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A village school bus drives along an empty street in the village of Tenei, Fukushima Prefecture, in March 2023. In rural areas, more single-member households will emerge from an aging population and the eventual death of spouses in two-person households, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 12, 2024

1 in 5 people in Japan age 65 and older will be living alone in 2050

The trend resulting from rapid depopulation will affect both metropolitan and rural areas, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research says.
Suspects in a badger game scheme allegedly forced victims to pay money by threatening them, locking them up, assaulting them and pursuing them via consumer credit companies.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2024

Tokyo police arrest nine people over alleged badger scheme

The individuals were arrested on charges for extorting about ¥2 million in cash from four male customers in their 20s to 40s between April and July.
People visit the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo on Saturday to sign the book of condolences for the late Princess Yuriko.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2024

People sign condolence book for Princess Yuriko

Many people visited the residence of the late Princess Yuriko at the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo to sign the book of condolences.
A Metropolitan Police Department official offers a lecture on yami baito dark part-time jobs to high school students in Tokyo's Taito Ward on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 17, 2024

Japan police helping people quit illegal part-time jobs

Police took protective steps for 46 such applicants in October and November, with more than half of them being young people.
Protesters gather on parliament grounds in Wellington on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 19, 2024

New Zealanders rally against bill to alter Indigenous rights

The Treaty Principles Bill was introduced earlier this month by legislators who want to reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty signed between the British and Indigenous Maori.
The scene where a car crashed outside the Yong'an primary school in Changde, central China's Hunan province, on Tuesday in which "multiple students were injured" according to state-run media.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 19, 2024

Car rams into students outside China primary school, hurting several people

Police said that a 39-year-old male was arrested but did not provide more details, saying only that investigations were continuing.
Omar Nok arrived in Japan 250 days after leaving Egypt. He didn't use a plane for any part of his journey.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 20, 2024

Omar Nok: 'There are good people everywhere'

Omar Nok says the hospitality he has received from locals at every stop on his journey from Egypt to Japan has been nothing short of inspirational.
A Palestinian man points at a damaged building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD
Nov 21, 2024

Israeli strikes kill 48 people in Gaza as hospital in north makes distress call

Operations have focused for weeks on the northern edge of Gaza, where Israel has laid siege to three major towns and ordered residents to flee.
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.
Mental health, education and social services needed to intervene in many cases before the behavior of minors became a police issue, said a research paper by the Five Eyes, which also include the U.S., Canada, Britain and New Zealand.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2024

Young people involved in one-fifth of Australian terrorism cases, intelligence chief says

Australia passed legislation this month to ban children under the age of 16 years from social media platforms starting late next year.
U.S. President Joe Biden during an event at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2024

Biden pardons 39 people and commutes sentences of 1,500 others

The moves come over a week after the president signed an unconditional pardon for his son Hunter.
A man rides a motorbike along a street in the settlement of Hulbuk, formerly known as Vose, in the Khatlon region, Tajikistan, on Dec. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2024

Tajik migrants fear for income and security as Russia reels from terror attack

Migrants in Russia say a rise in street harassment and police raids are making life there more difficult, a concern also raised by rights advocates.
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2024

Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds

The poll found that people worry most about their own health, plans for life after retirement, and the outlook for future income and assets.
Sorane Sakihama, a 22-year-old college student, speaks at a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday protesting against sexual assaults by U.S. soldiers.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2024

Okinawa people stage rally against sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen

The Okinawan protesters adopted a resolution demanding apologies for sexual assault victims, compensation and a revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
People cover themselves with umbrellas during a hot summer day in Tokyo's Ginza district in August. Temperatures shot up in early July, even before the official end of the rainy season, and the high temperatures persisted well into the fall.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Dec 29, 2024

Japan’s weather in 2024: Record temperatures hurt people’s health and wallets

Average temperatures across the nation and surrounding seas exceeded last year’s record-breaking levels "by a significant margin," affecting everything from well-being to farming.
Police officers on Bourbon Street, hours after a man drove a pickup truck into people in the French Quarter of New Orleans, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2025

How the Islamic State radicalizes people today

On New Year’s Day, a man with an Islamic State group flag killed at least 14 people when he drove into a crowd in New Orleans.
At the new L'Abysse Osaka, Yannick Alleno both pays homage to and casts aside the tradition around Japan's national dish.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 5, 2025

