Tag - womens-issues

 
 

WOMEN'S ISSUES

Naomi Osaka celebrates winning her second round match at the Australian Open over the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on Jan. 15.
TENNIS
Feb 6, 2025
Naomi Osaka on tennis, motherhood and being Japanese
Osaka returned to the tour a year ago and has had mixed results overall. But there are early signs in 2025 that she's starting to "get her pink back."
The proportion of respondents who said that the surname debate was something they felt they had a personal stake in increased by 2.7 percentage points from the previous survey by the Cabinet Office in 2022.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2025
44% in Japan feel they might be affected by dual-surname debate
The possible introduction of a selective dual-surname system was one of the key issues in last year's election for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The current government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer has resisted calls for a national inquiry focused on the grooming gangs in Rotherham, and says it will conduct a series of local probes.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2025
'Life's ruined' in U.K. town broken by grooming gangs
Rotherham, once a producer of some of the world's finest steel, is now the epicenter of a major U.K. scandal that has left the town angry, ashamed and needing answers.
The front page of The Japan Times on Feb. 21, 1925, carried news of clashes in the streets over the debate of extending voting rights to Japanese males over the age of 25.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Feb 1, 2025
Japan Times 1925: Tokyo factions ready to fight over manhood suffrage bill in Diet
Objections from the country's 1% came as Japan debated extending voting rights to all men over the age of 25.
Dress-up games and dating sims were once forgotten genres, but now expanded player bases are helping to generate major profits.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Feb 1, 2025
Gaming’s feminine side is starting to make big bucks
Two recent releases — a sci-fi dating sim and a souped-up dress-up simulator — are starting to change the conversation around previously dismissed genres.
Spain midfielder Jennifer Hermoso says she did not consent to being kissed by former Spanish soccer chief Luis Rubiales at the 2023 Women's World Cup
SOCCER
Jan 31, 2025
Former Spanish soccer chief goes on trial over forced kiss at World Cup
The affair has made Jennifer Hermoso an icon of the fight against sexism in sports and generated soul-searching in Spain and beyond.
Takeda Pharmaceutical's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2025
Takeda picks first female CEO of centuries-old drugmaker
Julie Kim, 54, has been running Takeda’s U.S. operations since 2022 and will assume the role of CEO in June next year, subject to shareholder approval, the company said.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Toshihiro Kitamura said measures against U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women "will show the government's position more clearly," in relation to the Imperial House Law.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2025
Japan hits back at U.N. panel over imperial law review recommendation
The law allows only male descendants from the paternal line of the imperial family to become emperor.
Shiori Ito (right) speaks outside the Tokyo District Court in December 2019 after hearing the ruling on a damages lawsuit by her, accusing a former TV reporter of rape.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 29, 2025
Japan #MeToo survivor says media are failing in wake of Fuji TV scandal
Despite several high-profile cases, Japan has never seen an outpouring of #MeToo allegations.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends an ordinary session of parliament along with his Cabinet ministers on Friday. Ishiba has toned down his stance on legally allowing married couples to have separate surnames.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 28, 2025
Ishiba tones down stance on dual-surname debate
While previously being all in favor of a dual-surname system, the prime minister has recently suggested considering a "compromise" of legally expanding the use of maiden names.
A woman walks past a mural adorning a family clinic in Nairobi in 2017.
WORLD / Society
Jan 28, 2025
Trump 2.0 instills fear in African abortion activists
Trump has reinstated an anti-abortion pact that cuts off U.S. funds to foreign charities that provide or promote abortions.
Webcam model Tania Rios looks at a computer screen in Soacha, near Bogota, Colombia, on Dec. 17. Unhealthy rooms, shared sex toys, excessive shifts, clients with degrading requests and harassment — for years silenced, webcam models are denouncing the abuses they have suffered in Colombia, a mecca of this multimillion dollar business.
WORLD / Society
Jan 28, 2025
Colombian 'webcam models' denounce abuse in online sex industry
Despite their clients being thousands of kilometers away, many webcam sex workers say they have suffered physical and emotional mistreatment.
Japan has lagged far behind other advanced economies on lists of female representation in positions of authority, and ranks 118th among 146 nations in the World Economic Forum’s gender equity rankings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 28, 2025
JPMorgan AM Japan appoints Komatsu as first female CEO
Japan has lagged far behind other advanced economies on lists of female representation in positions of authority.
Police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department conduct a search at the premises of Natural, one of Japan's biggest sex worker scout groups, on Monday in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2025
Tokyo police arrest members of major sex worker scout group
The group had up to about 1,500 scouts nationwide, and its annual revenue is believed to have reached about ¥5 billion.
Anti-abortion demonstrators take part in the annual March for Life rally in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025
Trump targets abortion access at home and abroad
Trump revoked two executive orders signed by Joe Biden protecting abortion access.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito answers questions from reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
Ruling parties agree to discuss dual surname system
Party leaders stopped short of deciding when to begin discussions on the issue.
Haas mechanics prepare for the U.S. Grand Prix last October.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jan 22, 2025
Haas makes Laura Mueller F1's first female race engineer
Mueller will serve as the race engineer for driver Esteban Ocon, who will debut with the U.S. team this year.
The families of the victims of sexual violence and others hold a news conference in the city of Osaka on Dec. 4 after submitting a petition to the Osaka Prefectural Assembly calling for the continuation of the Sexual Assault Crisis Healing Intervention Center Osaka, a one-stop support center within a hospital.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jan 17, 2025
Osaka sexual violence support center faces existential threat
SACHICO, Japan's first one-stop support center within a hospital setting for women affected by sexual violence, has been asked to leave Hannan Chuo Hospital.
Epidurals during childbirth have long been uncommon in Japan, though they have been growing more popular in recent years.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 14, 2025
Tokyo plans to subsidize epidurals, but are hospitals ready?
If all goes to plan, Tokyo will be the first to offer prefecture-level financial support for epidurals.
Marriage boosts men’s health, but women’s outcomes depend on having an egalitarian partner, with caregiving gaps revealing ongoing gender inequalities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2025
Equitable marriages could save lives (and love)
Husbands live longer than single men. For wives, the calculation is more complex.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?