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COMMENTARY
Jan 25, 2005

Medical reform needs help

In its first report on medical reform, the council to promote deregulation -- an advisory body to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi -- recently recommended lifting some restrictions on "mixed medical care," easing conditions for the private operation of hospitals and reorganizing the government's Central...
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2003

Doctors' medical bills lower than average joe

Unlike salaried workers, who despite health insurance must pay 30 percent of their medical bills, most doctors in Japan are paying less under a different scheme that favors medical professionals, insurance union officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2003

Japan slowly pulls head out of sand on smoking ills

During the five years since a landmark suit against tobacco manufacturers and the government was filed, slight but steady progress has been made in regulating cigarette sales and advertising.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 18, 2002

Soap maker gets healthy dose of mayo market

Some consumers unwittingly used mayonnaise to style their hair when, in the 1920s, this exotic condiment was first introduced in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2002

Domestic violence: the hidden epidemic

NEW YORK -- Gender violence, manifested essentially as violence against women -- although it is generally unrecognized and underreported -- is one of the most significant epidemics in the world today. That violence against women is considered normal behavior in many countries does not diminish its seriousness...
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2002

Taming runaway population growth

The numbers boggle the mind. The world today is inhabited by more than 6.3 billion people, and by 2015 the figure will reach roughly 7.3 billion, an increase of a billion in a little more than a decade, according to the United Nations. Although the overall rate of growth has been declining, populations...
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2002

A path through the smoke

Japan indisputably is the top smokers' paradise in the industrial world, as well as in East Asia, where China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan are tightening restrictions on smoking. In Japan, smoking is allowed in many government and company offices, restaurants and taxis. Some hospitals do not restrict...
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2001

AIDS forum urges bold, massive efforts

Experts from global institutions, governments and nongovernmental organizations at a recent international symposium in Tokyo called for a worldwide political and social commitment, supported by sufficient financial aid, to combat AIDS, calling it one of the biggest threats to mankind in the new century....
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2001

A sham antismoking program

On May 31, World No-Tobacco Day as designated by the World Health Organization, a variety of commemorative meetings are scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Shiga Prefecture and other places under the sponsorship of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. WHO's slogan is: Secondhand Smoke Kills. Let's Clear...
Events
May 15, 2001

Itami's no-smoking goal draws fire

ITAMI, Hyogo Pref. -- The Itami Municipal Government's decision to target total elimination of adult smoking in its 10-year health plan has caused an uproar among tobacco lobbyists.
COMMUNITY
Feb 19, 2001

Beneath the sheen lurk the blues

Long life, in itself, is not enough. What is important is living a healthy life. That was the message sent by the World Health Organization last year when it announced a new method of reviewing life expectancy.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2000

Hermit problem recognized

The Health and Welfare Ministry is planning to conduct extensive research on a growing legion of people who refuse to go to school or work, choosing instead to remain at home for long periods of time, ministry officials said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
May 30, 2000

A losing fight against smoking

Amid global moves to tighten controls on smoking, the Health and Welfare Ministry, nongovernnmental organizations and other groups will hold various events in Japan to mark World No Tobacco Day on May 31.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 1999

Seafood contamination scare overblown

Special to The Japan Times Recently, concern has been expressed in Japan about the contaminants found in whales and other marine mammals. It has been reported that contaminant levels are dangerously high and the government should take steps to reduce the risk to consumers' health. It may be helpful to...
EDITORIALS
Sep 19, 1999

Targeting the tobacco menace

While smoking rates have plunged throughout the rest of the industrialized world, Japan continues to have the highest percentages of adults who smoke: 55.2 percent of men and 13.3 percent of women in 1998. Both rates represent increases over the figures for 1997, which were 52.7 percent and 11.6 percent...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 24, 2023

Chinese censorship is quietly rewriting the COVID-19 story

Under government pressure, Chinese scientists have retracted studies and withheld or deleted data. The censorship has stymied efforts to understand the virus.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 4, 2023

Can the United States fix Black women's maternal mortality crisis?

Despite being one of the world's wealthiest countries, the United States lags far behind other developed nations on curbing maternal deaths, with race strongly associated with risk.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Explainer
Feb 27, 2023

Japan moves toward approving abortion pill in major shift

Currently, surgery is the only option available to terminate a pregnancy in Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 1, 2023

U.S. to lift COVID emergencies from May 11 — what happens next?

More than 1.1 million Americans have died of COVID-19 — but life has been gradually returning to normal as the pandemic eases and vaccination levels approach 70% of the population.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 15, 2023

China reports spike in COVID-related deaths after data criticism

Beijing abruptly ended its highly restrictive 'zero-COVID' program in December, and cases have surged since across the nation of 1.4 billion.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2022

How bad is China’s COVID outbreak? It’s a scientific guessing game.

In the absence of credible information from the Chinese government, researchers around the world are looking for any clues to determine the size and severity of the COVID-19 surge.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 2, 2022

How to move on from the debate over the origins of the pandemic

Nearly three years since the beginning of the outbreak, and after endless debate about COVID-19's origins, the answers we're getting aren't pat, definitive or satisfying.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 25, 2022

Lab manipulations of COVID virus fall under murky government rules

Mouse experiments at Boston University have spotlighted an ambiguous U.S. policy for research on potentially dangerous pathogens.
Japan Times
Switzerland report 2022
Jul 29, 2022

Novartis: Reimagining medicine in Japan through innovation

As one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, Novartis aspires to reimagine medicine to improve and extend the lives of people by continuing to challenge the status quo for better, more impactive solutions.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 3, 2022

Long COVID takes toll as Japan patients seek answers

There are still a lot of unknowns about long COVID, including what exactly causes it and how best to treat it. But the scale of the problem alone is alarming.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 23, 2022

In Ecuador's Amazon, youth take up the fight against oil pollution

For decades, local Indigenous people, farming communities, environmental rights activists and lawyers have said flaring causes serious damage to the environment and health.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 23, 2022

Is 30 minutes of exercise a day enough?

Science says you may need less exercise than you think to live a long and healthy life.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2022

Japan moves to focus resources on severe COVID-19 patients

Young, low-risk patients will no longer need a doctor's diagnosis to confirm an infection as fears grow over the strain the omicron variant is putting on Japan's health care system.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person