to hand over data", which is well, as we know, people have to comply with. So I am guessing this wording is interpreted as an order, even though it means "request".

IANAL, much less in Japan, so take it with a pinch of salt.

EDIT: Seeing the other replies, I guess it can be interpreted both ways: people "listening to the advice of the government", or "government asking people listen to them". Again, IANAL.

The AP article said it was a non-binding order, but they are expected to follow it.

Yes.

(source: I live in Japan)

...the GP didn’t ask a yes or no question. :P

“Is it” was the core of the question, which can be yes/no. ;-)

I assume he's saying, in a tongue in cheek way, that it's ostensibly "voluntary" (but not really).

Yep.

Once we asked if club activity were mandatory at the local school. We specifically asked about the mandatory aspect. The answer was "everybody does it".

Yes I did. ;-P

(Face saved.)

Situation: :-/

Answer: Hahaha. :-P

Several years ago the Abe government "suggested" corporations issue dividends at about 30% of their profits.

Now: nearly all corporations pay dividends at about 30% of profits as policy.

Japan may not be reactive or proactive, but it does voluntary unity pretty well.

Yes, this is one incredible things about the country. They might lag 10 years (or decades) on a social issue, but once a decision is taken, even radical, it will be applied in a couple of years.

This is interesting to me. It appears "Abenomics" coincided with the creation of the Nikkei 400, which is a selective index with preference for high-dividend-per-share equities. And your claim is correct, in 2015 average dividend-per-share for Nikkei 255 was 15%, and it has since risen to 30%

But was this a short-term gimmick to encourage investment? Did it work? My understanding is that high dividend payout represent weak reinvestment and overall lower growth.

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