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July 06, 2025
 

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Minami Funakoshi
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2017
Minamata disease victims' voices dim with age but still cry for recognition
Shinobu Sakamoto was just 15 when she left home in the Kumamoto Prefecture fishing village of Minamata to go to Stockholm and tell the world of the horrors of mercury poisoning.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 17, 2017
Dancing to the tune of humanity
Penniless and subsisting on only water for three weeks, Tokyo street-dweller Tokuchika Nishi thought he had come to the end of his life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 3, 2017
Meet Lulu Hashimoto, she's quite the doll
Meet Lulu Hashimoto, Japan's first "living doll" fashion model.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 27, 2017
Vietnamese killed himself in immigration center, community leader says
A Vietnamese man held in a solitary cell at an immigration detention center in Japan committed suicide, a Vietnamese community leader said, raising fresh questions over conditions in the country's detention facilities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 10, 2017
Six years on, Fukushima child evacuees face menace of school bullies
"Radiation! Bang bang!"
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Nov 24, 2016
Japan-born son, Thai mom split by heartbreak legal deal
On a morning in mid-September, Utinan Won hugged his mother and then watched as she passed through departures at Tokyo's Narita airport on her way to Bangkok.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Nov 24, 2016
Japan leaves unapproved asylum seekers and kids born in-country with dire choices
Visa please fall on deaf ears as justice ministry insists on executing deportation orders.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Nov 3, 2016
Solitary confinement in Tokyo not silencing Nigerian asylum activist, or her advocates
A prominent Nigerian asylum seeker and activist is being held in solitary confinement at a Tokyo detention center, a case that has highlighted a growing crackdown on foreign nationals living in Japan without visas, prompting demands for her release.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Aug 9, 2016
Refugee reluctance clashes with labor realities as asylum seekers, banned from working, build Japan's roads
Mazlum Balibay paves Japan's roads, digs its sewers and lays its water pipes — all for a country that doesn't want him.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2016
Do-it-yourself pensions take hold in Japan as state payouts expected to dry up
When Saori Ito went on maternity leave last year and stopped getting a regular paycheck from her cosmetics company, she became worried about her future — and wondered if this kind of anxiety is what awaits her after retirement.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 9, 2016
Japan detention center deaths cast doubt on 'appropriate medical steps'
Niculas Fernando died at a Tokyo immigration detention center sometime between 9:33 a.m. and 10:44 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2014, according to the coroner.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2014
Corporate blowback builds from Minamata treaty
The Japanese government lobbied hard for a global pact that limits mercury use and to name the resulting treaty after Minamata, the site of a homegrown industrial disaster from the 1950s when the toxic metal poured into a river, poisoning thousands.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 21, 2014
Pachinko parlors bet on tidiness to reverse decline
The once-booming pachinko industry, grappling with a graying customer base and the threat of new competition from casinos, is adopting a softer touch and smoke-free zones to lure a new generation of players, particularly women.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2014
Kewpie adapts its menu to feed a graying nation
Back in 1960, Kewpie Corp. began selling canned baby food, sensing a chance to catch a wave of young families raising kids in an economy roaring back to growth after the devastation of World War II.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jul 1, 2014
Whaling town preserves tradition
The whaling season opened with a public carve-up and barbecue in the coastal town of Minamiboso, Chiba Prefecture, where workers last Thursday sliced a whale before a crowd of elementary school students and residents. Onlookers later received pieces of fried whale meat.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
U.S. military apologizes over Okinawa sexual assault case
Col. Neil Owens (right), chief of staff for the 3rd Marine Division, bows in apology at the Okinawa Prefectural Government office in Naha on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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