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July 05, 2025
 

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HEALTH

The World Health Organization has backed tobacco taxes and price rises for decades, and has called for taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks in recent years, but this is the first time it has suggested a target price rise for all three products.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 4, 2025
WHO pushes countries to raise prices on sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco by 50%
The move by the United Nations health agency is the strongest backing yet for taxes to help tackle chronic public health problems.
Cases of cancer patients and doctors having conversations about where the patient wanted to spend his or her last days came to 52.9% in 2021, up from 35.7% in the previous survey.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 3, 2025
About half of people who died from cancer discussed last days with doctors
About 60% of cancer patients were able to spend their last days at places where they wished to be, a report has shown.
A malnourished child reacts while a health care worker takes his vitals at Tudun Gambo Primary Health Care Center, Tudun Gambo, Nigeria, in May. Programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development are estimated to have helped prevent more than 91 million deaths over the past two decades, including 30 million among children.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2025
Trump’s plan for USAID cuts risks 14 million additional deaths, study warns
Researchers project 1.8 million excess deaths in 2025 alone if the cuts continue.
Takuya Nakagawa, a physical therapist at Anamizu General Hospital, checks on residents in a temporary housing unit in Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on June 20.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025
Noto’s elderly residents face higher medical costs after 2024 quake
The trend has raised questions about how an effective support system can be set up for residents, whose prolonged displacement is also wearing them down mentally.
Security personnel keep watch outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology during the visit by the World Health Organization team tasked with investigating the origins of COVID-19, in Wuhan, China, in February 2021.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 28, 2025
WHO says all COVID-19 origin theories still open, after inconclusive study
The global catastrophe killed an estimated 20 million people, according to the WHO, while shredding economies and crippling health systems.
The leading cause of workers experiencing work-related mental health issues was power harassment, or an abuse of authority from superiors, which accounted for 224 cases.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 26, 2025
Work-related mental health cases hit record high in Japan
The leading cause of such cases was power harassment, or an abuse of authority from superiors.
The incubation period of “severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome” (SFTS) ranges from 6 days to 2 weeks, with symptoms including fever and diarrhea. It has a fatality rate of 27%.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025
Tick-borne disease cases, with one death, confirmed in Kanto region
Of particular concern is SFTS, which is primarily transmitted through ticks infected with the virus and has a fatality rate of 27%.
A worker checks sunscreen products during the final manufacturing process at a factory for the Japanese chemical and cosmetics company Kao in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 23, 2025
Why Japanese sunscreen is going viral — and selling out
Japanese skincare is getting its moment in the sun thanks to the help of beauty influencers on YouTube and other social media platforms.
Economic losses in Japan stemming from workers' mental or physical disorders, linked to lower labor productivity, represent about 1% of the country's nominal gross domestic product for 2024.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2025
Annual economic losses from workers' health issues reach ¥7.6 trillion
The losses, linked to lower labor productivity, represent about 1% of the country's nominal gross domestic product for 2024.
By pioneering stem cell therapies, Japan is not only treating disease but also seeking to rejuvenate a nation grappling with aging and decline.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025
Japan is helping lead the way in regenerative medicine
In pristine labs across Japan, scientists are tinkering with the architecture of regeneration.
Unicharm and Toyota Tsusho will together launch a company called Sofy East Africa in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in December to manufacture and sell sanitary products.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025
Unicharm and Toyota Tsusho to set up sanitary goods joint venture in Kenya
The two companies aim to launch the new company, Sofy East Africa, in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in December.
Researchers prepare medicine at a laboratory in Nanjing University in Nanjing, in China's Jiangsu province. China's share of global drug development is now nearly 30%.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 17, 2025
U.S. pharma bets big on China to snap up potential blockbuster drugs
Firms bet they can turn upfront payments of as little as $80 million into multibillion-dollar treatments.
The primary causes for long-term sick leave among women in their 20s included mental illness, such as depression and anxiety disorders, a survey has found.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2025
Women in their 20s have higher rate of long-term sick leave, survey finds
The primary causes included mental illness, such as depression and anxiety disorders, as well as pregnancy-related problems.
Research showed that amounts of tau protein accumulation, a factor leading to dementia, were larger among people diagnosed at age 40 or more with mood disorders compared with healthy individuals of the same age group.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 13, 2025
Middle- to old-age depression may be tied to dementia
A study has found that abnormal tau protein causing dementia accumulates in the brains of middle- to old-age patients with mood disorders, such as depression, at a higher rate.
A ball kid holds tennis balls during a women's quarterfinal match at Wimbledon in July 2023.
TENNIS
Jun 12, 2025
WTA players undergoing fertility treatments to receive protected ranking
Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, said the rule will reduce the pressure on players to return to the court too quickly.
Novak Djokovic plays a forehand return to Italy's Jannik Sinner during their men's singles semifinal match on day 13 of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 6, 2025.
TENNIS
Jun 11, 2025
No rest, no gain: Novak Djokovic’s go-to tools for a mind and body reset
Japan residents with deep pockets now have a chance to replicate Djokovic’s wellness and longevity routines at Aman Tokyo.
More and more older Japanese people are joining health clubs, with Pilates becoming a popular form of exercise.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 11, 2025
So long, gateball. Japan’s seniors are ready to work those core muscles.
Japan’s seniors are trading gateball for Pilates, chasing strength, stability and a new kind of aging — with core control.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., testifies before a Senate Committee in Washington, on May 14.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 11, 2025
Kennedy's firing of CDC panel undermines vaccine confidence, experts say
The firing of the vaccine committee comes weeks before a public meeting in which advisers were to vote on the 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccine boosters.
According to the Japan Society for the Study of Obesity, 20% of women in their 20s in Japan are underweight, one of the highest rates among developed countries.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 10, 2025
Female Underweight/Undernutrition Syndrome to be classified disorder
According to one group, 20% of women in their 20s in Japan are underweight.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during ministerial meeting meeting on foreign residents in Japan on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2025
Foreign tourists with unpaid medical bills in Japan to be denied entry
There have been growing calls for legislative reform to address unpaid medical fees and health care premiums — deficits filled by taxpayers' money.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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