Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Oct 31, 2019
Tokyo's cops choreograph a Halloween 'spooktacular'
by Julia Bergin
A writer spends her first Halloween at Shibuya crossing at a street party directed by the Tokyo police.
National Oct 27, 2019
Tokyo's Shibuya abuzz with costumed pre-Halloween merrymakers on weekend amid heavy police presence
Shibuya was brimming with superheroes, otherworldly creatures and scores of police Saturday night as costumed revelers congregated in one of Tokyo's major entertainment districts on the weekend before Halloween. While the area around Shibuya's iconic scramble crossing filled with many Halloween revelers as the night ...
National May 3, 2019
Tokyo's Pet Loss Cafe offers a place to grieve and heal
by Chisato Tanaka
Ritsuko Shimazaki, 58, occasionally takes a 70-minute train ride to visit one coffee shop in particular near the upscale district of Omotesando in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. The cafe — seemingly a standard trendy coffee shop with wooden tables and about a dozen seats surrounded by ...
National / Crime & Legal Feb 25, 2019
In revenge killing, man stabs to death head of Tokyo foster home where he used to live, police say
The suspect admitted to the murder, telling investigators he resented the time he spent at the foster home and wanted to attack anyone working there.
National / Media | DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN Jul 2, 2018
Giving visitors to Japan something they can dance to
by Jake Adelstein
Is this a case of deja vu on the dancefloor? In 2012, police in Osaka started raiding clubs for violating the adult entertainment business law, popularly known as fūeihō. The law forbids dancing after midnight. When pressed on the matter, police officials said they were simply ...
National Sep 11, 2017
Police investigate how fire from burning building spread to an Odakyu train
Tokyo police investigate how a fire spread to an Odakyu Line train after it came to an emergency stop close to a burning building.
National / Social Issues Oct 20, 2016
Osaka's Yodogawa Ward serves as municipal model on LGBT rights
Since becoming the first municipality in Japan to declare support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in 2013, the Yodogawa Ward Office in Osaka has attracted attention from other institutions keen to learn from its approach. The ward first moved to implement measures to ...
National / Science & Health Apr 12, 2016
Police and hospital nearly year late in reporting detainee's TB case to health authorities
Tokyo police officers and hospital workers contracted tuberculosis after coming into contact with a male detainee who died from the disease in February 2015, though the case was not reported to health authorities until January of this year, police sources said. Nineteen police officers at ...
Business Jul 22, 2015
Same-sex couples to be offered 'family' phone discounts from NTT Docomo, KDDI
Mobile phone carriers NTT Docomo Inc. and KDDI Corp. said Tuesday they would launch family discounts from October for same-sex partners amid a growing awareness of the rights of sexual minorities. They will ask to see certificates issued by the municipality where the couple ...
National May 27, 2015
Shibuya Ward aims to launch same-sex partnership certificates in October
by Kazuaki Nagata
Tokyo's Shibuya Ward aims to begin issuing certificates recognizing same-sex partnerships by around the end of October, the ward's new mayor said on Wednesday. Speaking at his inaugural news conference, Ken Hasebe, who campaigned on a pro-diversity platform, said ever since he won the mayoral ...
National / Social Issues Mar 23, 2015
Shibuya mayor defiant on certificates for same-sex couples despite LDP opposition
by Tomohiro Osaki
The mayor of Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, has reaffirmed his municipality's determination to recognize same-sex partnerships despite opposition by conservatives. The move would be the first of its kind in Japan. Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Monday, Mayor Toshitake Kuwahara restated the ...
National / Social Issues Mar 12, 2015
Conservatives lash out at Shibuya Ward initiative to recognize same-sex relationships
by Tomohiro Osaki
Conservatives are protesting a proposed initiative by Tokyo's Shibuya Ward to acknowledge same-sex partnerships as equivalent to marriage, claiming it would upset traditional family values and hurt the nation's birthrate. A Tokyo-based citizens' group submitted a petition on Wednesday to Shibuya Mayor Toshitake Kuwahara demanding ...