Tag - drugs

 
Menu
Search
 
August 31, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

DRUGS

Police have arrested a 58-year-old man after a 16-year-old female high school student was found dead in an apartment in Osaka Prefecture, apparently from a cough medicine overdose.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 8, 2023
Man arrested on kidnapping charge after overdose death in Osaka
An autopsy found that the kidnapped 16-year-old female student had a fatal amount of cough medicine ingredients inside her body.
A pharmacist holds a box of Novo Nordisk A/S Wegovy brand semaglutide medication.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 7, 2023
Can Wegovy fight alcoholism? For Big Pharma, this isn’t a priority
Reluctance underscores reasons why no new treatment has been approved for alcoholism in nearly 20 years.
An area known as Toyoko in the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2023
High school girl arrested for selling cough medicine illegally
The arrest coincides with a surge of young people in Japan abusing over-the-counter drugs, such as cold medicine.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 4, 2023
Nihon University chair vows to continue reforms despite calls to quit
The vice president and president have decided to resign to take responsibility for a drug scandal involving the American football team.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 1, 2023
Nihon University football player admits to drug charges
The trial was concluded the same day, with the prosecution seeking an 18-month imprisonment and the defense asking for a suspended sentence.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2023
Nihon University to disband American football club over drug scandal
The decision brings an end to the 83-year history of one of the nation’s most prominent college football teams.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 27, 2023
Nihon University vice president sues chairperson over power harassment
Yasuhiro Sawada has claimed Mariko Hayashi used her superiority to paint him as being solely responsible for the mishandling of a drug scandal.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 23, 2023
Nihon University recommends resignations over cannabis scandal
In August, a member of the football club was arrested for alleged possession of cannabis and an illegal stimulant.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 22, 2023
4 youths nabbed for unauthorized cough medicine sales
Reports indicate that more young people in Japan are overdosing on over-the-counter drugs such as cold pills and cough medicine.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 21, 2023
Japan to ban marijuana-derived substance found in gummy candies
An expert panel at the health ministry decided to officially add the HHCH synthetic compound to a drug list, with the ban taking effect from Dec. 2.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2023
Bill to legalize cannabis-derived drugs clears Japan’s Lower House
The bill was sent to the Upper House the same day. If approved there, changes stipulated in the bill will likely go into effect by the end of next year.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 31, 2023
Nihon University staff downplayed drug use problem, report says
The report shows how the university’s system of governance led to the delay in taking action against the American football team’s culture of drug use.
Yasuhiro Sawada, vice president of Nihon University, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2023
University official 'sad' about calls to quit over drug scandal
Two members of the football club have been arrested in the scandal so far — one in August and the other in October.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2023
Drug scandal at Nihon University American football club seen spreading
The university suspended the football club's activities indefinitely in August following the arrest of one person the same month over cannabis.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2023
Nihon University vice president urged to quit over drug scandal
Members of Nihon University's executive team have urged the vice president of the school to quit over the handling of a drug scandal at its football club.
A 46-year-old priest was arrested Thursday for possessing marijuana at his home in Sammu, Chiba Prefecture, according to an NHK report.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 19, 2023
Chiba priest arrested for marijuana possession: NHK
Police arrested the priest at Rengeji Temple for possessing dried marijuana at his home.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 29, 2023
As drug use rises in Japan, government eyes prevention plans
The ministry reported that by the end of August, around 300 stores in the country were found to be selling quasi-legal products known as “kiken drugs.”
Leaves of marijuana plants from which hemp fibers are extracted at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 5, 2016
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 21, 2023
Does a university cannabis scandal point to a larger trend?
A drugs scandal at Japan’s biggest university draws attention to a troubling statistic: Cannabis use among young people is on the rise.
A woman shops for medicine at a drugstore in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 5, 2023
More young women overdosing on over-the-counter drugs
In a country where illicit drugs are hard to obtain, many have begun to abuse cough and cold medications, which are legal and easily accessible.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 2, 2023
Nihon University suspends football team over cannabis allegations
Tokyo police searched the team's dormitory on Aug. 22, after more players were suspected of possessing cannabis, investigative sources said.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Top Japan trade negotiator canceled U.S. trip over rice, report says
Ryosei Akazawa
Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
Most Trump tariffs are not legal, U.S. appeals court rules
Workers hang a large poster of U.S. President Donald Trump on the facade of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Washington on Wednesday.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
YouTube Music Weekend is where Japan’s internet-born performers go global
Headlining the second day of YouTube Music Weekend is Vocaloid artist Kikuo, who, with 1.46 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the most popular artists in the genre.
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
Jesse Kirkwood: ‘Languages are entire cultural universes with all sorts of baggage’
Jesse Kirkwood is part of a vibrant field of translators who have nurtured what might be called a “post-Murakami era of Japanese literature and translation,” one book at a time.

Podcast

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

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER