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December 24, 2024
 

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Motoko Rich
Japan has been trying to boost its fertility rate for 30 years and now the rest of the rich world is, too.
WORLD / Society
Oct 14, 2024
Can the government get people to have more babies?
The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to the lowest level since the government started collecting statistics in 1899.
Ngun Nei Par, the general manager at Ginshotei Awashima in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, graduated from a university in Myanmar with a degree in geography.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 6, 2024
Japan needs foreign workers, but it might not want them to stay long
Japanese politicians remain reluctant to create pathways for foreign workers, especially those in low-skill jobs, to stay indefinitely.
Sony employees simulate the physical sensations of pregnancy at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo in February. The simple power of numbers can begin to remake workplace cultures, but many Japanese women still struggle to balance their careers with domestic obligations.
JAPAN / Society
May 8, 2024
It took decades, but Japan’s working women are making progress
Employers have taken steps to change a male-dominated workplace culture. But women still struggle to balance their careers with domestic obligations.
Cars and homes destroyed by a Russian missile that fell between a residential building and a public preschool in Kyiv on Dec. 13, 2023. In January, the White House said it had evidence that North Korea had provided ballistic missiles used by Russia.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2024
A Russian bank account may offer clues to North Korean arms deal
Russia has allowed the release of $9 million in frozen North Korean assets from a Russian financial institution, according to intelligence officials.
Alpha Tauri's Yuki Tsunoda is the first Japanese driver in Formula One since 2014.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 30, 2023
Foul-mouthed Yuki Tsunoda becoming cult star in Formula One
Tsunoda's foul mouth and devil-may-care attitude have inspired a cult following and an international appeal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 22, 2023
As Rahm Emanuel pushes Japan on gay rights, conservatives bristle
The U.S. ambassador has enthusiastically embraced his host country. But critics say he has overstepped diplomatic bounds with his advocacy on equality.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 18, 2023
The religious right’s hidden sway as Japan trails allies on gay rights
As a G7 summit nears in Hiroshima, Japan is under pressure to show greater support for equality. A national Shinto group has spread a more hostile message.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 22, 2023
A Japanese island where the wild things are
From badgering nuisances to downright evil forces, yōkai fill some of the most colorful corners of Japanese folklore. These artists are dreaming up even more.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2023
As Asian societies age, ‘retirement’ just means more work
Across East Asia, populations are graying faster than anywhere else in the world, and while younger generations shrink, older workers are often toiling well into their 70s and beyond.
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 28, 2022
Beauty over brains: Japan’s skin-deep university pageants
The contests perpetuate a culture that often places women in rigid gender roles, and have seen some contestants face abuse and harassment from organizers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2022
Japan’s secret to taming the coronavirus: peer pressure
The country has never mandated masks or vaccinations, but it's evaded the worst of COVID-19, thanks to a fear of public shaming and the “self restraint police.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2022
Filmmaker Chie Hayakawa imagines a Japan where the elderly volunteer to die
The premise for Chie Hayakawa's film, “Plan 75,” is shocking: a government push to euthanize the elderly. In a rapidly aging society, some also wonder: Is the movie prescient?
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 19, 2022
Katsumoto Saotome, who preserved memories of Tokyo firebombing, dies at 90
He compiled six books of survivors' recollections of the 1945 attack. He also founded — without government support — a memorial museum.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 5, 2022
Japan says it needs nuclear power. Can host towns ever trust it again?
The decision to restart plants is fraught with emotions, not to mention the gargantuan technical task of fortifying the stations against future disasters in an earthquake-prone nation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2021
A new source of fuel in an aging Japan: adult incontinence
Waste from adult diapers is growing by tens of thousands of tons a year in Japan. One town may have a solution: recycle it into fuel pellets.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 30, 2021
Japan faces big problems. Its next leader offers few bold solutions.
The country's governing party, with a stranglehold on power, bucked the wishes of the public to select a moderate mainstay.
Japan Times
PARALYMPICS
Sep 6, 2021
Taekwondo's Paralympic debut showed the sport's democratizing effect
The sport does not require expensive equipment or large training facilities, and even saw the participation of one of Afghanistan's two Paralympians.
Japan Times
PARALYMPICS
Sep 4, 2021
Disabled Japanese are often invisible. Will Paralympics bring lasting light?
Tokyo improved its infrastructure before the Games, but activists wonder how long the focus will continue in a country with a long history of excluding people with disabilities.
Japan Times
PARALYMPICS
Aug 31, 2021
How two Afghan Paralympians defied the odds to get from Kabul to Tokyo
Their evacuation and eventual arrival in Japan involved multiple stops and many helping hands.
Japan Times
PARALYMPICS
Aug 26, 2021
Freedom to swim: Afghan refugee competes in Tokyo Paralympics
Eight years after Abbas Karimi escaped Afghanistan, he led the parade of nations into the stadium at the Paralympics' opening ceremony on Tuesday night.
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.
Okinawa people stage rally against sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen
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.
Zelenskyy to replace Ukraine ambassador to Japan
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky delivers a speech during a handover ceremony of Self-Defense Force vehicles to Ukraine, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, in May last year.
Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?
Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
A brief history of ‘osechi ryōri,' Japan's edible tradition for the new year
Japan's traditional New Year cuisine has a long history, though modern developments have led to slight changes in the way things work.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?
Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
North Korea aiding Russia where it needs it most, Canadian general says
North Korean special forces soldiers march and shout slogans during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang in April 2017.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
By Kathryn Wortley

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