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May 15, 2025
 

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WOMEN'S ISSUES

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.
A survey by a private group found that 30% of people in de facto marriages in Japan have not filed for marriage registration because they or their partners do not want to change their surnames.
JAPAN
May 6, 2025
About 30% of those in de facto marriages refuse to marry over surname change
Nearly half of such people are willing to file if a system allowing married spouses to use different surnames is introduced.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers speak to reporters in parliament on Wednesday after submitting a bill in the Lower House to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 30, 2025
CDP submits bill proposal on separate surnames, but challenges remain
Japan remains the only country in the world that forces couples to use one surname after marriage.
Sport climber Miho Nonaka competes during the Tokyo Games in Aomi Urban Sports Park in August 2021.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 25, 2025
Beauty expert encourages female athletes to embrace game day glam
Beauty expert Miha Fukuoka believes sportswomen do not need to downplay their femininity to be taken seriously.
MUFG Bank, a unit of the nation’s biggest banking group, is among firms that recently scrapped a clerical job category that consisted almost exclusively of women, a sign that the financial sector is finally getting more serious about reducing gender inequalities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025
Top Japanese firms scrap employment system that held women back
Abandoning the clerical job category may increase opportunities for women to advance to more senior positions.
Of the 721,000 childbirths reported in 2024 in Japan, 13.8% involved the use of an epidural, according to the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 22, 2025
Cases of epidural use in labor rise in Japan alongside concerns
More demand for epidurals may place a strain on the nation's anesthesiologists, who are already facing staffing shortages.
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 20, 2025
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
Only certain sexual services are prohibited in Japan, and it is the sex workers — not their clients — who face fines or prison, if caught.
Young girls practice taekwondo as they prepare for an event at Kalobeyei Sports Complex at the Kalobeyei refugee settlement in Kenya on March 28.
MORE SPORTS / Taekwondo
Apr 18, 2025
Refugee girls in Kenya find strength in taekwondo
Kakuma is Kenya's second-largest refugee camp and home to over 300,000 people.
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.
ICC chairman Jay Shah (left) attends an Indian Premier League match on March 30.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Apr 14, 2025
International Cricket Council creates fund for displaced Afghan female players
Afghanistan had 25 contracted female cricketers in 2020, most of whom have resettled in Australia with humanitarian visas due to restrictions at home.
Overcrowded trains and a lack of legal consequences for groping in Japan have led to a rise in "chikan," or groping, which has been linked to a mental condition and compounded by cultural stigmas.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 13, 2025
'Chikan' incidents rise as Japan grapples with mental health and cultural challenges
The governments of the U.K. and Canada have warned their citizens traveling to Japan that they could experience inappropriate physical contact — or "chikan" — on crowded trains
French amateur weightlifting champion Sylvie Eberena trains in Mantes-la-Jolie, France, on March 26.
SPORTS
Apr 12, 2025
Athletes frustrated as France mulls Muslim headscarf ban in sport
Muslim athletes in France are raising concerns as the government considers banning the hijab for athletes in competitions.
Environmental, social and governance funds are increasingly looking to Japan, as efforts to boost diversity are coming amid a regulatory and government push for better corporate governance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2025
Trump’s DEI rollback gives Japan a chance to draw ESG inflows
Japanese firms have long lagged behind their Western peers on gender equality, but the U.S. crackdown on diversity may give them a chance to shine.
A flag outside United Nations headquarters in New York.
WORLD
Apr 10, 2025
U.N. may get first female chief as Latin bloc unites
Latin American and Caribbean nations are working to back a single candidate — likely a woman — for U.N. chief as Antonio Guterres prepares to step down.
The skyline during sunset in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Japan's new underground criminal groups operate under a highly organized and brutal system.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 10, 2025
How police are cracking down on 'scout' sex broker groups
Major scout groups are under scrutiny, as authorities uncover a far more systematized and sinister network than previously imagined.
National flags flutter at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 2. The firing of Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, is the latest to rock the Pentagon.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 8, 2025
U.S. admiral at NATO fired in expanding national security purge
The firing of Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, is the latest to rock the Pentagon.
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.

Podcast

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

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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