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September 18, 2025
 

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WOMEN'S ISSUES

Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzi (second right) celebrates with teammates during a One Day International cricket match between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Dec. 17.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Jan 7, 2025
England urged to boycott Afghanistan match by British politicians
Female participation in sport has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban's return to power in 2021.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed support for allowing for married couples to retain different surnames.　
JAPAN / Society
Jan 3, 2025
Japan's dual-surname option could see turning point in 2025
Support for allowing spouses to retain separate surnames is strong among the opposition, and even within the Liberal Democratic Party, which rules as a minority government.
Humaira Rafaqat, a senior traffic warden, teaches women how to ride a motorcycle while wearing an abaya, during a training session as part of the Women on Wheels program organized by the traffic police department in Lahore, Pakistan, on Oct. 1.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 31, 2024
Women on Wheels: How a driving school program empowers Pakistani women
The driving program for women has become increasingly popular as car prices have soared and motorcycles offer a cheaper alternative.
An advertisement in Tokyo's Kabukicho, Japan's largest red-light district. The country is home to a thriving adult entertainment industry and has recently seen a boom in sex tourism fueled by the weak yen and availability of red-light services.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024
From geisha to oshikatsu, toxic tropes fuel sex industry
It isn't only the foreign gaze that produces stereotypes of Japanese women as submissive and promiscuous. Local laws and cultural norms play just as important a role.
For the 20 Questions column this year, writers asked their interview subjects about everything from their lives in Japan to their thoughts on news topics.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 28, 2024
There were plenty of hot topics to opine on in 2024
We take a look back at some of the best answers that our interviewees gave for 20 Questions from throughout the year.
A member of the medical staff treats a woman with COVID-19 next to her four-day-old baby at a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, in November 2021.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 27, 2024
COVID pregnancies may have boosted autism risk, study shows
"There’s something really going on,” pediatric infectious diseases physician Karin Nielsen says. "We don’t want to alarm the world, but that’s what our data are showing.”
People walk past Jemaa el-Fnaa square, in Marrakesh, Morocco, on Oct. 22.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 26, 2024
Morocco presents new women's rights legislation
The proposals include raising the legal marriage age and expanding women's custody rights.
Sorane Sakihama, a 22-year-old college student, speaks at a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday protesting against sexual assaults by U.S. soldiers.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2024
Okinawa people stage rally against sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen
The Okinawan protesters adopted a resolution demanding apologies for sexual assault victims, compensation and a revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 19, 2024
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
After the daughter visited a Kabukicho host club for the first time five years ago, the outing spiraled into something much darker.
A vendor sells a box of cigarettes across rolls of barbed wire, separating Thailand and Myanmar, in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Aug. 18, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2024
Myanmar’s war has forced doctors and nurses into prostitution
The rise in prostitution is another blow to the status of women in Myanmar.
F1 Academy drivers Doriane Pin (left) Abbi Pulling (center) and Chole Chambers stand on the podium after a run at Miami International Autodrome on May 4. Chambers won the race.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Dec 16, 2024
Female driver Abbi Pulling says it will take time before next woman reaches F1
The number of girls coming into karting at the grassroots level is steadily increasing.
An Afghan midwife prepares a report in the nursery section at a private hospital in Kabul on Dec. 10.  The Taliban's supreme leader is reportedly behind a ban on women studying midwifery and nursing at training institutes across the country, already among the worst in the world for deaths in childbirth.
WORLD / Society
Dec 16, 2024
Afghan student nurses crushed as Taliban block last hopes of a job
Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from university and most jobs, and imposed tight restrictions on their lives.
Satoko Shisai
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Dec 15, 2024
Forging a career through digital transformation and mindset change
Backed by a strong belief in career ownership, Satoko Shisai built her own success at IBM Japan and Chugai.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says he will urge a stepped up debate on allowing the option of dual surnames for married couples.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 10, 2024
Ishiba vows to spur LDP debate on dual surname option
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he will urge a working group within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party "to increase the frequency and maturity of discussions."
A woman is arrested for soliciting prostitution near Okubo Park in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in October.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024
88 arrested for soliciting prostitution near Tokyo park so far this year
The arrests reflect ongoing challenges in curbing illegal activities in Shinjuku's Okubo Park area, which has been dubbed a “prostitution haven” on social media.
Naomi Watanabe, a comedian known for challenging gender and beauty norms in Japan's male-dominated comedy scene
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2024
BBC honors two Japanese in annual list of inspiring women
The theme this year was resilience, celebrating women who "are pushing for change and improving lives at community or global level."
Female company presidents are mostly found at small businesses in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 2, 2024
8.4% of Japanese companies led by women in 2024
Female presidents tend to be found at smaller companies, with 11.9% of companies with less than ¥50 million in annual sales having a female boss.
Brain adaptations during pregnancy may enhance efficiency rather than cause loss of function, similar to transformations seen during adolescence and menopause.
COMMENTARY
Nov 29, 2024
We’re finally starting to understand the pregnant brain
Brain adaptations during pregnancy may enhance efficiency rather than cause loss of function, similar to transformations seen during adolescence and menopause.
A business district in Tokyo in 2020
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2024
Share of female presidents at Japanese firms hits record 8.4%
The proportion of female presidents has been rising slowly but steadily since it stood at 4.5% in 1990, the oldest data available.
The health ministry's free "catch-up vaccination" program for the human papillomavirus will be extended to March 2025 for the initial dose of the vaccine.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 28, 2024
Deadline for ‘catch-up’ HPV vaccination program extended until March
The revised timeline allows eligible women to receive their first dose by the end of March 2025 and complete the remaining two within the following year.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Japan’s front-line researchers see bright path ahead for dementia treatment
A scientist looks at scans of grains at the Memory Centre at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6, 2023.
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
Tara Davis-Woodhall leaps to gold and finds redemption at world championships
Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates after winning the women's long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday night.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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