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Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Jan 18, 2021

From the bubonic plague to COVID-19, why lockdowns look set to stay

When the first large-scale lockdown in modern times was implemented in China on Jan. 23, it was then deemed unproven and unthinkable.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 15, 2021

Japan must embrace international cooperation in the age of COVID-19

If the nation wants to maintain its current standard of living, it has no choice but to maintain a course that embraces international cooperation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 10, 2021

The West should envy Japan’s COVID-19 response

The virus is not unprecedented, but the draconian societal shutdowns are. Who would have expected Western democracies to mimic authoritarian China?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2021

As world says good riddance to 2020, China hails its new status

China's position in the world has been elevated as a result of the pandemic, despite criticism that its early missteps and cover-ups made possible the spread of the virus around the world.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 29, 2020

Wuhan’s COVID-19 cases may have been 10 times higher, study shows

The scale of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan early this year may have been nearly 10 times the recorded tally, a study conducted by China’s public health authorities indicates, leaving the city where the coronavirus first took hold still well short of the immunity required to protect against a potential...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 28, 2020

Philippines troops and ministers get COVID-19 vaccine before approval

Some Philippine soldiers and Cabinet ministers have already received COVID-19 vaccine injections, officials said on Monday, despite an absence of regulatory approval that the country's health ministry said was vital to ensure safety.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 25, 2020

Influencers may face fines as China tackles obesity and food waste

More than half of China's adult population is either overweight or obese, according to a new government report released Wednesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Dec 19, 2020

World looks to spring for pandemic relief as vaccinations start

The developed world could start to emerge from the deadly grip of the pandemic by late spring if the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines are deployed effectively.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 15, 2020

Politics — not public health — drove Suga U-turn on Go To Travel

The plan to balance the health of the economy against that of people in Japan appeared to hit a wall, as public, political and scientific opposition grew.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 15, 2020

A weapon to ‘win the war’: U.S. hospitals get initial coronavirus shots

The arrival of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offers a glimmer of hope amid a pandemic that has already seen almost 300,000 Americans die.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 12, 2020

Rising suicide figures reflect many women’s despair in a pandemic

Almost as anguishing as having no future is having an unknown one.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 6, 2020

With Pfizer's COVID-19 shot, Britain prepares for world-first vaccine rollout

Britain gave emergency use approval for the vaccine last week — jumping ahead in the global race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation program in history.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 19, 2020

Can first vaccines bring herd immunity? Experts have doubts.

Figuring out what's needed to achieve herd immunity with COVID-19 vaccines involves a range of factors, several of which are unknown.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2020

Can Japan bridge the vaccine divide?

Japan too has been developing its own drug, Avigan, against COVID-19. Yet the drug being developed by Fujifilm is not a vaccine but rather a treatment for coronavirus symptoms.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 14, 2020

Subsidizing fertility treatment leaves Japanese gynecologists in a bind

Fertility treatments are not covered by national health insurance because, in most cases, infertility is not defined as an ailment.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 4, 2020

China’s race for COVID-19 vaccine raises safety questions

Process has been unhindered by common scientific setbacks being reported by Western rivals, raising questions about how stringently they are vetting potential issues.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2020

No, we shouldn’t report partying neighbors to the pandemic police

The pandemic has prompted European citizens to accept changes in social behavior that would have seemed impossible only a year ago. People have stopped shaking hands, started wearing masks and learned to talk at some distance. They have adhered to government rules keeping them at home and closing down...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 10, 2020

Nearly one-third of COVID-19 patients in study had altered mental state

Some who have had the virus have found themselves unable to manage daily activities like cooking or paying bills.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2020

Are hospitals ready For COVID’s second wave?

If ever there was a time to view health care as a benefit to society and the economy, rather than a drag on public finances, it's now.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2020

How to end the pandemic this year

A properly designed universal COVID-19 testing program could bring the pandemic to an end within just a few months.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2020

Why the true coronavirus death toll may be way over 1 million

Even in countries with sophisticated health systems, mortality is difficult to accurately gauge.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Sep 28, 2020

Beijing unveils protections for health emergency whistleblowers

China's capital Beijing will protect whistleblowers who disclose information about public health emergencies, it said on Sunday, part of the country's efforts to fix some of the systemic faults that hindered its initial response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Sep 26, 2020

China says WHO gave blessing for coronavirus vaccine emergency use program

The World Health Organization supported China's campaign to vaccinate certain people against coronavirus in July while clinical trials were still under way, a Chinese health official said Friday, although some experts have expressed concern about the move.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2020

Avoiding a 'climate lockdown'

To avoid such a lockdown scenario aimed at mitigating climate change, the world must overhaul its economic structures and do capitalism differently.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2020

The post-pandemic recovery’s missing link is trust

As with the 2008 global financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has decisively weakened public confidence in expertise.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2020

Domestic violence amid a pandemic

One of the most neglected consequences of the rapidly evolving COVID-19 is the increasing violence against women of all ages. U.N. Women has called it “the shadow pandemic,” and António Guterres, the U.N. Secretary-General has said, “Peace is not just the absence of war. Many women under lockdown...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 28, 2020

Abe to resign over health, ending era of political stability

The race to replace the prime minister is intensifying, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba in the frame.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2020

Abe hospital visit raises speculation about his health

Sources close to the prime minister brushed off concerns that his health had deteriorated amid criticism of his administration's response to the virus crisis.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2020

Experts shoot down Osaka governor's claim that gargling helps beat virus

Experts cast doubt over claims by officials in the city of Osaka that a gargling medicine could help treat coronavirus patients, even as shelves across Japan were stripped clean of popular brands.

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped