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Occupational therapist Mitsuyoshi Okutsu interacts with children at Kamioka Elementary School in Hida, Gifu Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 1, 2024

Occupational therapists join the ranks of staff at Gifu schools

It is estimated that there are around 110,000 occupational therapists in Japan, working mainly at hospitals and welfare facilities.
Hiroko Nagano, a former member of the assembly of Tokyo's Toshima Ward, speaks during an interview in Tokyo in January.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025

Female assembly members with children seeing better work conditions

As of July 2024, there were 5,187 female municipal assembly members in the country, or only 17.9% of the total, however.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2023

Debate begins on funds to tackle Japan's low birthrate

The prime minister has instructed relevant ministers to draw up a road map for securing necessary funds by reducing social security spending.
A bill on checking sex crime records of people seeking jobs involving contacts with children passes the Lower House on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 23, 2024

Lower House OKs bill to create Japanese version of DBS

The bill aimed at preventing sexual offenses against children was approved unanimously at a plenary meeting.
Former Deputy Wakayama Gov. Izumi Miyazaki, who won Sunday's Wakayama gubernatorial election, speaks in Wakayama the same day.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 2, 2025

Miyazaki elected Wakayama governor for first time

Voter turnout stood at 39.86%, the same as in the previous Wakayama gubernatorial election in 2022.
A notice sent from the Sendai Municipal Government to those denied entry to an after-school care facility
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jun 16, 2025

Sendai faces growing waitlist at after-school care facilities

The Sendai government has been working to expand the capacity of such programs, but many of them are still full.
Shuhei Nakata, president of Nakata Kogei — a wooden-hanger maker in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture — says a revised work evaluation system and a strict policy against workplace harassment has helped to attract women to the company.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jul 14, 2025

Fukushima looks to local initiatives to combat population decline

The measures will bring the area in line with other parts of Japan that are proactively trying to retain residents.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Aug 9, 2023

Sumo still failing to provide adequate medical care for wrestlers

An incident involving maegashira Tobizaru at the ongoing regional tour shows that sumo lags behind other sports, including rugby, in emergency treatment.
The incoming and outgoing presidents of Johnny & Associates, Noriyuki Higashiyama and Julie Keiko Fujishima, bow at a press conference on Sept. 7.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 14, 2023

Johnny’s talent agency has admitted to a past of abuse. What next?

Karin Kaneko joins the show to update us on how the story is unfolding.
Renho speaks to reporters on Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 13, 2024

Renho, the liberal politician who might dethrone Tokyo's Koike

Her candidacy in July's gubernatorial race presents voters in the capital with two choices: Change or stability.
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
Midori Kato has been voice acting the character Sazae Fuguta in the TV animation series "Sazae-san" since it started in 1969.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 30, 2024

Still sounding young at 85, Midori Kato is the voice of old Japan

The voice actor is the last original member of the cast of “Sazae-san,” a cartoon series that premiered in 1969 and never quite joined the modern world.
The entrance to a cave on Okinawa’s main island where a former Japanese soldier confessed to having killed a mother and child during World War II
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jun 2, 2025

How the scars of war in Okinawa are being healed by a psychologist

A clinical psychologist has formed grief care groups for survivors of war across Okinawa to help try to heal their emotional scars.
Masae Yamanaka joins colleagues from Panasonic Connect to take part in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade in April.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Aug 3, 2023

How one woman's career in sales flourished across four companies

As she rose through sales in various companies, Masae Yamanaka stuck to her mother’s teachings: keep working, commit to actions.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 1, 2023

Yukio Edano moves to return as CDP leader

Yukio Edano, former leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is believed to have begun his bid to return as party leader.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 11, 2024

Tokyo to continue offering subsidy to women seeking to freeze eggs

The metropolitan government says it will subsidize all who fit the criteria despite applicants exceeding budgeted spots by nearly tenfold.
Recently, Japan designated Hokkaido Prefecture (including its capital, Sapporo), Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka as special zones for financial and asset management businesses. Kumamoto Prefecture was also named a national strategic zone for semiconductors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2024

International social infrastructure key to Japan’s high-tech future

Across the globe there is an ongoing search for talent, especially in high-tech sectors, and Japan is no different.
Residential buildings under construction in Shanghai in July 2022. The Chinese government risks long-term decline by repeating Japan’s policy mistakes in handling its real estate and demographic crises.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2025

China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems

Chinese policymakers — who are facing an even more severe housing and demographic crisis than Japan —are at risk of making the same mistakes.
JAPAN / Explainer
Nov 24, 2023

Why is Fumio Kishida called 'the four-eyed tax-hiker'?

The prime minister hasn’t actually raised taxes for the public at large since he took office over two years ago — at least, not yet.
By April 2024, dengue fever cases in the Americas passed the total for the previous year.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 15, 2024

What's behind the post-COVID surge in communicable diseases?

Many regions have reported at least one infectious disease resurgence that’s at least ten times worse than the prepandemic baseline.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike (left) and Renho, a member of the House of Councilors, both candidates in the gubernatorial election, attend a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in the capital on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2024

The battle to be Japan’s most powerful woman is on

The race to become governor of Tokyo has officially kicked off, and is set to determine who will control a region that makes up more than 20% of the nation’s economy.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 13, 2025

Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate

Broaching the subject has traditionally been seen as akin to kicking a hornet's nest.
Japan’s ruling coalition is weakening as rising populist parties like Sanseito gain support, raising concerns that Japan could shift toward unstable multiparty coalition politics similar to Israel’s fragmented Knesset.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 25, 2025

Is Japan drifting toward fragmented and ineffective politics?

In a system with many small parties, even minor players can hold the balance of power in forming coalitions.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 18, 2023

Japanese political parties boosting support for female candidates

The parties hope to win the support of independent voters by demonstrating their commitment to increasing the number of female lawmakers.
It doesn't snow everywhere in Japan, but when it does, it falls in blankets that must be cleared away, sometimes through unexpected means.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 4, 2024

Rural Japan’s snow removal solutions range from cute to curious

Outside of Tokyo, cities that get a significant volume of snow tend to have better ways of dealing with it than the capital.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 28, 2024

Japan issues urgent notice to schools after boy chokes to death

The first grader in the city of Miyama, Fukuoka Prefecture, is believed to have choked on a boiled quail egg contained in a stew served for school lunch.
A man stands atop a float holding a portable shrine at this year’s Sanja Festival in Tokyo.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 20, 2023

Why 2023 will be a deciding year for Japan’s iconic summer festivals

As the population gets older do we risk losing the summer festivals that make Japan unique?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 23, 2023

Kishida faces leadership test over Johnny's sexual abuse scandal

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who prides himself on his “ability to listen,” faces a test of his leadership amid the Johnny's sexual abuse scandal.
Unfortunately for Japan, the demographic cliff is approaching and the government will need more than minor course adjustments to fix its Self-Defense Forces' recruitment woes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2024

Cosmetic changes won’t fix the SDF’s recruitment problem

Facing demographic decline, Japan explores innovative solutions to boost recruitment in the Self-Defense Forces.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 8, 2024

Koike eases to victory but Ishimaru's performance signals shift in Tokyo

Koike saw off a tougher challenge than in previous votes, with Ishimaru pointing to a path forward for lesser-known candidates.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’