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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2018

Experts raise doubts over health studies conducted in Japan for Iqos smoking device, made by Philip Morris

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers whether to approve the innovative Iqos smoking device, made by Philip Morris International Inc., researchers have raised concerns about studies submitted to the authority, half of which were conducted in Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 14, 2023

Unsound climate studies sneak into print, scientists say

Observers have long questioned the growing number of research journals that take fees from eager academics but often publish their work without rigorous review.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 17, 2022

COVID-19 patients may have increased risk of developing mental health problems

A new study has found that people who had COVID-19 were 39% more likely to be diagnosed with depression and 35% more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety.
Scientists have proposed a way to heat up Mars using heat-trapping iron or aluminum particles as an initial step toward making the planet habitable for people.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 10, 2024

Scientists propose warming up Mars by using heat-trapping 'glitter'

The scientists who developed the proposal see it as a potentially doable initial step toward making the planet habitable.
New gene-edited crops could address climate change and agricultural challenges; however, high regulatory barriers and safety concerns limit innovation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 18, 2024

It’s time to embrace a new era of gene-edited food

New crops may improve our health or help us mitigate and adapt to climate change.
An undated image shows the tail of Japanese eel escaping via the gill of a dark sleeper after being eaten by the river-dwelling fish.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 14, 2024

The terrifying way that eels escape a hungry fish’s stomach

Scientists at Nagasaki University used X-ray video to show juvenile Japanese eels staging Houdiniesque feats of escape.
Managers, in their effort to avoid appearing sexist, often provide women with insincere or inconsistent feedback during performance reviews.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2024

Women don’t always get the candid feedback they deserve

Managers, in their effort to avoid appearing sexist, often provide women with insincere or inconsistent feedback during performance reviews.
Men use a stole to cover themselves from the sun as they wait in a line outside a polling station to cast their votes during the sixth phase of India's general election in Bhubaneswar, India, on May 25.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 16, 2024

Surviving a climate disaster isn’t likely to change how you vote

If people are in fact casting ballots based on their experiences of disasters, it appears to be a small number of them.
A technician holds an agar plate containing bacteria cell culture in Bengaluru, India, in 2018.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 17, 2024

Superbugs death toll could swell by millions over coming years

Over 1 million people have died each year between 1990 and 2021 as a direct result of antimicrobial resistance, which occurs when germs become resistant to drugs.
People work on some insulating fabric covering a small part of the Rhone Glacier to prevent it from melting, near Gletsch, in the Swiss Alps, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 2, 2024

Despite snowy winter, Swiss glaciers 'on track to disappear'

The glacier melt is having far-reaching impacts, with Switzerland and Italy having to adjust their mountain border and less water becoming available in the summer.
Asako Osaki attends the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York in March.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Nov 3, 2024

How global lessons can improve prospects for women in rural Japan

Through motherhood, education and work, Asako Osaki worked to bring global standards to the front lines of gender issues.
Brain adaptations during pregnancy may enhance efficiency rather than cause loss of function, similar to transformations seen during adolescence and menopause.
COMMENTARY
Nov 29, 2024

We’re finally starting to understand the pregnant brain

Brain adaptations during pregnancy may enhance efficiency rather than cause loss of function, similar to transformations seen during adolescence and menopause.
The skeleton of a mammoth, one of the large mammals that roamed North America during the last Ice Age, is displayed at the Mammoth Site where numerous mammoth fossils have been excavated, in Hot Springs, South Dakota, on Aug. 31, 2018.
WORLD
Dec 5, 2024

Mammoths topped the menu for North American Ice Age people

Scientists discovered that the woman's diet was mostly meat from megafauna — the largest animals in an ecosystem — with an emphasis on mammoths.
For language learners under 40 in Japan, AI tools such as ChatGPT are now preferred over in-person classes or radio language programs.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2024

AI services growing in popularity among younger language learners in Japan

The number of people using AI language tools grew by more than 80% in 2024, a recent survey showed.
China has increased provocations against Japan under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's weak leadership, exploiting political instability to push its agenda, including military incursions, cyberattacks and other forms of coercion.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 14, 2025

