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November 08, 2025
 

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EXPLAINER

JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 20, 2007
World's suicide capital — tough image to shake
Japan has attained a reputation as the suicide capital of the world. A 2007 international comparison of suicide rates (per 100,000 people) by the World Health Organization ranked Japan sixth for females, at 12.8, behind Sri Lanka, South Korea and Lithuania, and 11th for males, at 35.6, well below Lithuania,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 13, 2007
Dialect-rife Japan can be tongue-twisting
The islands of Japan have many dialects, and students of the language often realize these variations are not taught in classrooms.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 6, 2007
Sales tax hike economic cure or curse?
Policymakers have waged heated debate in recent months over how to reduce Japan's mounting fiscal debt as the yearend deadline for compiling the government's next fiscal year budget nears.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 30, 2007
Textbook screening — not always on same page
The spotlight has fallen again on textbook screening as people in Okinawa denounce the government's March instruction that publishers delete descriptions about the role the Imperial army played in ordering mass civilian suicides during the Battle of Okinawa.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 23, 2007
Ships out at sea or troops in a war zone?
The special antiterrorism law that expires Nov. 1 is the hottest dispute in domestic politics and could even determine the fate of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and his administration.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 16, 2007
No-tell love hotels cash in catering to the carnal
In any town bigger than a hamlet, you are sure to find a patch of gaudy hotels styled after rococo palaces, Grecian temples, even rocket ships. Some sport a miniature Statue of Liberty on the roof, others lurid neon signs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 9, 2007
ODA shrinking but still key tool
Official development assistance is an important diplomatic tool for Japan, which relies heavily on other countries for resources, food and many other economic necessities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 2, 2007
Kanji, kana trip search engines
Like the rest of the world, people in Japan rely on search engines every day to tap the ocean of information that is the World Wide Web.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 25, 2007
Pachinko seeks to shed shady image as market shrinks
Filled with noise, bright lights and cigarette smoke, the attraction of the pachinko parlor is hard for many to fathom.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 18, 2007
Typhoons more predictable but still deadly
Most years, the typhoon season peaks in September, as illustrated by the recent Typhoon No. 9, called Fitow, which killed two, and Typhoon No. 11, also known as Nari, which approached Okinawa last week.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 11, 2007
Funds law no match for wily politicians
Almost every day it seems another politician is making headlines over a money scandal. Four members of embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet — administrative reform minister Genichiro Sata, and farm ministers Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Norihiko Akagi and Takehiko Endo — have been forced from their...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 4, 2007
Japan's Shinto-Buddhist religious medley
Most in Japan may know Buddhism has something to do with controlling lust and anger, and is associated with funerals and graves, while Shinto involves venerating nature, and weddings. But many people have trouble making theological distinctions between the two or even telling a Buddhist temple from a...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 21, 2007
'Hanko' fate sealed by test of time
A "hanko" personal seal is a necessary item for most adults in Japan, serving the same role as a signature in the West.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 14, 2007
The impact of Upper House president
For the first time in the postwar period, the House of Councilors has an opposition lawmaker as president, 66-year-old Satsuki Eda.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 7, 2007
Still the king of alcohol in Japan
The unbearably hot and humid summer is peak beer season in Japan. Here are some facts about the nation's beer market and its taxes, as well as regulations related to the alcoholic beverage:
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 1, 2007
E-cash silencing the jingle of change
Since major electronic money services emerged in 2001, it has become common in Tokyo for people to go through ticket gates by just touching a smart card to electronic readers at train stations and to make small purchases without pulling out their wallets at convenience stores. Japan's cash-based tradition...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 24, 2007
Japan baseball stars first shine bright at Koshien
When Japanese baseball stars like Hideki Matsui and Daisuke Matsuzaka joined Major League Baseball teams in the United States, fans could easily trace their trajectory backward to their roots in the sport.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 17, 2007
Hinomaru, 'Kimigayo' express conflicts both past and future
To some they are symbols of national pride, to others icons of a militaristic past. "Kimigayo," the national anthem, and the Hinomaru, the national flag, have been perpetual sources of controversy because of their contentious historical backgrounds. Following are some basic questions and answers about...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 10, 2007
Chongryun never gets out from under a cloud
Chongryun has recently come under the spotlight in connection with an aborted sale of its Tokyo headquarters — North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan — to an investment advisory firm led by former Public Security and Intelligence Agency chief Shigetake Ogata.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 3, 2007
How Japanese tax-payers' money is lost in bid-rigging
Every few years, politicians, bureaucrats and construction company bigwigs get embroiled in bid-rigging scandals — and the public's faith in government sinks deeper.
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
New satellite images suggest 'mass graves' in Sudan's El-Fasher
A general view of a berm construction in Kinin Village near El-Fasher.
High-speed rail is expensive and difficult, but seen as a key to growth
Achal Khare, former managing director at India’s National High Speed Rail Corporation, gives a presentation during the IHRA Forum 2025 in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
SoftBank is said to have explored potential takeover of Marvell
SoftBank explored a potential takeover of U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, in what would have been the semiconductor industry's largest-ever deal.
These are the hottest lower-division rikishi to watch right now
Fukazaki (right) grapples with Enho at the IG Arena in Nagoya on July 13.
Across borders and screens, Tokyo film festival finds humanity in migration
“Mother Bhumi” takes place in a multiethnic rice-farming community where Chinese, Thai and Malay lineages intertwine.
Takaichi’s balancing act: Supporting Taiwan and stabilizing China ties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s presidential adviser, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday in this image posted to Takaichi's official X account.
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo

Podcast

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

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

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