Tag - womens-issues

 
 

WOMEN'S ISSUES

Save the Children Japan in May 2022 began its Hello! Baby Box initiative to provide essential items for newborns, with the aim of reducing the burden of child care costs for women in dire situations.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2025
Most expecting and new mothers in poverty lack funds for basic necessities: survey
State support is often diverted to cover essential day-to-day costs and consumables needed for child-rearing, a survey found.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (third from left) speaks at a Council for Gender Equality meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Japan to promote women's startups as part of push to stop rural outflow
Seeing fewer job prospects for women in the countryside as a problem, the government will improve consulting systems for business startups in rural areas.
The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 launch event in Seoul in 2023. Studies have shown connections between social media use and eating disorders.
WORLD / Society
Jun 2, 2025
How social media can 'trigger' eating disorders in young people
The glorification of thinness and promotion of fake, dangerous advice about diet and nutrition push the vulnerable toward developing eating disorders.
Women visit a stand during the 23rd international gold and jewellery exhibition in Kuwait City on May 21.
WORLD
May 26, 2025
Stateless overnight: Kuwait strips tens of thousands of citizenship
The mass revocations have been cast as part of a reformist agenda spearheaded by Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
Director Koji Fukada and actor Kyoko Saito pose during a photocall for Fukada's new film, "Love on Trial," in Cannes, France.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 25, 2025
At Cannes, Fukada spotlights J-pop’s ban on idol romance
Director Koji Fukada’s new film, "Love on Trial," explores Japan’s idol industry and the contracts that ban young women from dating.
A third-party committee set up by Fuji Television Network said in a statement Thursday that its recognition of sexual violence was based on the World Health Organization's definition because Fuji TV and its parent, Fuji Media Holdings, needed to fulfill their accountability to global shareholders.
JAPAN / Media
May 23, 2025
Fuji TV panel defends conclusion of 'sexual violence' by Nakai
The committee rejected the request from Nakai's lawyer to disclose interview records and other evidence, claiming that it would undermine its independence and neutrality.
Imperial family members attend a spring garden party at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN
May 23, 2025
Support for female imperial family members keeping status at 64.9%: poll
While many respondents backed the idea, 10.7% opposed it and a total of 24.3% had no opinion or were not sure.
Police have arrested a former taxi driver on suspicion of drugging and raping a female passenger, with media reports saying there could be dozens more victims.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2025
Japan taxi driver suspected of raping 50 women, reports say
Reports say that the police found about 3,000 videos and images of him sexually assaulting around 50 women in his taxi or his home.
A female Osaka prosecutor in her 50s speaks about how she was sexually assaulted, at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2025
Female prosecutor says she experienced secondary victimization in rape case
The prosecutor said the prosecutors office where she worked turned a blind eye after she reported the case, and slanderous comments about her spread at work.
The cast and crew of Indian drama film "All We Imagine As Light" pose with their award for best film at the 18th Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong on March 16.
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2025
Women fight for the spotlight in India's macho movie industry
Women filmmakers in India are reshaping cinema with authentic, female-led stories, challenging outdated stereotypes and finding box office success.
A U.N. report found that 9.6% of traditionally female jobs were set to be transformed compared with 3.5% of those carried out by men as AI increasingly takes on administrative tasks.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 20, 2025
AI poses a bigger threat to women's work than men's, says U.N. report
Human involvement will still be required for many tasks — and roles are more likely to be radically changed rather than eliminated, the report said.
Tomomi Bitoh, seen crossing the finish line in Antarctica, on the first stop of the World Marathon Challenge, is one of the very few Japanese athletes to speak publicly about her experience with egg freezing.
MORE SPORTS
May 19, 2025
The race for more time: Japanese runner decided to freeze eggs for her future
More women in Japan are expressing interest or following through with freezing their eggs in recent years, but only a few athletes in Japan have spoken about it publicly.
Nipppon Ishin no Kai members submit to the Lower House on Monday a bill to give legal validity to maiden names.
JAPAN / Politics
May 19, 2025
Nippon Ishin submits bill to give legal validity to maiden names
The DPP is preparing its own bill and Komeito plans to wait for the LDP to consolidate party opinion on the issue.
An area is taped off after an explosion at the American Reproductive Centers clinic, in Palm Springs, California, on Saturday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 18, 2025
Bomb at fertility clinic in California kills one
The blast tore through downtown Palm Springs, ripping a hole in the clinic and blowing out the windows and doors of nearby buildings.
People shop inside a tax-free drug store at the Ameyoko shopping district in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 16, 2025
Emergency contraceptive pill may be approved for over-the-counter sales
In most cases, women in Japan must undergo a medical examination and obtain a prescription to access such pills.
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 headquarters of Fuji Media Holdings, Fuji TV's parent, in Tokyo's Minato Ward
JAPAN / Media
May 13, 2025
Nakai's lawyer refutes third-party report finding 'sexual violence'
The lawyer demanded that the committee disclose the evidence behind its report, which was released in March, by May 26.
Since the LDP resumed discussions on the issue in February, members against introducing a selective dual surname system have been gaining momentum, calling for expanding the use of maiden names.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025
LDP to forgo compiling bill on dual surname system
The LDP concluded that it would be unwise to create divisions within the party ahead of this summer's election for the House of Councilors.
Empowering nuns and laypeople could help preserve struggling parishes and restore the Catholic Church’s role as a vital community anchor, especially with nuns who have long been its most dedicated and overlooked servants.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2025
To save Catholicism, let’s talk nuns, not popes
All eyes were on Rome as Pope Leo XIV was announced. But to secure the future of the faith, Catholics should look closer to home.
Shimane University adopted colorful and stylish furniture in classrooms at its new building for the Faculty of Materials for Energy. The university has been improving facilities to be more appealing to female students.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 12, 2025
Japanese universities expanding female quotas in science
The initiative is aimed at correcting a gender imbalance in science-related fields, but also raises concerns over discrimination.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic