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May 15, 2025
 

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PARENTHOOD

New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 14, 2025
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
Heat stress can raise the risks of stillbirths, miscarriages, preterm births and low-weight births, as well as congenital abnormalities for the babies.
The proportion of children in Japan's overall population came to a record low of 11.1% as of April 1, dropping for 51 years in a row.
JAPAN / Society
May 4, 2025
Japan's child population falls for 44th straight year
The country's child population hit the lowest level since comparable data became available in 1950.
Shohei Ohtani and Mamiko Tanaka announced the birth of their first child on April 19.
BASEBALL
Apr 28, 2025
Shohei Ohtani's example could change Japan's views on paternity leave
The Dodgers star went on MLB’s paternity list for the birth of his daughter. MLB is the only major North American sports league that guarantees paternity leave to its players.
Satoshi Egura, who was accidentally swapped with another newborn at a Tokyo maternity hospital in 1958, speaks during a news conference after the Tokyo Metropolitan Government agreed to help him find his birth parents.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025
Tokyo government to search for birth parents of man switched as newborn
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will begin a search for the birth parents of a 67-year-old man accidentally switched as a newborn at a now-closed maternity hospital.
Plaintiff Satoshi Egura, 67, stands near the former site of the now-defunct Sumida Maternity Hospital in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on April 16. A mix-up at the hospital in 1958 led to Egura being raised by a couple who are not his biological parents.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 21, 2025
Tokyo government ordered to find man's birth parents 67 years after mix-up
The mix-up in 1958 at the now-defunct Sumida Maternity Hospital led to plaintiff Satoshi Egura being raised by another couple.
A 35-year-old mother was found guilty of attempted coercion by repeatedly sending mobile messages to her daughter not to eat while being hospitalized.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2025
Japanese mother partially acquitted over abuse of daughter
Kasumi Nawata, 35, was found guilty of attempted coercion and sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
A revised child welfare bill passed the Upper House plenary session on Friday as cases of child abuse rise.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 18, 2025
New bill blocks visitations for parents suspected of child abuse
The revision to the child welfare law is intended to protect children in cases where contact with their parents could cause emotional or physical harm.
Sachiko Ishizuka, who was born via artificial insemination by donor (AID), tells her story to lawmakers from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on April 9.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 15, 2025
Privacy and transparency clash in debate over bill on artificial insemination
At stake is the thorny question of when children conceived through artificial insemination by donor can access information on their biological parents, and to what extent.
According to a survey by international nongovernmental organization Save the Children Japan, 74.6% of respondents said they changed diapers less often when they couldn't buy diapers.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2025
Half of needy households in Japan unable to buy diapers
An inability to buy baby formula has been experienced by 39.6%.
A dog lies on the street as a man walks pushing a baby stroller in Matera, Italy, in 2021.
WORLD / Society
Apr 1, 2025
Italy's demographic crisis worsens as births hit record low
Italy's ever-falling birth rate is considered a national emergency, but no one has so far been able to halt the drop.
The so-called baby hatch, open 24 hours a day, is meant to be an "emergency, last-resort measure" to save babies' lives, Hitoshi Kato (center), head of Sanikukai Hospital, told a news conference Monday in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2025
Tokyo hospital opens city's first 'baby hatch'
Used for centuries globally, so-called baby boxes or baby hatches are meant to prevent child abandonment or abuse.
Many families with financial difficulties are cutting down on their living expenses to secure money to buy school uniforms, computers and tablet devices for their children entering school.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 31, 2025
Needy parents eye living expense cuts to fund kids' new school life
They are finding it especially difficult to secure money to buy school uniforms, computers and tablet devices, a survey shows.
Osamu Murata (left), the acting chairman of nonprofit Ashinaga, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Wednesday. Ashinaga, which provides financial aid to children, conducted a survey among parents and guardians of recipients to determine the challenges they face.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 27, 2025
Japan’s single parents struggle to raise children, survey finds
Such households grapple with economic hardship, "time poverty" and social isolation, according to a nonprofit that provides financial aid to children.
Midwife Tabita dos Santos Moraes prepares cassava flour in Tefe in Brazil's Amazonas state last October. Tabita's great-grandmother taught midwifery to her aunts, who taught her mother, who taught her, starting at the age of 15.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 21, 2025
In the remote Amazon, midwives care for women stranded by drought
Years of extreme droughts in the Amazon rainforest have made river journeys to and from remote communities perilous.
A maternal handbook used by Heba Jibril in northern Gaza
JAPAN / Society
Mar 21, 2025
In Gaza, Japan-backed maternal handbooks a vital source for child care
The health handbooks provide crucial information for women at a time when medical facilities are closed and digital information is scarce.
People gather at the National Covid Memorial Wall on the COVID-19 Day of Reflection, marking 5 years since the start of the pandemic, in London on March 9.
WORLD / Society
Mar 18, 2025
Debt, job loss and eviction weigh on parents of children with long COVID
Five years after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, the families of over 111,000 children in the U.K. sick with long COVID feel invisible.
Hiroko Nagano, a former member of the assembly of Tokyo's Toshima Ward, speaks during an interview in Tokyo in January.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025
Female assembly members with children seeing better work conditions
As of July 2024, there were 5,187 female municipal assembly members in the country, or only 17.9% of the total, however.
Naomi Osaka returned to tennis in 2024 after giving birth to her daughter in July 2023.
TENNIS
Mar 7, 2025
WTA and Saudi PIF to provide paid maternity leave to tennis players
The PIF WTA Maternity Fund Program "will offer benefits to more than 320 eligible WTA players," the WTA said in a statement.
Forbidden from seeing friends and forced to devote herself to housework, Reina (whose name has been changed), a 37-year-old Filipino national living in the city of Nagoya, became socially isolated.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2025
Foreign single mothers struggle with language barriers and visas
Experts are urging the government to create a safer environment where these women can continue living in Japan without fear.
Ukrainian servicewomen Natalia (right), 53, and her daughter Veronika, 26, from the 100th mechanized brigade, pose for a photo at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region in Ukraine on Feb. 15.
WORLD / Society
Mar 3, 2025
'Under my wing': Mothers and daughters serving together in Ukraine
Ukrainian servicewomen Natalia, 53, and her daughter Veronika, 26, serve in the 100th mechanized brigade.
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
One month on, Osaka Expo urged to boost heat and crowd control measures
A gate to the Osaka Expo site is crowded with visitors on Monday.
Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet
Onosato (left) battles Abi on Day 3 of the Summer Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
Tokyo Stock Exchange wants stocks to be affordable for the average investor
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Nihonbashi. The exchange wants companies to lower the entry cost of investing in their shares.
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Podcast

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