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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 27, 2022

Singapore debate on LGBTQ rights heats up in test for leaders

The fallout shows the new generation of leaders taking over will have their work cut out to control a divisive issue in the city-state's multicultural society.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 4, 2022

What role should Japan play as the Russia-Ukraine war shakes the international order?

Executives of the Asia Pacific Initiative discuss the part Tokyo should play as Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches six months.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 3, 2022

Resources, support grow for Japan’s Muslims

Renewing focus on their faith and spiritual life, Muslim communities around the world have spent the past month fasting and praying during Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. The end of this period is marked with a joyous celebration known as Eid al-Fitr, which means “the Festival of...
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Apr 27, 2022

Japan is losing people, but is it all bad?

Staff writer Alex Martin joins to discuss Japan's declining population, and why one town in Saitama thinks it's not all bad news.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 28, 2022

For some shrinking towns in Japan, depopulation isn't all bad news

For the first time, more than half of all municipalities in Japan will be designated by the government as wholly or partially underpopulated from April 1.
Japan Times
SATOYAMA CONSORTIUM
Mar 28, 2022

Tsukuba ‘bar’ guides both visitors and revitalization efforts

On the outskirts of Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture, there is a homey place called Tamaribar, a play on words combining “tamariba” (“hangout”) and “bar.” It serves local delicacies, the kind that people eat everyday without noticing their value, like fresh eggs with locally grown rice. It also...
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 3, 2022

The game of life, reimagined for a superaging society

In Community Coping, players are tasked with preventing communities from collapsing by connecting troubled residents with the right experts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 27, 2021

In Osaka, friends and strangers share a communal meal

Feeling hungry? Feeling lonely? The doors are open to you at Cocoroom, regardless of your nationality.
Masayoshi Tani on June 12 visits his house in the Fukami district of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was destroyed and isolated by the Jan. 1 earthquake.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 1, 2024

Temporary housing brings relief to Noto quake survivors, but fears remain

The uncertainty of whether they can return to their original homes and rebuild takes a toll on survivors, many of whom who are elderly and living on pensions.
Qatari and French officers patrol on horseback down a street in central Paris on Friday, a week ahead of the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics.
WORLD
Jul 20, 2024

France races to head off Islamic State group threat to Paris Olympics

The outreach comes in the wake of two major attacks this year that authorities say were carried out by Tajik members of the militant group.
Japan's new speed limit on narrow roads in residential areas will be set at 30 kph in September 2026.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2024

Raising awareness key to Japan's new residential road speed limit

Violations of the speed limits will be punished by up to six months' imprisonment or a fine not exceeding ¥100,000.
Supporters of Donald Trump display a Trump flag at The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, where Polish President Andrzej Duda attended mass and spoke at the monument dedication in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 22.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 30, 2024

Harris courts Polish-American voters in crucial U.S. states

In an election likely to be decided by a razor-thin margin in a handful of key states, Kamala Harris is seeking to appeal to the Polish-American community.
Rescue personnel search for missing people in debris after flooding along the Tsukada River Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Sept. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2024

Lessons from Japan’s fight against floods as the climate changes

As climate change intensifies flood risk, Japan should rely more on adaptive and nature-based solutions to prepare for disasters like the recent deluge in Ishikawa.
Community leaders discuss the role of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in ending the HIV/AIDS threat to public health by 2030 at a seminar hosted by Gilead Sciences in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024

HIV prevention drug remains out of reach for many in Japan despite approval

The drug's high cost together with insufficient knowledge and awareness are hindering efforts to broaden access to it, experts and community leaders say.
A girl charges her phone at the Delpan Evacuation Center after Typhoon Kammuri hit Manila in December 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 7, 2024

Crowd-sourcing data could help Philippines tackle deadly floods

The Philippines is hit by around 20 large storms every year and, due to climate change, that is expected to only get worse.
Violin, a day care center for the elderly, is housed in a building that used be an office of the Kudokai crime syndicate in the city of Kitakyushu. It retains the original look of the Kudokai facility, with its thick steel-plated front door, glittering chandelier and marble floor.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Oct 28, 2024

Former yakuza office repurposed to become elderly care facility

The building that houses Violin, a day care center for the elderly, was once one of the main facilities for the Kudokai syndicate.
Moninder Singh, a spokesperson for BC Gurdwara council, speaks at a news conference at the site of a 2023 murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, in May.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 19, 2024

