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Mizuho Aoki
Mizuho Aoki is a staff writer covering local news, including the current Tokyo gubernatorial race, education and aviation-related stories. She graduated from Hitotsubashi Universty with a degree in social science.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / EXPLAINER
Apr 18, 2016
Child welfare centers overworked but efforts afoot to ease the strain
Whenever a fatal child abuse case makes headlines, child consultation centers often come under fire for failing to take steps to prevent the death.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2016
Japan firms begin challenge of boosting women in the workplace
As Japan on Friday marked the 30th anniversary of a law to ban discrimination against women in the workplace, a new law went into effect forcing companies for the first time to create concrete plans and publicly document their efforts on the issue.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 16, 2016
Ehime high schools to require notice from students who want to attend political events
All public high schools in the prefecture decide en masse to require notice from students who intend to engage in political activity.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2016
Down but not out: Japan's anti-nuclear movement fights to regain momentum
Japan's once highly motivated anti-nuclear movement struggles to maintain momentum amid a government push toward plant restarts.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2016
Five years on, tests find no radioactive cesium in Fukushima meals
A consumers' organization in Fukushima finds no traces of radioactive cesium in meals produced by households in the prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / REVISITING 3/11
Mar 8, 2016
3/11 survivors fall between cracks of reconstruction system
On a chilly weekend morning last month, Yasukatsu Miura, 74, is bundled in a down jacket and wool beanie as he watches TV in his old two-story wooden house in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, cold air entering through gaps in the front door.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Mar 6, 2016
Tohoku returnee taps biz expertise to revive tsunami-stunned Ishinomaki neighborhood
Like many other coastal areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, when entrepreneur Takashi Tachibana, 46, first stepped into the remote Ogatsu district to help Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, it was chaos.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 26, 2016
Survey reveals money, health fears of single Japanese women in nonstaff jobs
Roughly one in three unmarried middle-aged women in nonstaff jobs have an annual income of less than ¥1.5 million, or about ¥4,100 a day, according to a study that underscores the problem of low pay in one of the world's most developed nations.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2016
Students from rural areas, poor families at academic disadvantage: OECD study
Students living in rural regions of Japan are more likely to underperform academically compared to their peers from urban areas, according to a new international report released Wednesday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2016
External radiation doses in Fukushima comparable to those of Europe: study
The external radiation exposure levels of high school students in Fukushima Prefecture are within the same range of those living in France, Poland and Belarus, a new study shows.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 8, 2016
Glass ceiling yet to be broken in Japan politics
Japan will this year mark 70 years since the nation saw women win Lower House seats for the first time in April 1946.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 29, 2016
New economy chief Ishihara vows to stick to Abenomics program
New economy and fiscal policy minister Nobuteru Ishihara vowed Friday to pour his utmost efforts into Abenomics and ease public anxiety over the economy after Akira Amari's sudden resignation.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 14, 2016
Panel calls for cuts in Lower House seats, reallocation of others to correct vote-value disparities
The reform would rectify gaps in the weight of votes between constituencies, and also cut the total number of seats to a postwar low of 465.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2016
Abe eyes using boosted tax revenue to cover food exemption shortfall
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated Wednesday that the higher tax revenues — which he attributed to Abenomics — may be used to cover a shortfall when food is exempted from the coming tax hike.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 6, 2016
Japan slams North Korean 'H-bomb' test
The government slammed North Korea on Wednesday after it apparently conducted another nuclear test, its fourth, which involved what Pyongyang described as a powerful hydrogen bomb.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 5, 2016
Suga rules out Taiwan talks, says Japan's 'comfort women' deal applies only to South Korea
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicates the government does not intend to launch new negotiations on the 'comfort women' issue with other countries after sealing a deal with South Korea.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
Jan 4, 2016
Isolation a real danger for men caring for an elderly relative
Like many people who care for elderly family members at home, Norio Watanabe, 51, struggled to deal with the physical and mental burdens of looking after his father, who had dementia.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 4, 2016
Abe to push for constitutional revision as ruling bloc seeks Upper House majority
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his long-held goal of amending the pacifist Constitution will be one of the key issues in the Upper House election this summer.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2015
Even if Abe camp prevails in next summer's poll, bid to revise Constitution no given
After taking Japan's helm for the second time in December 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has had three good years, leading his Liberal Democratic Party to victory in two consecutive national elections, getting highly unpopular laws enacted without dooming his Cabinet, and winning three more years as...
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2015
Japan drastically lowers its goal for female managers in government and private sector
The government abandons its aim of having women in 30 percent of management roles by 2020.

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