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October 23, 2025
 

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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 19, 2021

Don’t stay silent on gender equality in Japan. Voice up!

Students are promoting discussions on gender equality via platforms such as Instagram and podcasting, and the mainstream media in Japan is starting to take notice.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2021

Japan is finding it harder to stay quiet on China’s abuse of Uyghurs

Public awareness of the issue is growing in the country, spurred in part by the work of Uyghur activists, and that is increasing pressure on the government to take action.
JAPAN / Society / First Person
Aug 27, 2020

Japan's entry policies increase alienation and deepen division

Stopping foreign residents from returning to Japan risks fueling prejudices and shattering trust in the government.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 13, 2016

Japan's Taiwanese residents thrive in a state of 'hidden inbetweenness'

Ethnic minority exists under the radar yet civic groups have top-level political pull in both Japan and Taiwan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Aug 6, 2014

Think you've got rights as a foreigner in Japan? Well, it's complicated

If you imagine paying taxes in Japan entitles you to welfare, you may want to take a seat.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 23, 2013

Japan: no safe country for foreign women

When I first moved to Japan, I tolerated the staring, following and the persistent pickup artists, but after being assaulted twice in public, they have taken on darker undertones.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks on Monday at the first meeting of a panel on eradicating discrimination and prejudice against people with disabilities.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 29, 2024

Japan to draw up plan to tackle discrimination against disabled people

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida revealed the government's intention to make the plan at the first meeting of a new panel on the issue.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba entering the Prime Minister's Office on Monday
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2025

Japan to disclose names of malicious AI businesses

The planned legislation on dealing with the risks of AI and boosting Japan's international competitiveness on the technology is not expected to include penalties.
Pichamon Yeophantong from the U.N. Human Rights Council's Working Group on Business and Human Rights is interviewed in Tokyo last week.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 9, 2024

U.N. expert urges Japan to tackle structural discrimination

Structural discrimination that stems from harmful norms are "something that needs to be dismantled as soon as possible," Pichamon Yeophantong said.
The Tokyo District Court has dismissed a lawsuit by a foreign woman who claimed to have been subject to discriminatory treatment by police.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2024

Tokyo court dismisses foreigner's claim of police discrimination

A South Asian woman in her 40s and her 6-year-old daughter of Japanese nationality had sued the Tokyo metropolitan government ¥4.4 million for alleged discrimination.
The Liberal Democratic Party's panel meets at the party headquarters in Tokyo in April to discuss measures to ensure stable imperial successions.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 30, 2024

U.N. panel urges Japan to revise imperial succession rules

The panel also urged Japan to implement a law revision toward introducing a selective dual surname system for married couples.
Masaru Sato says the ossuary at Matsuoka Hoyoen must be preserved even after residents are gone from the sanatorium.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jul 7, 2025

Former Hansen’s disease patients shed light on history of discrimination

Although the prejudice against Hansen's disease patients brought on by past segregation policy persist, the memories of their hardships are now fading.
Tsutomu Ide speaks to reporters after the ruling in the city of Osaka on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2025

In first, Osaka increases compensation to family of disabled girl

It is the first ruling to calculate the potential future income of a disabled child in the same way as able-bodied people.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump's attack on DEI is making waves at international companies in Europe, Asia and beyond — but quietly, many businesses are standing firm on diversity initiatives.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2025

Trump has companies in Europe and Asia walking a DEI tightrope

Outside of the United States, many businesses are quietly standing firm on diversity initiatives.
Young people from Okinawa in the Kansai region dance during the first Eisa festival in Osaka’s Taisho Ward in September 1975.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 20, 2025

Taking pride in its Okinawan roots, Osaka’s Eisa festival marks 50th year

The festival celebrating the traditional Okinawan summer dance was created for young workers to resist discrimination and reclaim pride in their roots.
People involved in an appeal trial over forced sterilization head to the Osaka High Court in February 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 17, 2024

Japan's top court to take measures for disabled plaintiffs

It will be the first time for the top court to implement measures for disabled people on a large scale.
The move of extending to employees with same-sex partners spousal welfare benefits follows the enforcement of a law on boosting understanding for sexual minorities in June 2023.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2024

Central Japan Railway to recognize employees' same-sex partners

Finer details of the system, such as whether official certificates will need to be submitted, are planned to be hammered out at a later date.
In the past three reports in 2003, 2009 and 2016, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommended a revision to Article 750 of the country's Civil Code, which mandates the same surname for married couples.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 18, 2024

U.N. panel reviews Japan's women policies, including on surnames

It was the U.N. committee's first review of Japan in eight years.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with plaintiffs of lawsuits over forced sterilization conducted under the now-defunct eugenic protection law last month at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 21, 2024

Japan shows settlement proposal for forced sterilization suits

The government will pay ¥15 million in consolation money to each plaintiff forced to undergo sterilization surgery and ¥2 million to each of their spouses.
Shimane University adopted colorful and stylish furniture in classrooms at its new building for the Faculty of Materials for Energy. The university has been improving facilities to be more appealing to female students.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 12, 2025

Japanese universities expanding female quotas in science

The initiative is aimed at correcting a gender imbalance in science-related fields, but also raises concerns over discrimination.
In a recently released report, a U.N. group has urged Japanese companies to draw up policies vowing to fulfill their responsibility in protecting human rights.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2024

U.N. voices concern over rights violations in Japan workplaces

While noting "important advancements" on the issue, a report expressed concerns about difficulties in addressing deeply embedded harmful gender and social norms.
Ayuko Kato (center), state minister in charge of building an inclusive society, and government officials bow their heads in apology to victims of forced sterilization, at a meeting to sign a compensation agreement in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 13, 2024

Forced sterilization victims to receive ¥15 million in compensation

The agreement covers those involved in 13 ongoing lawsuits at courts across Japan.
Drag queen Kylie Sonique Love performs at the third edition of Opulence. While the LGBTQ community suffered a few setbacks this year, there were also many occasions in which people could let loose and celebrate the scene.
LIFE / Lifestyle / 2023 in Review
Dec 10, 2023

Politics and pageantry for Japan's LGBTQ community in 2023

The year was one in which more Japanese members of the LGBTQ community began to push for rights such as marriage equality.
The plaintiff argued that age and other specific restrictions for men for survivors' pensions violates the constitution.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 10, 2024

Lawsuit filed over gender gap in survivor's pension conditions

The plaintiff was rejected for the survivor pension due to being 49 years old at the time of his wife's death.
The National Diet building in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
May 4, 2024

Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'

The government said it was "unfortunate that comments not based on an accurate understanding of Japan's policy were made."
Plaintiffs, lawyers and supporters march to the Tokyo District Court on Nov. 30, the same day the court ruled that Japan’s lack of legal protections for same-sex couples is unconstitutional.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 27, 2023

Japan's 'failed' same-sex marriage lawsuits can still propel reform

Even unsuccessful cases challenging Japan’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage have gotten courts to acknowledge a constitutional problem.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi meets with victims of forced sterilization at the ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 2, 2024

Victims of forced sterilization seek ¥15 million in compensation

Under a now-defunct eugenics law, the government allowed doctors to perform nonconsensual sterilization surgery and abortion on those with disabilities.
As Japan's productivity declines due to the shrinking working-age population, policies that allow for everyone’s full participation in the labor force, especially women, are needed more than ever.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 29, 2023

A look back at Japan’s gender laws and fairness in 2023

Gender equality needs to improve to boost Japan’s prospects. What hits and missed opportunities will we remember from 2023?
Rare female yakuza walks path to redemption in Japan
Retired yakuza Mako Nishimura sorts fallen leaves during a clean-up activity at the Gifu Gokoku shrine in Gifu Prefecture on Sept. 28.
Takaichi makes history as Japan’s first female prime minister
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi reacts to applauding lawmakers after being elected prime minister at the Lower House on Tuesday.
Japanese man sentenced to eight years after rare public accusation of rape
Riho Fukuyama (center) and her husband Yoshiki Fukuyama (left) speak to the media with their lawyer (right) outside the Toyama District Court in Toyama on Tuesday.
Woman arrested for pepper spray assault on Yamanote Line
Emergency vehicles arrive at the JR Otsuka Station in Tokyo Monday following a report that a woman had allegedly injured passengers with pepper spray inside a train on the Yamanote Line.
North Korea fires off ballistic missiles one day after Takaichi named PM
People watch a TV news report about North Korean short-range ballistic missile launches, at the main railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
AI-optimized cybercrime increasingly targeting Japan
A recent cyberattack on brewer Asahi Group Holdings resulted in the company suspending shipments.
K-pop idol Chanyeol does J-pop his own way on ‘Hibi’
South Korean singer Chanyeol made his Japanese-language solo debut with the EP “Hibi,” which features six tracks inspired by his love of Japanese music.
In pictures: The day Japan’s glass ceiling finally cracked
Takaichi, surrounded by LDP influencers
London exhibition perhaps sumo's most successful trip abroad
With the recent sumo jaunt to London being essentially a goodwill exercise, <i>rikishi</i> were far more outgoing and relaxed than normal.
Nakatsu keeps its cool as gentrification looms
Shunsuke Takahashi, owner of the cafe Hood by Vargas, says the Osaka neighborhood of Nakatsu feels brighter and calmer with the influx of new businesses.

Podcast

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

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
By Thu-Huong Ha and Mike Fu

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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