Warned by police, some of Canada's Sikhs feel threatened by India

The Canadian police said this week it has communicated more than a dozen threats to people who are advocating for Sikh separatism.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday during their meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2024

Ishiba and Xi hold first in-person talks amid Japan-China tensions

The two countries' ties remain tense over a ban on Japanese seafood exports, China's military moves near Japan and the safety of Japanese nationals in China.
Members of the Maori community and their supporters take part in a protest about indigenous rights outside of New Zealand's parliament in Wellington on Nov. 19.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2024

Shadow of the British Empire hangs over New Zealand's treaty debate

The controversy over one of the nation’s founding documents touches a raw nerve. The agreement has two versions, one in English and the other in Maori.
A damaged school bus is seen after residents fled from the Eaton fire, one of six simultaneous blazes that have swept across Los Angeles County, in Altadena, California, on Saturday.
WORLD / Society
Jan 15, 2025

LA schools rush to reopen as memories of COVID-19 disruption linger

Educators, administrators and parents are taking steps to mitigate learning loss and provide relief to families adversely affected by wildfires.
Marialyce Pedersen cleans burned leaves and debris that accumulated in the sink of her outdoor kitchen made of cob that survived the Eaton fire when her home burned in Altadena, California, on Jan. 20.
WORLD / Society
Jan 23, 2025

Los Angeles wildfires spark interest in adobe and natural building materials

Former homeowners determined to stay want houses that the next fire will not burn easily and that, if burnt, will not turn the soil, water and air into a toxic hazard.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow visit St. Sergius monastery, which is considered the spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the town of Sergiyev Posad, near Moscow, in June.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2025

Putin's distortion of Russian spirituality and authority

Vladimir Putin is merely the latest in a series of murderous modernizers stretching from Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great to Catherine the Great and Stalin.
A glimpse at the entrance of Golden Gai, where the vibrant streets invite you to explore its lively nightlife and rich culture.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 3, 2025

Stories from behind the bar at Shinjuku's Golden Gai

Once the home of Tokyo's black market, this 6,600 sq. meter district has nearly 300 tiny bars packed into it.
Hidetaka Ishii, an official at the Chiba Municipal Government, says close coordination with private-sector operators is key for regional decarbonization efforts.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Mar 2, 2025

Japan’s climate heroes show potential and limits of local initiatives

Chiba and others show the potential for local areas to accelerate the energy transition, as well as the challenges of building locally driven, carbon-free energy models.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet in Pyongyang in June 2024. Moscow has ditched its historic hostility to North Korea's nuclear program, a clear sign of Russia's scramble for allies amid its international isolation.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2025

It’s time to flip Russia’s script on North Korean nukes

Countries who want deterrence and stability must stop Russia from influencing perceptions of North Korea's nuclear program — one that, in an about-face, Moscow now supports.
Midwife Tabita dos Santos Moraes prepares cassava flour in Tefe in Brazil's Amazonas state last October. Tabita's great-grandmother taught midwifery to her aunts, who taught her mother, who taught her, starting at the age of 15.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 21, 2025

In the remote Amazon, midwives care for women stranded by drought

Years of extreme droughts in the Amazon rainforest have made river journeys to and from remote communities perilous.
A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
Apr 28, 2025

If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami

Last year the government issued its first "megaquake" advisory. Ever since, those living in the areas it's expected to hit have been preparing for the worst.
Bangladesh hoped to celebrate progress towards eradicating tuberculosis this year. Instead, it is reeling from a $48 million snap aid cut by U.S. President Donald Trump's government, which health workers say could rapidly unravel years of hard work and cause huge numbers of preventable deaths.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 4, 2025

From Nigeria to Pakistan, TB testing 'in a coma' after U.S. aid cuts

Moves by U.S. President Donald Trump have stalled vital research in South Africa and left TB survivors lacking support in India.
Japan faces a growing crisis of social isolation, with over 1.4 million people — many middle-aged — living reclusive lifestyles, and experts say only long-term, trust-based community support can reverse the trend.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 16, 2025

Japan needs to rethink how it helps hikikomori

While hikikomori, the Japanese term for acute social withdrawal, often brings to mind young recluses in dark bedrooms, the reality is broader.

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