China seizes opportunities amid Ishiba’s weak leadership

China is also no longer hesitant to send its aircraft carrier group through narrow straits in the southernmost Nansei Islands to conduct drills.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the White House in Washington on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 10, 2025

Ishiba builds inroads with Trump, but challenges still loom

Ishiba won praise for his deft handling of Trump, squelching critics’ predictions that the president would walk all over the bookish Japanese leader.
Japanese companies face mounting pressure as U.S.-China tensions grow, forcing them to navigate security concerns, economic dependencies and shifting trade policies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2025

For Japanese firms, the China dilemma is set to intensify

“America First” and “Make America Great Again” are simple slogans that can be fitted to any outcome. All that ultimately matters is the final say of the president.
Former digital minister Taro Kono has long counted reform of social security and pensions among his pet policies.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 17, 2025

It’s time to get serious on the pension system, ex-digital minister says

The pension study group offers Taro Kono an opportunity to tentatively step back into the limelight after an unusually quiet period.
Junko Yagi, a professor at Iwate Medical University, speaks during an interview on Jan. 10 in the town of Yahaba, Iwate Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2025

Experts urge ongoing mental health care for families in 3/11 disaster areas

"Parents and children alike are carrying heavy emotional burdens," one expert said.
A recent study shows promise for a personalized mRNA vaccine to prevent pancreatic cancer recurrence, offering hope for patients and highlighting the potential of tailored cancer treatments.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2025

Pancreatic cancer vaccine shows hope. Make the investment.

When researchers offer data suggesting a personalized vaccine might be able to keep the cancer at bay for years, it’s worth paying attention to.
Keio University in Tokyo
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 22, 2025

Keio University team says stem cell treatment helped improve spine injuries

Keio University said that the motor function score for two patients improved after an operation to implant more than 2 million iPS-derived cells into a spinal cord.
A joint study by the National Institute for Environmental Studies and Waseda University warns that, in the coming decades, nearly three-quarters of the country could face conditions in which intense physical outdoor activities should be suspended for months at a time.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 16, 2025

Rising temperatures could cancel most outdoor school sports in summer by 2060s

Six out of eight regions in Japan could see weekly sports cancellations due to dangerous heat by the 2060s.
A new study is offering fresh insight into where consciousness resides in the brain.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 2, 2025

Scientists explore where consciousness arises in the brain

There are practical applications in gaining a deeper understanding of the mechanics of consciousness in the brain.
LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks during an event in Nakatane, Kagoshima Prefecture, earlier this month.
JAPAN / Politics
May 24, 2025

LDP holds meeting to let proponents of tax cut blow off steam

The LDP leadership has decided not to include a consumption tax reduction in its campaign pledges for the upcoming Upper House election.
Scientists say a recently published study could help explain why women are typically less prone to weight-related conditions. The research may lead to new therapies that target calorie-burning mechanisms.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 15, 2025

Japanese scientists discover clue to why women burn more fat than men

Scientists say their findings could help explain why women are typically less prone to weight-related conditions and may lead to new therapies.
People with intellectual disabilities take part in a study session on the Upper House election in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture, on July 8.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2025

People with intellectual disabilities create election dictionary

The dictionary contains about 170 election-related terms, such as "the right to vote," "candidate" and "democracy."
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Jul 20, 2025

Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate

The debate over the damage sunscreens cause to the marine environment is heating up as some regions ban certain chemical ingredients.
In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jul 21, 2025

The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan

AI chatbots are becoming stand-ins for pets and partners — offering comfort, connection and raising new concerns.
Among the middle school students who admitted to abusing over-the-counter medication, the majority — around 64% — said they got them from pharmacies while a third said they had access to them in their own households.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 13, 2025

1 in 55 Japanese middle schoolers abuse over-the-counter drugs, survey shows

Most of them got the drugs from pharmacies and their own households.
A worker displays a handful of shredded hard drive pieces for e-waste processing at a facility in Festac, Nigeria, in 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 21, 2025

Urban mining eases the critical minerals crunch 

Governments are waking up to the potential of e-waste recycling, and Japan is leading the way.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past