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October 14, 2025
 

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MEDICINE

On a per capita basis, the expenses paid to medical institutions for the treatment of illness and injury in the year through March 2024 expanded 3.5% to ¥386,700, also an all-time high, according to a final report released Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2025
Medical expenses in Japan hit record ¥48 trillion in fiscal 2023
The rise in medical costs is attributed to an increase in influenza cases, an aging population and costly medical treatments using advanced technologies.
John Clarke, an emeritus professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, is interviewed on campus on Tuesday after being named one of the winners of this year's Nobel Prize in physics.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 10, 2025
Nobel Prizes this year offer three cheers for slow science
In an age when government efficiency has been used to justify sharp cuts to scientific funding, the science Nobels offer a case for plodding curiosity.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and a distinguished professor of the University of Osaka, arrives for a news conference Monday night after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Suita, Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 8, 2025
Nobel laureate Sakaguchi urges support for science despite its 'poor success rate'
The Nobel Prize winner engaged in research once considered dodgy or even dangerous, and he said he struggled to gain support for it early in his career.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and a distinguished professor of Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Suita, Osaka prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025
With medical breakthrough, Japan’s latest Nobel winner bucked convention
Shimon Sakaguchi’s unwavering conviction in the validity of his research paid off with the discovery of immune-regulating cells — and a Nobel Prize in medicine.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and distinguished professor at Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Osaka Prefecture on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025
Japanese immunologist among three Nobel medicine prize winners
Japanese immunologist Shimon Sakaguchi was awarded the prize along with two other scientists for their discovery concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo's drug Datroway extended survival in patients with a hard-to-treat form of breast cancer.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 7, 2025
Breast cancer patients lived longer on drug Datroway, says maker
The drug is said to have significantly improved survival and delayed disease progression in patients with a particularly hard to treat form of the disease.
Construction is underway on a Project Stargate AI infrastructure site, a collaboration between three large tech companies — OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle — in Abilene, Texas, in April.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2025
Trump targets deals in pharma, AI, energy and mining before midterm elections
Washington is pursuing deals across up to 30 industries, involving dozens of companies deemed critical to national or economic security.
About 83% of public hospitals in Japan were in the red in fiscal 2024.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 30, 2025
83% of public hospitals in Japan in red in fiscal 2024
Both the deficit and the proportion of loss-making hospitals, 703 out of 844, marked record highs.
Japanese researchers estimated that as of 2023, there were 316,900 people in Japan with ulcerative colitis and 95,700 with Crohn’s disease.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 29, 2025
Japan sees 40% surge in chronic bowel disease cases over eight years
On a population basis, a study published this month shows prevalence is now 254.8 cases of ulcerative colitis and 77.0 cases of Crohn’s per 100,000 people.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in front of U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., delivers remarks linking autism to childhood vaccines and to the use of popular pain medication Tylenol for pregnant women and children — claims that are not backed by decades of science — at the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 23, 2025
'I'm not a doctor': Trump's autism announcement gives COVID-19 flashbacks
The U.S. president's announcements linking a painkiller to autism ranged from unproven medical claims to self-proclaimed expertise.
Jared Baeten, Gilead Sciences' senior vice president and virology therapeutic area head, hopes regulatory approval elsewhere for lenacapavir as a preexposure prophylaxis — for reducing the risk of contracting HIV — could lead to real discussions toward ending HIV in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 22, 2025
Twice-a-year injection could make HIV prevention easier, developer argues
Without the need to take a daily pill, adherence could improve, says an executive from Gilead Sciences, which developed such an injection.
Tylenol for sale at a pharmacy in New York on Sept. 5
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2025
Trump administration to link Tylenol to autism, report says
Officials plan to warn pregnant women against using the medication, one of the world’s most common, over-the-counter pain relievers, unless they have a fever.
Bill Gates, chairman of the Gates Foundation, visits Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Aug. 19.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 21, 2025
The world needs Japan’s leadership in life sciences
For decades now, Japan has understood the value of global health investment better than almost any other country on the planet.
Erectile dysfunction drug Cialis
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 19, 2025
Panel OKs first OTC sales of erectile dysfunction drug in Japan
Cialis is set to become the first erectile dysfunction treatment that can be purchased at drugstores in Japan.
A scientist looks at scans of grains at the Memory Centre at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6, 2023.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2025
Japan’s front-line researchers see bright path ahead for dementia treatment
Four scientists at the forefront of dementia research speak about what kind of future they envision for people with the condition.
Japan previously only allowed preimplantation genetic testing for those who could not get pregnant even after multiple embryo transfers following in vitro fertilization or those who experienced repeated miscarriages and stillbirths.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 9, 2025
Japan expands preimplantation genetic testing eligibility
Eligibility was limited to those who could not get pregnant after embryo transfers following in vitro fertilization or those who experienced repeated miscarriages and stillbirths.
Takeda Pharmaceutical’s experimental narcolepsy drug shows significant improvement in late-stage trials, potentially targeting the root cause of the disorder.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 9, 2025
Takeda nears first therapy for root cause of narcolepsy
Patients who took the drug, called oveporexton, for 12 weeks experienced increased daytime alertness and an overall improvement in quality of life.
Kyoto University in the city of Kyoto. A research group at the university has developed a new type of protein that binds to unwanted cells to make it easier for immune cells to remove them.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 8, 2025
Kyoto University develops protein to help remove cancer cells
The protein binds to unwanted cells to make it easier for immune cells to pick out their target for removal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a military parade in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Wednesday.
WORLD / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Sep 5, 2025
Could humans live forever, as Putin was heard telling Xi?
Maybe not, experts say, though serious research is increasingly revealing more about why we age — and how we could try to stop it.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, during a Senate Finance Committee hearing in Washington on Thursday
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 5, 2025
U.S. senators pit Kennedy against Trump on vaccine policy
Half a dozen heated exchanges during a combative three-hour Senate hearing focused on his decision to fire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez.
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
After ruling bloc collapses, LDP and opposition scramble to find needed votes for PM
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday after leaving the ruling coalition earlier in the day.
After plenty of ups and downs, Osaka Expo concludes with message of unity
The sun sets on the Grand Ring on the final day of the Osaka Expo on Monday.
Hamas hands over surviving Israeli hostages as Trump visits region
Released Israeli hostages, twins Gali and Ziv Berman, held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, speak to each other after being released, as part of a prisoner-hostage swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Reim, Israel, on Monday.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

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