Japan's shift to work-from-home blocked by paper-pushing office rules www.smh.com.au

Some of Japan's biggest companies, such as Toyota and Sony, have already announced work-from-home policies.
The main problem is with the small and medium-sized businesses which make up about 70 per cent of the economy.
A lack of up-to-date IT systems means Japan lags in nurturing flexible work practices, office rules, management methods and even attitudes toward remote work.
It's rare to find an office that doesn't have one, unless it's a futuristic company such as SoftBank that frowns on such old-fashioned practices.
Futoshi Takami, a "salaryman," as Japanese workers are called, says he had to work from the office until mid-April, when he was finally told he could work from home.