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JAPAN

Science & Health

Science & Health

Urbanization is amplifying pollen-related allergies as grasslands and soft soil give way to concrete and asphalt.

JAPAN / Science & Health

Mar 14, 2025

As pollen season peaks, Japan's allergy struggle emerges from hibernation

By Jessica Speed

In Tokyo and Sendai, high cedar pollen levels will persist into late March, followed by cypress pollen peaking from late March to early April.

People in Japan appeared to have the smallest difference between the amount of sleep they get on weekdays and weekends, suggesting the lowest incidence of social jet lag.

JAPAN / Science & Health

Mar 14, 2025

People in Japan get the least sleep, Pokemon study finds

By Yukana Inoue

Does that make Japan the land of the never-setting sun?

A construction site in Tokyo in July 2018. Businesses failing to take measures to prevent severe heatstroke among employees will be subjected to criminal punishment from June.

JAPAN / Science & Health

Mar 13, 2025

Japan to get tough on businesses not taking heatstroke countermeasures

By Tomoko Otake

Violators will be punishable with up to six months' imprisonment or a maximum fine of ¥500,000 ($3,380).

Naohisa Hoshikawa, chief executive officer and founder of Ookuma Diamond Device, in Sapporo in February. Hoshikawa says the potential of diamond semiconductors goes beyond decommissioning work, likening them to the U.S. Apollo manned lunar landing program, which gave birth to technological innovations affecting everyday life.

JAPAN / Science & Health

Mar 12, 2025

Diamond chips could be key to decommissioning of Fukushima nuclear plant

Made with artificial diamonds, such chips are regarded as the "ultimate semiconductors" — they can withstand high levels of radiation as well as high voltages and temperatures.

Oto, Japan's oldest lion, died Monday at Toyohashi Zoo & Botanical Park in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture.

JAPAN / Science & Health

Mar 10, 2025

Oto, Japan’s oldest lion, dies at 25 — equivalent to 100 human years

By Jessica Speed

Born in 1999 at Asahiyama Zoo in the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Oto had been at Aichi Prefecture's Toyohashi Zoo & Botanical Park since 2001.

Obstetrician and gynecologist Song Mihyon

JAPAN / Science & Health

Mar 7, 2025

Doctor urges awareness of a birth control pill covered by health insurance

By Mai Ikehata

“I think doctors need to tell their patients that a birth control pill covered by health insurance exists,” Song Mihyon said.

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.

JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform

Mar 7, 2025

Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly

By Tomoko Otake

Despite longstanding taboos, evolving attitudes toward women's health highlight shifting cultural norms.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

The sun shines from behind a waving Philippine flag at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

Eighty years after the Battle of Manila, old foes forge new ties

By Anton L. Delgado

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Yamagata’s Zao Onsen Ski Resort is a classic beauty

Yamagata’s Zao Onsen Ski Resort is a classic beauty

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