Tag - mental-health

 
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August 24, 2025
 

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MENTAL HEALTH

In recent years, anglophone publishers have perked up to the potential of “healing fiction,” driven by a healthy appetite for East Asian literature. Japan figures prominently in this literary landscape, and a fondness for felines in the "iyashikei" (healing type) genre has proven commercially viable abroad.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 2, 2024
Cat companions and the 'healing fiction' boom
Japan's "iyashikei" (healing type) cultural products are gaining audiences, and non-Japanese readers are craving cozy feline literature in translation.
The health ministry’s report shows that the number of elementary, junior high and high school students who took their own lives in 2023 stood at 513, one fewer than last year's record of 514.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 29, 2024
Japan’s struggle with youth suicide sparks government initiatives
The health ministry’s report shows that the number of elementary, junior high and high school students who took their own lives remained alarmingly high.
Nearly two-thirds of parents of Australian teenagers reported concerns about their children's social media use, according to a 2024 survey by youth service ReachOut.
WORLD / Society
Oct 16, 2024
Australia's planned social media ban raises teen isolation fears
For teenagers from migrant, LGBTQIA+ and other minority backgrounds, an age block could cut off access to essential social support.
An office worker inside a commercial building at night in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Oct 11, 2024
Widespread overwork and stress found in Japan's arts and health sectors
In the arts and entertainment sector, over 40% of technical staff and stage directors worked 60 hours or more in a week, a health ministry survey found.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his dog, Dekopin, who delivered the ceremonial first pitch prior to a game against the Orioles on Aug. 28
MORE SPORTS
Oct 6, 2024
The furry performance-enhancers that are sweeping the world of sports
Athletes from Shohei Ohtani to Naomi Osaka are using dogs to reduce stress and help enhance performance before and during high-stakes competitions.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks to a reporter on Sept. 27. Aggressive acts toward front-line workers, dubbed "customer harassment," have become a growing problem.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 4, 2024
Tokyo passes nation's first customer harassment ordinance
The ordinance, however, does not include any criminal punishment for those accused of harassment.
According to a man seeking compensation through the courts for his forced hospitalization at a psychiatric ward, it was clear from his medical records that there was no need for him to stay in hospital from 1988.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 1, 2024
Plaintiff denied compensation for decadeslong stay at hospital
Plaintiff Tokio Ito, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, claimed that he suffered emotional damage from the extremely long and involuntary stay.
Lewis Hamilton, who has been racing competitively since he was 6, says he has battled depression during childhood and as an adult.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Oct 1, 2024
Hamilton reveals long battle with depression in Times interview
'I’ve struggled with mental health through my life, depression from a very early age,' the Formula One driver said.
Pedestrians in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York on Dec. 26, 2023
WORLD / Society
Sep 27, 2024
Chinese Americans face racism and mental health risks amid tensions
Survey respondents were presented with questions covering their experience of discrimination, political engagement and opinions on China-U.S. relations.
Public awareness and support for people with dementia has significantly improved in Japan over the years, but the long-term sustainability of such support systems is a concern, experts say.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 20, 2024
Dementia advocates worry public attitudes preventing diagnosis
Eighty percent of the public thinks dementia is a normal part of aging, meaning the need for correct diagnosis and care is possibly being neglected.
A suicide crisis helpline worker in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2024
Women comprise 60% of attempted suicide and self-harm cases in Japan
People in their 20s accounted for the biggest share of cases of attempted suicide and self-harm in Japan from December 2022 to December 2023.
Elderly pachinko players at Day Service Las Vegas, a casino-themed day care service in Yokohama, in August
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2024
Pachinko-style gambling is helping seniors’ brains in Japan
Bolstered by evidence that playing the pinball machines can help prevent dementia, some businesses are now tailoring services in a bid to revive growth.
Participants of Shomeikai’s Type B employment support workshop take part in a training session at a rental meeting room in the city of Fukuoka in May.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 26, 2024
Welfare workshop helps people with disabilities become IT engineers
Shomeikai leverages on a cutting-edge software development methodology that lets users work in a team and support one another.
Revised guidelines on municipal governments' postpartum care programs will likely include care for women who temporarily stay at their parents' homes to give birth.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2024
Japan to revise guidelines for local government postpartum care
The upcoming revision comes as some local governments face difficulties implementing postpartum care projects by themselves.
Earthquakes are a fact of life in Japan, but there are strategies to keep yourself from spiraling into stress and despair over future catastrophes.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 17, 2024
Dreading the Big One? How to manage pre-disaster anxiety.
Anxiety about potential natural disasters can take its toll, but mental health experts say there are practical solutions.
A new white paper is set to mention that the number of outpatients with mental illnesses such as depression, adjustment disorder and eating disorder, totaled about 5.86 million in 2020, while noting that stressors are diversifying, ranging from online abuse, work, child rearing and caregiving.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 10, 2024
Japan report to show mental health concerns tripled since 2004
According to an outline of the 2024 white paper, the ministry will point out that it is important to face up to mental health at all life stages.
A health ministry panel has approved Eli Lilly's donanemab drug for Alzheimer's patients.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2024
Japan's health ministry set to approve second Alzheimer's drug
Donanemab, developed by U.S. pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, has been backed by a ministry panel.
Forced sterilization plaintiff Sumiko Nishi at her home in Hino, western Tokyo, on Wednesday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 31, 2024
First settlement reached for forced sterilization plaintiff in Japan
The state has agreed to pay ¥16.5 million — the same amount awarded to plaintiffs in a related Supreme Court case.
Clinical psychologist Shinpei Hirota speaks in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, earlier this month about how he offers counseling to students in quake-hit areas.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024
Mental health support continues in schools affected by Noto quake
Since the disaster, over 160 counselors have visited the Okunoto region, lending an empathetic ear to those grappling with insomnia and distressing thoughts.
Migrants take part in an activity organized by the nongovernmental organization Proem-AID's Water Project to overcome the traumatic experience of a dangerous sea crossing, on Las Teresitas beach in Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Spain, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Jul 26, 2024
Volunteers help migrants reverse water trauma in Spain's Canaries
Many migrants barely survived their crossing, and others lost family members or friends to the ocean.
Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
Women-only communities flourish in China
Chen Yani (right), nicknamed "Keke," eats lunch with friends and guests in a female co-living space she founded called "Keke's Imaginative Space" in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang province, on July 14.
JR East cancels luxury train run over crew's boozing
East Japan Railway said Thursday that it will cancel one trip of a luxury overnight sleeper service, which was originally scheduled to depart from Ueno Station in Tokyo on Aug. 30, after crew members were found to have been drinking alcohol on duty.
Man arrested over deadly stabbing of woman in Kobe
Masashi Tanimoto, 35, the suspect in the deadly stabbing a 24-year-old woman, is taken into custody in Kobe on Friday night.
Japanese city proposes two-hour daily limit for smartphone use
The Toyoake Municipal Government in Aichi Prefecture is planning to enact an ordinance to urge all smartphone users in the city to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
As farm minister, Koizumi is held ‘hostage’ by Ishiba
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. Locking Koizumi into the Cabinet is Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s way of turning a potential rival into a team player, according to one expert.
Big burgers and bigger ambitions for Japan's Burger King
Kazuhiro Nomura, president of BK Japan Holdings, which operates Burger King in Japan

Podcast

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

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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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