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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 13, 2021

Mental health during the pandemic: ‘A lot of us feel like we’re in a dark tunnel’

More than one year on, Japan is still subject to pandemic-related stresses and government-imposed measures. How is this impacting long-term mental health?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2022

Climate change is also a very real public health emergency

The impact of global warming has been considerable on people of all ages, particularly the most vulnerable and those with underlying health conditions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2022

Kishida shows leadership at TICAD on global health and security

Although Japan increased its African development aid pledge to the Global Fund every time since inception, the pledge over the weekend was no easy feat for the country.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 21, 2019

Japan needs to prioritize a 'population health' approach

A new approach can help rein in graying Japan's soaring health care costs.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 18, 2022

Investments in health systems will protect human security now, and into the future

COVID-19 has exposed the deep inequities and weaknesses in the global health system.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 24, 2022

Rich countries lure health workers from low-income nations to fight shortages

The urgency and strong pull from high-income nations has raised new questions about the ethics of recruitment from countries with weak health systems during a pandemic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 8, 2017

Aiming for truly universal health coverage

The idea that everyone should be able to access quality health services has finally claimed its rightful place at the top of the global health agenda.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2016

Training the Mideast's health care professionals

Given the region's public health challenges, affluent Gulf Cooperation Council countries must step up their health care game.
Some 5 million people globally die of causes related to air pollution from fossil fuels each year and climate change has a huge impact on people's health and psychological well-being.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2024

We’re finally recognizing climate change’s mental health toll

Climate change's impact on health, including psychological well-being, is overwhelming. COP28 took stock of this and put youth at the center of discussions like never before.
Health minister Keizo Takemi fields questions from reporters in March after a Cabinet meeting to deal with health problems caused by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's beni kōji red yeast rice supplements.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 14, 2024

Health Minister Keizo Takemi on how to improve Japan's health care system

Digitalization, hiring high-skilled foreign workers and increasing wages are among the steps that Japan could take.
In the past 11 months, health minister Keizo Takemi has been charting his own path, seeking to make Japan's health care policies more global and digitalized.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 14, 2024

Global mindset crucial for reform of Japan's health care, minister says

International strategies and domestic health care reform are inextricably linked, says health minister Keizo Takemi.
A ward for heatstroke patients at a hospital in Chennai, India, in May. The country experienced a severe heat wave over the spring and summer, raising concerns about the long-term impact of climate change-induced extreme heat on human health.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

Climate change: A health emergency in the making

Global warming's impact on health is an increasingly urgent issue — just look at excess deaths caused by extreme heat. But are health care systems well-equipped enough?
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.
JAPAN / Explainer
Dec 1, 2024

Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now

While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, there is a one-year grace period for their integration with My Number cards.
The Food and Drug Administration headquarters in White Oak, Maryland
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 24, 2025

Trump alarms scientists by muzzling U.S. health agencies

The move could delay essential information and slow funding for potentially life-saving initiatives.
The Trump administration has slashed LGBTQ+ health research funding, dismantling key programs and halting studies on disparities and mental health, which experts warn will reverse progress and harm vulnerable communities.
COMMENTARY
Apr 14, 2025

The very idea of LGBTQ+ health is under attack

The Trump administration is rapidly breaking down the research infrastructure for these communities and doing so in a manner that guarantees it can’t be restored.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies at a Senate hearing in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 7, 2025

Trump backs Kennedy on vaccines despite health and political risks

Some public health officials suggest the political alliance Trump has formed with Kennedy — and the leeway the president is giving him — is leading to dire consequences.
New health minister Keizo Takemi is the son of Taro Takemi, a prominent physician who was dubbed “Emperor Takemi” due to the enormous and often dictatorial power he wielded over health care policy as president of the Japan Medical Association.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 15, 2023

Critics worry about new health minister's ties with lobby group

Keizo Takemi is the son of a former president of the Japan Medical Association, a political lobby mostly made up of doctors in private practice.
Officials of the Osaka Municipal Government enter Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's factory, which was closed in December, in the city of Osaka on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 1, 2024

Japan makes supplement health damage reports mandatory

The measure is aimed at enabling administrative authorities to quickly grasp related information and prevent the spread of health damage.
The My Number health insurance card enables online verification of a patient's eligibility via card readers installed at medical institutions.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025

My Number health insurance card uptake remains persistently low

Confusion and doubts over the new system have stalled the government's push to digitalize medical records and services.
Signage outside the Capitol Hill visitors center in Washington notifies the public of its closure due to the government shutdown on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2025

The U.S. government shutdown fight has life-or-death consequences

About 4.2 million people are expected to lose coverage if Congress fails to extend premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Demonstrators rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Buffalo, New York, in February 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2023

It’s past time scientists admitted their COVID-19 mistakes

In 2019, 13% of Americans were distrustful enough to say they weren’t confident in scientists to act in the public’s best interest. Now it is 27%.
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 20, 2024

Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024

This year’s health and wellness fads point to a Japan that desires more wholesome lifestyles but doesn’t have the time or resources to go about it in traditional ways.
Bill Gates in New York on May 8
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2025

Gates Foundation commits $2.5 billion for women’s health

The Gates Foundation announcement provides the most detail yet on one area where the foundation plans to use its remaining funds before it shuts down in 2045.
U.S. Health and Human Services employee Julie Siegel stands outside the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building on Tuesday as she is denied access and her badge taken away as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration reportedly begins mass layoffs of 10,000 staffers at U.S. health agencies.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2025

Trump begins mass layoffs at FDA, CDC and other U.S. health agencies

The job cuts are part of a broad plan by the U.S. president and billionaire ally Elon Musk to shrink the federal government and slash spending.
Despite topping physical health rankings, Japan’s children face a worsening mental health crisis due to limited early education, inconsistent counseling support and poor awareness of their rights.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 3, 2025

It’s time to take children’s mental health seriously

Given these disparities, it is clear the government needs to build a consistent school system with appropriate emotional support mechanisms
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 22, 2023

Japan to scrap health insurance cards from December next year

The government aims to streamline administration and improve health care services by integrating the function of the cards into My Number cards.
Officials from the health ministry arrive at Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's plant in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, on Sunday for inspection.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 31, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma plants inspected over health problems

The company said five people have died after taking the supplement so far, with the total number of hospitalized users reaching 114.
An official of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical speaks to reporters on Saturday in Osaka following the health ministry's inspections of the firm's plant.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 3, 2024

166 hospitalized over health issues linked to beni kōji

Taiwan's health ministry said the number of people experiencing ill health after taking Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's beni koji had risen to 11 as of Monday.
A lawyer representing a consumer organization speaks during a meeting held to call for stricter regulations on "functional foods," in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
May 24, 2024

Mandatory reporting of 'functional food' health problems proposed

The Consumer Affairs Agency panel discussed reforms in response to health problems caused by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical supplement products.
A sign directs people to a measles testing center in Gaines County, Texas, on Tuesday. A measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico is sparking fears of worsening public health crisis in the United States. 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2025

Texas measles outbreak was entirely avoidable

"It’s more contagious than COVID, more contagious than the flu, more contagious than Ebola,” says Paul Offit, of Philadelphia's Vaccine Education Center.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell