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September 17, 2025
 

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CARE

Mariko Kamijo (left) interacts with users of her nursing care facility called Isshoen, in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, in July.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2025
Chinese-language care supports aging Japanese war orphans
Many Japanese war orphans left behind in China at the end of World War II and repatriated decades later struggle to adapt to nursing homes because of language barriers.
The number of children on nursery waiting lists decreased to a record low as of April 1, reflecting a decrease in births.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 29, 2025
Kids on nursery waiting lists down for eighth year amid falling births
As of April this year, there were 2,254 children on waiting lists, down from a high of 26,081 in 2017.
The education ministry plans to implement reskilling programs to achieve wage hikes for essential workers and the employment ice age generation.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2025
Japan to promote vocational reskilling to target wage increases
The initiative will be carried out in collaboration with companies specializing in digital technology and will help participants acquire productivity-boosting skills.
The My Number health insurance card enables online verification of a patient's eligibility via card readers installed at medical institutions.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025
My Number health insurance card uptake remains persistently low
Confusion and doubts over the new system have stalled the government's push to digitalize medical records and services.
China's government will offer subsidies to parents to the tune of $500 per child under the age of three per year, Beijing's state media said on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 29, 2025
China rolls out childcare subsidy to boost birth rate
The assistance is meant as an incentive for young couples wary of rising costs of child-rearing.
A screenshot of a health ministry website shows an application form to submit documents for approval of a regenerative medicine program.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 28, 2025
Health bureaus' inconsistencies on regenerative medicine plans spark outcry
In one case, a regional health and welfare bureau immediately approved a regenerative medicine program but a different bureau rejected the same treatment plan.
By 2040, demand for cancer surgeries in Japan is projected to decrease by 5% by 2040, while that for radiotherapy is projected to increase by 24%.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 25, 2025
Health ministry panel calls for consolidating cancer care provision
A health ministry panel has called for consolidating surgeries and radiotherapies for cancer treatment, citing such reasons as the dwindling number of surgeons in Japan.
The government is trying to make it easier for companies to develop services in the fields of nursing care and elderly support services by promoting cooperation with local governments.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 23, 2025
As Japan grays, government looks to aid public-private cooperation in nursing care
The initiative is aimed at making it easier for companies to develop services in the fields by helping them understand demand in each region.
Pham Thi Bich Hau (fifth from left) began translating and interpreting for the Vietnamese community in Japan in 2013, when she was working for a trainee management organization. She went on to found the Vietnam Women's Union in Japan, organizing activities like the Tet festival pictured here.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jul 21, 2025
The mothers holding up Japan's Vietnamese community
Online support groups and in-person events are helping Vietnamese women from all walks of life manage motherhood abroad.
Political parties have pledged to reduce social security premiums and raise salaries for medical and nursing care workers in their campaigning for the upcoming Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 9, 2025
Premiums and wages at heart of social security debate ahead of Upper House vote
Social security premiums in Japan grew from ¥26.7 trillion in fiscal 2000 to ¥40.7 trillion in fiscal 2022.
A teacher at the Honkawa day care center in the city of Hiroshima puts away disposable diapers delivered by a subscription service provider.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 7, 2025
Use of diaper subscription expands at Hiroshima public day care centers
The service saves parents from having to put their child's name on each diaper and bring them to the day care center.
Takuya Nakagawa, a physical therapist at Anamizu General Hospital, checks on residents in a temporary housing unit in Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on June 20.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025
Noto’s elderly residents face higher medical costs after 2024 quake
The trend has raised questions about how an effective support system can be set up for residents, whose prolonged displacement is also wearing them down mentally.
The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 29, 2025
Care worker arrested over sexual abuse of woman with dementia
The abuse was discovered while police were investigating the case of a different person who had died at the same group home for the elderly.
Expectant parents Masataka and Saki Ohita look at ultrasound images of their unborn twins.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jun 23, 2025
Childbirth facilities disappearing from Fukushima towns
With just 26 facilities in the prefecture that can handle deliveries, there is concern that the trend could accelerate population decline.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during ministerial meeting meeting on foreign residents in Japan on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2025
Foreign tourists with unpaid medical bills in Japan to be denied entry
There have been growing calls for legislative reform to address unpaid medical fees and health care premiums — deficits filled by taxpayers' money.
A tax-free shop in Kyoto in April 2024. Last week, members of a Liberal Democratic Party study group drafted a proposal seeking to scrap the country's tax-free shopping system altogether.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 5, 2025
Japan eyes tougher rules for foreign residents and tax hike for tourists
Ideas range from stricter driver's license tests for foreign nationals to increasing taxes on foreign visitors.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition and Nippon Ishin no Kai have agreed to remove up to 110,000 redundant hospital beds across the country.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025
LDP, Komeito and Nippon Ishin agree to phase out redundant hospital beds
The removal of 110,000 unnecessary hospital beds is estimated to save around ¥1 trillion in medical costs.
Takaji Wakita, deputy head of the Japan Institute for Health Security, speaks during an interview on April 21 in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 8, 2025
Japan bolsters pandemic readiness with new health crisis institute
The Japan Institute for Health Security represents the centerpiece of a strengthened framework designed to apply lessons from the early missteps of the COVID-19 crisis.
The health ministry and some municipalities are turning to spot workers to solve the labor shortage in the nursing care industry.
JAPAN / Society
May 5, 2025
More nursing care facilities in Japan embrace 'spot work' amid labor shortage
The demand for care providers is expected to rise to around 2.4 million by fiscal 2026 and about 2.72 million by fiscal 2040.
A survey by a labor union of home care business operators and care managers found that nearly 90% of facility managers had turned down service requests at least once during the past year, citing insufficient staffing.
JAPAN
May 5, 2025
Worker shortage forcing home care providers to turn away clients, survey finds
In the survey, 19.3% of care managers said some older adults are being left without any care at all due to a worker shortage.
Haneda Airport security staff arrested over theft
Tokyo police have arrested a 21-year-old security inspector at Haneda Airport after he allegedly stole cash from a passenger during a baggage inspection.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
SDF spots China’s biggest aircraft carrier for first time
The Fujian aircraft carrier is seen in Shanghai in May 2024 as it leaves for its first sea trial.
White House threatens broad crackdown on liberal groups
FBI Director Kash Patel (right) listens to senior White House adviser Stephen Miller speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Pole vault rivals in awe after Duplantis has another historic night in Tokyo
Sweden's Armand Duplantis competes in the men's pole fault final during the World Athletics Championships at National Stadium in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
Tara Davis-Woodhall leaps to gold and finds redemption at world championships
Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates after winning the women's long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday night.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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