Search - health

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2015

Immorality of ceding the high ground to coal

As the idea that greenhouse-gas emissions be reduced to zero by 2050 gains wider acceptance, the coal industry stands apart in its determination to fight for profits at the expense of the environment.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 27, 2015

Bunkyo plans measures to aid sexual minorities

Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward will consider measures relating to sexual minorities by March 2016, a ward official said, following a recent proposal by Shibuya Ward to issue certificates recognizing same-sex unions.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2015

NPO aims to recycle hotel soap to help poor nations

A nonprofit organization plans to collect unused soap from upscale Tokyo hotels and recycle it into bars for use in the developing world, and is currently seeking funds to buy the equipment it needs.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2015

China convicts 81-year-old writer who criticized propaganda chief

A Chinese court sentenced an 81-year-old writer to jail Wednesday on a charge of illegal business after he criticized the ruling Communist Party's propaganda chief in online essays, but the sentence was suspended, his lawyer said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Feb 25, 2015

Under Abe's reign, media self-censorship in Japan is rising

Worries are growing in Japan about a trend toward media self-censorship as journalists and experts say news organizations are toning down criticism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government for fear of sparking ire and losing access to sources.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 25, 2015

Depressed people are three times more likely to commit violent crime

People diagnosed with major depression are three times more likely than the general population to commit violent crimes such as robbery, sexual offenses and assault, psychiatric experts said on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 24, 2015

Labor law needs sharper teeth

The labor ministry should devise more effective measures to be taken against 'black companies' and more strictly enforce existing labor laws to halt abusive labor practices.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 24, 2015

DPJ's shadow leader stays put

Can new leader Katsuya Okada change the Democratic Party of Japan's losing ways?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2015

High levels of yellow sand, PM2.5 heading in from China

High levels of yellow sand and particle-laden smog known as PM2.5 are now being registered in some parts of the nation, creating misery for allergy sufferers and posing a potential hazard from prolonged exposure.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2015

Three reasons why Merkel acts so stubborn

There are three possible explanations why German Chancellor Angela Merkel seems so relentlessly uncompromising in the standoff between Greece and its euro creditors.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Feb 22, 2015

Where's the beef? Kyoto looks to carve out global niche

The quintessential tourist image of Kyoto cuisine is one of a refined "bento" (boxed lunch) containing all sorts of small treats, but heavy on fish, tofu and vegetables, with much attention devoted to presentation and tastes that are sublime, but not overpowering. Certain Kyoto vegetables like "kujo...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 21, 2015

'You should never hide negative information': Edano

At 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano was sitting in an Upper House committee along with then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet. Without warning, the room they had gathered in began to shake violently, and looks of concern intensified on lawmakers' faces. Edano...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 20, 2015

Temporary housing; famous siblings; CM of the week: Meiji

The temporary housing built for the survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami is usually depicted as being dark and cold, inhabited by sad people. But according to the NHK regional documentary, "Egao no Kasetsu Jutaku" ("Temporary Housing of Smiling Faces"; NHK-G, Mon., 12:40 a.m.), at least one community...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Feb 18, 2015

Time to shut down this modern-day minstrel show

If Fuji TV airs the modern-day minstrel show it has planned for next month, it will shine a national spotlight on Japan's extreme ignorance about issues of race and discrimination.
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2015

Nursing care compensation plan

The government should consider overhauling the nursing care insurance system to ensure stable services for the elderly and to rationalize the system's overall operation.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 18, 2015

U.S. establishes rules on exporting drones, with strict limits

The U.S. government on Tuesday established a policy for exports of military and commercial drones, including armed ones, and plans to work with other countries to shape global standards for the use of the controversial weapons systems.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 17, 2015

In post-coup Thailand, student protesters are the 'last group standing'

Thai student protesters billing themselves as the "last group standing" in seeking to end military rule said Monday they would openly defy what one leader called a tyrannical regime nine months after the army seized power.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 17, 2015

Liberia reopens dozens of schools as Ebola wanes

Thousands of Liberian children in pristine uniforms flocked back to school on Monday as classrooms opened their doors for the first time after a six-month hiatus designed to stem the spread of the worst Ebola outbreak in history.
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2015

Takeda told to pay ¥154 million in punitive damages over Actos diabetes drug

A jury ordered Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. to pay ¥154 million ($1.3 million) in punitive damages to a former teacher who argued the drugmaker's Actos diabetes medicine caused his bladder cancer, in the company's fifth loss in trials over the drug.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2015

Kerry's international order challenges disorder

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry disagrees with cynics who say the international order is unraveling. He sees the world working together as hard as ever to end the Ebola pandemic, reduce nuclear proliferation, achieve an accord on climate change and curb strife in Africa and the Mideast.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 15, 2015

Native Americans move into pot business

What is now a damp plot of bright green grass next to a Native American greenhouse in Northern California could soon set the burgeoning marijuana industry on fire.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Feb 15, 2015

Mainstream Japanese society slowly working to accommodate sexual minorities

When she was in her teens, Yumiko Higuchi was suicidal.

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