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September 09, 2025
 

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The “Oh! Ed! Collaboration Campaign,” launched on Tokyo's Keio Line to celebrate the Friday release of Ed Sheeran’s latest album, “Play,” includes a eight-car train dedicated to the pop star's music and trivia related to his career
JAPAN / Society
Ed Sheeran teams up with Tokyo’s Oedo Line
The campaign title, “Oh! Ed!,” plays on the train line’s name and the katakana pronunciation of the global pop star’s first name.
JAPAN / Society
Tokyo police ensure mountain of lost and found items don't go to waste
The Metropolitan Police Department received some 4.756 million lost items last year — a record number.
JAPAN / Society
More sweltering days forecast for September after hottest summer on record
Temperatures were more than 2.36 degrees Celsius higher than average across Japan in August, with the heat expected to continue into this month.
A portable gas stove in flames after using an old gas canister
JAPAN / Society
Sep 1, 2025
Be careful with gas canisters and portable generators, safety watchdog warns
By Yukana Inoue
While they are useful especially in times of disasters, their misuse or mishandling have led to many accidents, some even causing deaths, between 2020 and 2024.
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Aug 31, 2025
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
By Jessica Speed
Officials in a Yamanashi town have been struggling to balance welcoming visitors and preserving the quality of life for locals. A new mesh barrier is an attempt at compromise.
The annual number of babies in Japan has been on a downward trend since around 1975, falling below 1 million in 2016, 900,000 in 2019 and 800,000 in 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 29, 2025
Japan births hit fresh low in first half of 2025
The January-June figure, including babies born to foreign nationals living in Japan and Japanese nationals living overseas, stood below 400,000 for the fourth consecutive year.
The number of children on nursery waiting lists decreased to a record low as of April 1, reflecting a decrease in births.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 29, 2025
Kids on nursery waiting lists down for eighth year amid falling births
As of April this year, there were 2,254 children on waiting lists, down from a high of 26,081 in 2017.
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 29, 2025
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
By Jessica Speed
The government is set to create a task force to review its immigration plans and prevent social division between foreign nationals and citizens.
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Aug 28, 2025
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
By Yukana Inoue
The medium could serve as a doorway to exploring the complexities behind the war and the horrors associated with it.
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 28, 2025
Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
By Jessica Speed
In a recent survey, 93.1% of respondents said they felt they “wanted to disappear from the world.”

Japan to experience blood moon lunar eclipse on Monday
A blood moon is seen during a partial eclipse in the sky over Lake George near Canberra on March 14.
Ishiba to quit as prime minister amid LDP discontent
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announces his decision to step down, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan eyes two types of 'hometown resident' registration
People buy groceries from a mobile supermarket in a rural area of Nagomi, Kumamoto Prefecture. The government is considering a new "hometown resident" registration system to help strengthen regional revitalization measures.
Search is on for loopholes in Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick argues that U.S. President Donald Trump has sole authority to invest Japan's promised $550 billion.
Race to become next LDP president kicks off again
Former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi on Monday became the first to enter the race to replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Shizuoka farmers fight to preserve sustainable tea method that’s steeped in tradition
As of August 2024, the number of confirmed chagusaba farmers had fallen to 302, just over half the 582 reported in 2015, according to the Shizuoka Chagusaba Farming Method Promotion Council.
Search is on for loopholes in Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick argues that U.S. President Donald Trump has sole authority to invest Japan's promised $550 billion.
In rural Hokkaido, the stops and starts of tourism revival on full display
Redevelopment plans for Kawayu Onsen have hit some snags — an example of how bringing tourists back to declining rural communities is far from easy work.
London’s calling and sumo’s top division — along with Hello Kitty — are ready to answer
Yokozuna Hoshoryu and Hello Kitty, an ambassador for sumo's upcoming tour to London, at Tokyo's Kokugikan on Tuesday

Podcast

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

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight
By Mai Yoshikawa

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