Now in Osaka, Yannick Alleno wants ‘flavors people have never experienced’

Opened in late October, Sushi L'Abysse Osaka is the Michelin-starred chef’s first outpost in Asia.
The Hollywood sign shrouded in smoke from an overnight blaze in the Hollywood Hills on Jan. 9
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2025

The Hollywood fires will cause harm long after they burn out

We’re not going to be able to turn the clock back on this creeping disaster. It will be many centuries before our atmosphere recovers from the damage.
52.0% of people questioned in a survey said they want to use containers to take leftovers home if they are provided free of charge, and 28.8% showed willingness to use takeout containers whether they are free or not.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2025

Survey finds 80% of people want to take leftover restaurant food home

14.5% of those surveyed answered that they have never left food in restaurants.
The sign of Greenlandic representation in Copenhagen on Sunday
WORLD / Society
Jan 27, 2025

Adopted without consent, a Greenlander woman seeks justice

Kalanguak Absalonsen is one of four Greenlanders seeking compensation from Denmark for wrongful adoption. If the state refuses their request, they will take their case to court.
Tokyo’s notoriously crowded trains and train stations can be stressful for many. Unfortunately, the ぶつかり男 (butsukari otoko, bumping man) takes his stress out on others through shoving, elbowing and shoulder checks.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 31, 2025

Mind the gap — and the shoulder checking: Dealing with pushy people in Japan's crowded spaces

Knowing what to say in the moment is good, knowing how to report it to the authorities is even better.
A picture depicting U.S. President Donald Trump shaking hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the slogan above "We (Israel) are ready" (for normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia) is seen in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2025

MBS torn between Trump and Saudi people on potential Israel deal

Among Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s biggest concerns is Saudi Arabia’s young people, which have seen Palestinian support surge amid the war in Gaza.
Russian Communist Party supporters carry a flag after a ceremony in Moscow to mark the 150th anniversary of Vladimir Lenin's birth in 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2025

Russia’s nostalgia machine works for strongman Putin

If Russians are gripped by a yearning for an imaginary past, they will not fight for a better future.
Motohisa Furukawa, acting head of the Democratic Party for the People, emphasizes the importance of winning the Upper House election scheduled for this summer.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 11, 2025

In policy platform, Democratic Party for the People vows to boost take-home pay

The party aims to boost morale further in the run-up to this summer's House of Councilors poll following its spectacular performance in last year's general election.
Too many people die from treatable diseases in places with little access to health care. To prevent this from happening, affordability, availability and acceptability considerations must be at the core of medical products' lifecycles, starting with R & D.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2025

To stop preventable deaths, start with the fundamentals

Treatable diseases like malaria are still causing too many deaths in places with poor health care. To prevent these, accessibility must be baked into medical development.
Kodai Furutani, the assistant chief priest at Ryugasan Unmon Temple in Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, is working to become an interfaith chaplain.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025

Monk in chaplain training urges people to face death and live life

There is a deep-seated idea in Japan that a monk being seen at a hospital is a bad omen, as their presence reminds patients and medical staff of death.
America's leading spokesperson on matters of public health, the surgeon general, has issued an advisory linking alcohol consumption to cancer, urging greater awareness and policy changes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

It's time to rethink how safe alcohol is

Raising awareness about the risks is key to helping people make decisions about drinking.
The rapid advance of artificial intelligence and technology threatens traditional human life and values, but finding a balance between innovation and preserving human connection may offer a path forward for humanity's future.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Does humanity have a future in the virtual and AI age?

The virtual age and artificial intelligence are making traditional ways of life seem increasingly obsolete, and this will only grow with AI's spread.
Tokoro Ruins Museum Director Yuuki Nakamura says that 'most Japanese people don’t know' the history of the Okhotsk culture, but he and others are betting that travelers might be intrigued enough to visit and find out more.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 22, 2025

Bear skulls and pit dwellings: Hokkaido aims to sell ancient history

The Okhostk culture thrived in northern Hokkaido from the fifth to ninth centuries and may have provided the Ainu with some of their best-known rituals.
The weak yen is often cited as one reason why many Japanese don't go abroad.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025

Only 17% of Japanese people own passports, Foreign Ministry says

Around 3.7 million passports were issued domestically in 2024, a 8.8% increase from the year before but down 15.2% from prepandemic numbers in 2019.

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