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May 15, 2025
 

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DEPOPULATION

The government should "design a specific system by around fiscal 2026 to make standard childbirth expenses free of charge,” an expert panel said, as the aging nation seeks to reverse its declining population and shrinking pool of tax-paying workers.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025
Expert panel suggests Japan’s government make childbirth free
The proposal follows a child care policy package adopted in 2023 to reverse Japan’s declining birthrate by supporting families with young children.
Carolina Kawakubo, head of the Japanese arm of NRW.Global Business GmbH, during an interview on April 28 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS
May 8, 2025
German agency to strengthen its support for Japan startups
The German agency plans to hold seminars in four cities across Japan through November to provide such companies with free expertise.
Takaaki Nezu, executive director of Maruto Group Holdings, says it is the company’s social responsibility to help tackle the falling birth rate.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
May 5, 2025
Fukushima firms seek ways to encourage marriages
One supermarket chain has said such moves reflect a corporate responsibility to tackle the nation’s chronically low birth rate.
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.
Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 5, 2025
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan
How one artist is using history, culture and community spirit to revive a fading samurai legacy — and possibly reshape rural Japan’s future.
The proportion of children in Japan's overall population came to a record low of 11.1% as of April 1, dropping for 51 years in a row.
JAPAN / Society
May 4, 2025
Japan's child population falls for 44th straight year
The country's child population hit the lowest level since comparable data became available in 1950.
Regional lenders Daishi Hokuetsu Financial Group and Gunma Bank have entered into an agreement to consolidate their businesses in 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Regional lenders Daishi Hokuetsu and Gunma Bank agree to consolidate
The banks have entered a memorandum of understanding to integrate their businesses under a holding company structure on or around April 1, 2027.
Of the 721,000 childbirths reported in 2024 in Japan, 13.8% involved the use of an epidural, according to the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 22, 2025
Cases of epidural use in labor rise in Japan alongside concerns
More demand for epidurals may place a strain on the nation's anesthesiologists, who are already facing staffing shortages.
Japan’s population has been falling year on year since 2011 after peaking in 2008.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 14, 2025
Japan’s population shrinks for the 14th consecutive year
Japan’s population has been falling year on year since 2011 after peaking in 2008.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and others at a ceremony to encourage regional revitalization support officers on Wednesday at the prime minister's official residence
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 10, 2025
Ishiba names 180 regional revitalization officers
The officers will work in groups of three to help 60 municipalities.
The number of people who moved from urban to nonurban areas under a government program to help revitalize local communities increased by 710 in fiscal 2024 from the preceding year, according to the internal affairs ministry.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 4, 2025
Record 7,910 people served as 'community reactivators' in FY2024
About 70% of over 8,000 urban residents who moved to nonurban areas under the government program continued to live in areas where they served.
A dog lies on the street as a man walks pushing a baby stroller in Matera, Italy, in 2021.
WORLD / Society
Apr 1, 2025
Italy's demographic crisis worsens as births hit record low
Italy's ever-falling birth rate is considered a national emergency, but no one has so far been able to halt the drop.
A poster calling for the earlier extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen line to Sapporo is seen in the city's Chuo Ward in May.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Mar 31, 2025
Hokkaido's rail network faces tough challenges
Falling ridership is putting pressure on JR Hokkaido to close underutilized local lines even as it struggles to complete the Hokkaido Shinkansen.
Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Mar 31, 2025
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
A growing industry quietly erases the final traces of those who die alone, exposing deep societal fractures.
Three Japanese banks are teaming up to combat the enduring challenge of a dwindling population.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2025
Three Japanese banks form alliance to fight population slump
Shizuoka Bank, Hachijuni Bank and Yamanashi Chuo Bank will work together to draw outside talent and funding into central Japan.
Kochi and Tottori prefectures, in collaboration with major airline ANA Holdings, will begin offering airfare discounts through the introduction of a flat-rate system as early as October for individuals based in multiple locations.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 23, 2025
Japan picks model projects to promote 'dual habitation'
The land ministry has selected 26 model projects to promote a lifestyle in which people divide their time between rural and urban areas.
A couple take wedding photos in Qingdao, China, in April last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 23, 2025
Beijing simplifies marriages to encourage Chinese to wed
Couples having children outside of marriage is rare in China, where there is social stigma and fewer protections for such families.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) speaks to officials of Miyada in Nagano Prefecture on Saturday during his visit to the village.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 17, 2025
Japan to extend financial aid to more people moving out of Tokyo
The government plans to expand eligibility to include people taking up jobs in agriculture, medicine and welfare, as well as those becoming self-employed.
Kyoko Watanabe made a home for herself in Ishinomaki after moving there to participate in disaster relief efforts following 3/11, and now operates a business focused on the creative reuse of <i>akiya</i> (abandoned houses).
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Mar 17, 2025
From abandoned houses to ‘creative communities’: An Ishinomaki entrepreneur's vision for rural Japan
Kyoko Watanabe moved to Miyagi Prefecture to help with disaster relief efforts following 3/11. She ended up building a company and a vision for revitalizing rural Japan.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from left) cheers along with other members of the Liberal Democratic Party during the party's annual convention in Tokyo on March 9.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 16, 2025
As it turns 70, LDP struggles to find its fountain of youth
Having lost 60,000 members in 2024 amid a slush funds scandal, the party is under pressure to seek out new blood, but its old ways may be a turnoff for many.
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
One month on, Osaka Expo urged to boost heat and crowd control measures
A gate to the Osaka Expo site is crowded with visitors on Monday.
Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet
Onosato (left) battles Abi on Day 3 of the Summer Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
Tokyo Stock Exchange wants stocks to be affordable for the average investor
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Nihonbashi. The exchange wants companies to lower the entry cost of investing in their shares.
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.

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