People | 20 QUESTIONS Oct 11, 2020
Matthew Wilson: ‘Students need to come first’
by David Cortez
The dean of Temple University Japan on keeping students safe during COVID-19 and the importance of cultural sensitivity.
National / Crime & Legal Sep 2, 2019
Courts to allow online submissions of documents and evidence for civil lawsuits from 2021
The Supreme Court plans to allow online submissions of documents and evidence for civil lawsuits handled by courts across the nation as early as fiscal 2021, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The top court included roughly ¥150 million for creating a specialized ...
National / Politics Dec 6, 2018
Diet enacts contentious law allowing private firms to take charge of Japan's water supplies
Critics are worried that the revised Water Supply Act will effectively lead to privatization, a move that could lead to higher water bills.
National / Politics Jul 3, 2018
LDP-Komeito bloc plan basic law for dementia support as Japan's demographics shift
The ruling parties are considering jointly submitting to next year's ordinary session of the Diet a lawmaker-initiated bill, to set out a basic law urging central and local governments to comprehensively promote support measures for dementia sufferers, according to sources. The Liberal Democratic Party and ...
National Jun 29, 2018
Princess Mako's fiance to study law in U.S. from this summer: sources
Princess Mako's fiance, Kei Komuro, plans to study law in the United States from the summer, sources said Thursday, after the couple postponed their marriage. But the sources said the 26-year-old eldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, and Komuro — a commoner of the same age ...
National Jun 6, 2018
The Diet enacts a new law to promote the use of unclaimed land in the public interest as more properties are expected to become available amid a decreasing population.
National / Politics Jun 9, 2017
Diet finally enacts electoral redistricting law to correct vote weight disparities across Japan
After years of stalling, the Diet enacted a law Friday to revise Lower House electoral districts to reduce voting weight disparities between densely and sparsely populated precincts that had marred the credibility of national elections. Based on population projections for 2020, the law will bring ...
National / Social Issues May 22, 2017
A year after enactment of hate speech law, xenophobic rallies down by nearly half
A tally of xenophobic rallies in Japan shows that a new law against hate speech is having a positive impact in stemming public attacks against minority groups.
Reference | FYI May 15, 2017
Medical big data to be pooled for disease research and drug development in Japan
by Tomoko Otake
Last month a bill aimed at facilitating medical research through the use of patient records stored at medical institutions cleared the Diet. The law, commonly called Jisedai Iryo-kiban Ho — roughly translated as the next-generation medical infrastructure law — will allow medical big data to ...
Asia Pacific / Crime & Legal Dec 31, 2016
Chinese firms ordered to pay Disney, Pixar $194,000 for copying 'Cars': Xinhua
A Shanghai court ordered two Chinese firms to pay Walt Disney Co. and Pixar more than 1.35 million yuan ($194,440) compensation for copying parts of their hit movies "Cars" and "Cars 2," the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. The ruling is the latest ...
Reference | FYI Dec 19, 2016
New law to fight bias against 'burakumin' seen falling short
by Tomohiro Osaki
Overshadowed by the 11th-hour furor over casino legalization and other legislation forced through the Diet by the ruling bloc last week was the enactment of a lesser-known law that has significant implications for Japan's minority burakumin. The law enacted Dec. 9 marks a turning point ...
National / Crime & Legal Dec 6, 2016
Revised law increases police powers to combat online stalking
The Diet enacted a revised law Tuesday to tackle online stalking in response to an increase in harassment cases involving social media. The revised law will cover a wide range of stalking acts such as repeatedly sending messages on social networking services and persistent postings ...