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October 13, 2025
 

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DEPOPULATION

“The Cats of Gokogu Shrine” centers on a local shrine in Ushimado’s Honmachi district, which has become home to a colony of street cats.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2024
Kazuhiro Soda embraces the wisdom of street cats
The filmmaker turns his camera closer to home in his new documentary, “The Cats of Gokogu Shrine,” and brings a community into focus.
A tea field in Makinohara, the birthplace of Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, in August. The city in Shizuoka Prefecture, which once thrived on a now-declining tea industry, exemplifies disparities between Japan's struggling rural areas and its bustling megacities.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 4, 2024
In Bank of Japan chief's birthplace, Ueda's policy puzzle is laid bare
Makinohara's mayor says the Shizuoka Prefecture surf town is not keeping pace with Japan's broader recovery.
Toru Yamasaki, president of San-in Godo Bank, says buying the Japanese government bonds are better for a regional bank like his than foreign debt.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024
Japan bank stung by Fed hikes plots return to government bonds
A bank operating in Japan’s least populated area is doing something that may have global repercussions if its peers do the same.
A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Sep 21, 2024
Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks
"Akichi," or vacant plots of land, are nothing new to the urban landscape. As the population decreases, however, the challenge is how to handle their steady increase.
Atsushi Ukawa
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2024
Japanese bank seeks to help regional economy with bus business
The company is in talks with around 10 municipalities. Senshu Ikeda plans to expand operations possibly to neighboring Hyogo Prefecture.
Ryobi Holdings has hired Kyosuke Suzuki, a former currency trader at Societe Generale, to set up an artificial intelligence-powered hedge fund specializing in forex.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024
Bus group Ryobi sets up forex fund to survive population fall
The move follows its previous investments in real estate, supermarkets and other areas as it tries to secure funds to maintain its bus fleet and grow.
An abandoned house in Urayama, Saitama Prefecture. Buying an <i>akiya</i>, which means empty house in Japanese, can be a rewarding experience that yields a unique space and a livable home, competitively priced. Or it could turn out to be a money pit.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024
First lesson of Japan’s akiya gold rush: No such thing as a free house.
Renovations are usually the most expensive part of the journey and the laundry list of what needs to be done is long and tends to get longer after the process starts.
If the number of births falls at a similar pace in the second half of 2024, the annual total could fall below 700,000 for the first time.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 31, 2024
Births in Japan hit record low for January to June period
If the number of births falls at a similar pace in the second half of 2024, the annual total could fall below 700,000 for the first time.
Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to ¥600,000 for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo, according to media reports.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 30, 2024
Japan scraps idea to woo women out of city with cash
Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to ¥600,000 for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo.
A lack of affordable child care is cited as one of the top concerns among working parents in South Korea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 30, 2024
World’s lowest birth rate spurs South Korea to hire foreign nannies
South Korea plans to bring in about 1,200 foreign nannies by the first half of 2025.
Cars are assembled at a Maruti Suzuki manufacturing plant in Manesar, India, in September 2023. Suzuki is one of the success stories for Japanese manufacturers trying to establish joint ventures in India, having become a household name in the country.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024
For Japanese companies in India, local staff are an invaluable resource
The roots of Japanese investment in India go far back, to 1958, when the latter became the first country to receive official development assistance from Japan.
Participants take part in a mystery-themed matchmaking event organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government at Jindai Botanical Gardens in Tokyo in March.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 28, 2024
Japan to support women moving from Tokyo to countryside for marriage
The plan is aimed at helping those interested in relocating at a time when the population of young women in the countryside is shrinking.
Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. The lack of opportunities to meet people was the biggest hurdle for marriage for both married and unmarried respondents, which may explain the rise in popularity of dating apps.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 27, 2024
Around 1 in 4 married couples in Japan under 40 used dating apps, survey finds
The lack of opportunities to meet people in-person was the biggest hurdle for marriage for both married and unmarried respondents.
Foreigners account for more than 10% of the population in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia. Despite an expected decline in births, their populations may continue to grow for some time due to their ability to attract immigrants.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2024
The rich world’s immigration conundrum
Fourteen high-income countries have shown how immigration can help offset declining fertility rates and maintain population levels.
Akamon Gate at the University of Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Aug 21, 2024
Japan's low birthrate sparks talks of university consolidation
An education ministry official has expressed concern that some areas may be left without universities
Above part of the photo shows an empty land lot in the city of Kobe and the bottom part shows it was turned into an temporary evacuation area.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 15, 2024
Land ministry to support empty land utilization
The ministry plans to seek the necessary funds under the government's fiscal 2025 budget.
Ngun Nei Par, the general manager at Ginshotei Awashima in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, graduated from a university in Myanmar with a degree in geography.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 6, 2024
Japan needs foreign workers, but it might not want them to stay long
Japanese politicians remain reluctant to create pathways for foreign workers, especially those in low-skill jobs, to stay indefinitely.
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 25, 2024
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of foreign residents in Japan rose by 329,535 from last year to 3,323,374.
Diaper products for babies and adults are displayed at a factory of Daio Paper's subsidiary Elleair in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, in June.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024
Japan's diaper-makers look to adult market for revenue as births fall
Japan's population is likely to decline by about 30% to 87 million by 2070, with 4 people in every 10 at the age of 65 or more, estimates show.
Beds that once were used by children to take naps at a kindergarten-turned-elderly center in Taiyuan, in China's northern Shanxi province, on July 2
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jul 13, 2024
Chinese kindergartens pivot to senior care as population ages
Some educational facilities are remaking themselves as a recreational center for people of retirement age and above.
University of Tokyo lands its highest spot ever in global higher education ranking
The University of Tokyo in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
After ruling bloc breakup, CDP and Komeito eye unified PM candidate
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda speaks to reporters at the Diet in Tokyo on Friday.
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

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