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September 01, 2025
 

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HEALTH

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.
Japan is the world's biggest market for Iqos, a heat-not-burn tobacco product marketed by its maker Philip Morris as a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes — a claim not backed by independent scientific research.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 6, 2025
Smoke and mirrors: How big tobacco manipulates science in Japan
In Japan, not only does the tobacco industry have close ties to government, but universities are also vulnerable to its influence. In this equation, public health loses out.
If Japan Post loses its general cargo vehicle license, it would be barred from reapplying for a new one for five years.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2025
Japan Post may lose cargo license over widespread driver check failures
A transport ministry audit in April revealed enough instances of missed checks in the Kanto region to surpass the threshold for license revocation.
Intermediary support is crucial for drug availability in Japan, where more than 50 therapies have been identified as needed but unavailable to patients.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2025
Itochu working to support overseas pharma firms to fill Japan's drug gaps
Two units of the trading house will assist with everything from early-stage consulting, regulatory advice and clinical testing support to post-launch distribution.
Bangladesh hoped to celebrate progress towards eradicating tuberculosis this year. Instead, it is reeling from a $48 million snap aid cut by U.S. President Donald Trump's government, which health workers say could rapidly unravel years of hard work and cause huge numbers of preventable deaths.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 4, 2025
From Nigeria to Pakistan, TB testing 'in a coma' after U.S. aid cuts
Moves by U.S. President Donald Trump have stalled vital research in South Africa and left TB survivors lacking support in India.
While governments have succeeded in reducing the number of smokers, they have yet to hit their 30% reduction target.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 3, 2025
Global crises disrupt effort to get millions to quit smoking
Governments had planned to reduce smoking rates among people over 15 by 30% between 2010 and 2025, but the timeline was extended an extra five years.
Japan has enforced tougher rules on companies to protect workers from heat after 30 workplace deaths and roughly 1,200 injuries were reported last year that were associated with high temperatures.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025
Protect workers from heat waves or face fines, Japan tells firms
The revised legislation is a rare global example of a national-level policy on heat safety for employees.
Nomura aims to reduce the smoking rate among its more than 14,000 employees in Japan to 12% by March 2026.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025
Nomura’s smoking ban leads to less staff lighting up
Close to 15% of staff at Japan’s largest brokerage were smokers in the fiscal year ended March 2024, down from 21.4% as of March 2018.
A lab at Kyoto University Hospital. A team comprising members from Kyoto University and elsewhere has discovered a way to predict whether someone will develop esophageal cancer.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 29, 2025
Team develops esophageal cancer prediction method using the inside of the cheek
The team managed to make cancer probability predictions with an accuracy of over 70%.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new plan to restrict updated COVID-19 vaccines to high-risk groups has sparked confusion and criticism, with experts warning it could limit public access and bypass established advisory channels.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2025
The FDA’s new COVID-19 vaccine policy is clear as mud
The U.S. health agency's promises of transparency and choice for COVID-19 vaccines fall short in its first big test. 
A University of Osaka study of more than 1,400 fourth-graders has found that children who chew poorly and eat quickly are significantly more likely to be obese.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 26, 2025
Study links poor chewing to higher obesity risk in children
The University of Osaka study involving over 1,400 fourth-graders is among the first to demonstrate a clear link between eating behavior and obesity risk in children.
A worker sorts plastic waste for recycling at Minato Resource Recycle Center in Tokyo in 2019. Japan has been criticized by environmental groups for its strategy on plastics, which is heavily reliant on recycling instead of reduction.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 25, 2025
Are microplastics hurting our fertility?
While a lot remains unknown about how microplastics affect our health, scientists in Japan and around the world broadly agree there's an urgent need to reduce plastic production.
Tomomi Bitoh, seen crossing the finish line in Antarctica, on the first stop of the World Marathon Challenge, is one of the very few Japanese athletes to speak publicly about her experience with egg freezing.
MORE SPORTS
May 19, 2025
The race for more time: Japanese runner decided to freeze eggs for her future
More women in Japan are expressing interest or following through with freezing their eggs in recent years, but only a few athletes in Japan have spoken about it publicly.
Elementary school children receive checkups from dental students in Tra Vinh, Vietnam, in March.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
May 19, 2025
Dentists pass Japan-style oral health care to children in Vietnam
Surveys show nearly 90% of elementary school students in Vietnam have tooth decay.
Top Japan trade negotiator canceled U.S. trip over rice, report says
Ryosei Akazawa
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
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.
The Nobel Prize and a testy phone call: How the Trump-Modi relationship unraveled
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greet one another at the start of a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington in February.
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.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
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.

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

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