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July 24, 2025
 

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DIGITALIZATION

People applying for My Number cards are likely to be able to present digital IDs as valid identification documents when receiving the card starting next month.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2024
Government plans to allow digital IDs to receive My Number cards
The move is aimed at broadening the scope of acceptable ID methods to encourage students and workers to sign up for the cards.
Residents remove snow from rooftops together with workers from a snow removal company in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, in January 2021. In fiscal 2022, 49 people in Japan died during activities related to the clearing of snow. Of these, 39 people — or roughly 80% — were age 65 or older.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 15, 2024
Land ministry goes digital to prevent snow-clearing accidents
The system is aimed at assessing the risks associated with snow removal at individual houses to avert mishaps, particularly ones involving the elderly.
A worker at Nakamatsu Meat speaks to an Alexa-powered device at its factory in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, in November. At the factory, workers give production updates to Alexa, which then converts this into data that is compiled in the company's computer.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Mar 11, 2024
Okinawa meat shop uses tech to improve efficiency and raise wages
Nakamatsu Meat's digitalization enabled it to cut its factory operating time and optimize raw material purchases.
A poster for digital coupons at a store in the city of Fukushima
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Mar 11, 2024
Fukushima’s welfare coupon campaign highlights digital divide
A call center dedicated to the initiative received so many calls that telephone lines were overloaded.
As people in the public gallery looked on at the Osaka High Court on Friday, lawyers for the appellant and respondent deliberated over evidence and confirmed the judgment date remotely.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 1, 2024
Osaka High Court pioneers remote legal proceedings
Lawyers representing parties in an appeal case joined the hearing via web conferencing to argue their cases.
The Japanese government forecast that number of digital workers in 2026 will fall short of projected needs by 2.3 million.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2024
Japan struggles with digital transformation
Japan's general tendency toward risk aversion reduces the readiness to adopt new policies, procedures and technologies.
Japan’s shortage of software engineers in particular has caused the country to lag behind in its digital transformation.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 6, 2024
Tech firms in Japan are scouring for talent amid labor shortage
Three-quarters of technology hiring managers in Japan found recruitment to be "very” or "quite” competitive last year.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2024
Yuri Okina tapped as new chief of government tax panel
Okina is the first female chief of the panel, which advises the prime minister, and its first new chair in roughly 10 years.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 22, 2024
Regional business creators system picks up steam in Japan
The system allows local governments to leverage private-sector know-how in areas including tourism promotion and digitalization.
Pupils at Moromi Elementary School in the city of Okinawa use PCs during class to compile information they gather from textbooks and the internet.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jan 15, 2024
Tapping tech's potential, elementary school pushes proactive learning
Pupils, instead of teachers, take the lead in learning according to the goals that they themselves set at the Okinawa school.
“The First Slam Dunk” was animated in a style known as 3DCG anime, which combines the hard outlines and flat planes of traditional 2D animation with 3D models and movement.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 5, 2024
Anime is going digital. Fans are wary.
As the industry continues to embrace computer-generated work, some audiences struggle to accept the change.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son speaks at the SoftBank World 2023 corporate conference in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 31, 2023
Will generative AI speed up Japan's digital transformation?
An initially cautious attitude has given way to wider acceptance in the public and private sectors, providing a boost to digitalization efforts.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 22, 2023
Japan to scrap health insurance cards from December next year
The government aims to streamline administration and improve health care services by integrating the function of the cards into My Number cards.
A growing number of local governments in Japan have adopted digital technology for over-the-counter services to allow residents to carry out procedures without having to fill out application forms.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2023
More local governments in Japan go digital for counter services
The measure has helped reducing waiting times and burden on visitors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2022
Bringing Japan's public services into the digital age needs a legal revolution
According to some estimates, as many as 60,000 national and local rules need to be revised to make online public services possible.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 17, 2021
Making the most of Japan's new weapon in the digital war
When the new digital agency launches, it must keep its ideals and goals in mind and thus bring benefits to society.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 3, 2021
Can Japan break away from its 'digital defeat'?
The country's difficulty in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need for careful planning from the government's new digital agency.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Perspectives
Apr 4, 2021
China sets sights on a digital currency to challenge the U.S. dollar
China has taken the lead in becoming a cashless society.
COMMENTARY / World / The Great Reset
Apr 1, 2021
The digital age needs a fresh injection of trust
Rapid social and economic change, deepening political divisions and the impact of technology are stretching the limits of trust-building systems, and governments are struggling to keep up.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 2, 2020
JP Morgan Asset bets telecom stocks will be Japan’s next winners
The firm's $6.6 billion Japan Equity Fund is up 39% so far this year, beating almost all of its peers, data shows.
Japan and U.S. reach tariff deal with ‘reciprocal’ rate at 15%
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan on Tuesday, saying the agreement would create "hundreds of thousands of jobs."
Ishiba denies reports he will resign next month, leaving his fate unclear
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba looks on after meeting with the Liberal Democratic Party executives at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan and U.S. both claim win in surprise 11th-hour tariff deal
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan chief tariff negotiator, in Tokyo
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
Rice grain-sized earphone may have been used to cheat on TOEIC English test
A pendant-shaped relay device suspected to have been used to cheat on the TOEIC English proficiency test, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Tuesday
Japan leans into homegrown AI amid rising competition
McKinsey’s 2025 Technology Trends Outlook, published Wednesday, says that the use of “sovereign AI” is a trend gaining significant global traction, including in Japan.
Induction of Ichiro has Cooperstown fretfully preparing
Ichiro Suzuki will soon become the first Japanese player to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
JT picks: What not to miss at Fuji Rock 2025
Fuji Rock Festival turns the green slopes of Niigata Prefecture’s Naeba Ski Resort into a summer escape that offers soundtracks for every mood.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
Pentagon looks to unleash ‘military drone dominance’
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on July 10.

Podcast

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

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
By Alex K.T. Martin

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