National Topics

Abe's child care proposal draws fire from companies

by Yumiko Iida

Prime Minister Abe's proposal to expand child care leave to three years is upsetting some firms because it runs against current programs designed to support working parents.

State-backed body plans to halve interest on scholarship loans in arrears

A government-affiliated body in charge of scholarship loan programs plans to halve the current 10 percent interest rate for late repayment to assist low-income earners amid the economic downturn, sources said Saturday. With calls growing to lessen the burden on students facing financial hardships, ...

Social Issues May 4, 2013

Antinuclear drive in search of new strategies

by Kazuaki Nagata

The Fukushima nuclear crisis struck a nerve with Japan’s normally passive public, prompting many to raise their voices against atomic power and take to the streets to voice their anger. But momentum for phasing out atomic energy appears to have weakened since the pronuclear ...

Social Issues May 1, 2013

Female-friendly shared workspace a boon for moms

by Ayako Mie

Yushi Katayama began to think seriously about leaving Japan after the birth of his son, Shota, in 2012. The decades-long economic slump and poor social welfare system as well as lack of innovation made Japan less than an ideal place for him to raise ...

Social Issues Apr 22, 2013

In Sapporo, one in every 2,800 conflicted about gender: survey

One out of about 2,800 people in Sapporo is suffering from gender identity disorder, according to a survey compiled recently by a medical group in Hokkaido. On a national scale, the ratio would translate into about 46,000 patients across Japan, which is more than ...

Social Issues Apr 17, 2013

Japan's population falls by record level

Japan's population fell by a record 0.22 percent to 127.515 million as of last Oct. 1, while people aged 65 or older surpassed the 30 million mark for the first time.

Social Issues Mar 24, 2013

Osaka coach whose abuse led to suicide faces charges

The case of the Osaka high school basketball coach accused of physically punishing players so harshly that one committed suicide has been turned over to prosecutors. According to the Osaka Prefectural Police, former Sakuranomiya High School teacher Hajime Komura, 47, who coached the basketball ...

Social Issues Mar 18, 2013

JOC report brands judo coach 'sadist'

A Japanese Olympic Committee probe concludes that 15 elite female judoka suffered a "grave injustice" from the physical and verbal abuse inflicted by their former coach.

Social Issues | CHUBU CONNECTION Mar 16, 2013

Pair who lost son in U.S. shooting write Obama

Since the Dec. 14 massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, calls for stricter gun control are gaining momentum in the United States. To support the move, Mieko and Masaichi Hattori, whose son, Yoshihiro, was gunned ...

Social Issues Mar 15, 2013

Suicide toll below 30,000 for first time since 1997

For the first time in 15 years, fewer than 30,000 people committed suicide last year, the National Police Agency said Thursday. All told, 27,858 people killed themselves, down 9.1 percent from the previous year, the agency said. Financial problems were blamed for 5,219 suicides, ...

Social Issues Mar 8, 2013

Japan women near bottom of barrel

Japan has one of the lowest scores in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of socioeconomic opportunities for women, according to MasterCard’s latest Index of Women’s Advancement released Wednesday. Japan was second-lowest on the index, which measures the socioeconomic standing of women in 14 Asia-Pacific ...

Social Issues Mar 7, 2013

Child pornography cases in '12 hit record high

Reported cases of child pornography hit a record high 1,596 in 2012, up 9.7 percent from the previous year, the National Police Agency says.