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April 23, 2025
 

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FAMILY PLANNING

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.
Clinic director Oleksandr Feskov poses for a photo in one of the operating rooms at the Feskov clinic in Kharkiv on Feb. 17. Many more Ukrainian civilians are freezing their sperm and eggs — procedures that were rare before the war — with demand rising every time the war takes a turn for the worse.
WORLD / Society
Mar 6, 2025
Ukrainians waiting for peace before having children
New legislation means that Ukrainian soldiers can freeze their sperm for free, and many clinics are already offering the service.
The number of newborns in 2024 fell 5% from the previous year to 720,988, extending a nine-year streak of declines, according to preliminary population data released Thursday by the health ministry.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2025
Japan records fewest births on record, deepening demographic crisis
The number of newborns in 2024 fell 5% from the previous year to 720,988, extending a nine-year streak of declines.
Girls take care of their baby brother before leaving for school in Seoul. South Korea just recorded its first rise in fertility rates in nearly a decade.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 26, 2025
South Korea's policy push springs to life as world's lowest birth rate rises
That shift in societal norms could prove pivotal in a country that has seen its birth rate plummet to the lowest in the world.
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.
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.
A subsidy for epidural childbirths was one of Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's campaign promises when she ran for her position last year.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025
Tokyo looks to ease the pain — both physical and financial — of childbirth
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is looking to begin offering a subsidy for epidural childbirths in fiscal 2025.
Blogger and marketer Alina Rzhanova, 33, adjusts clothes of her 8-month-old son, Igor, during an interview in their apartment in the city of Yaroslavl, Russia, on Oct. 3.
WORLD / Society
Nov 13, 2024
Russia bans 'child-free propaganda' to try to boost birth rate
Official data released in September in Russia put the birth rate at its lowest in a quarter of a century while mortality rates are up as Moscow's war in Ukraine rages on.
A parent pushes a baby stroller in Shanghai on April 2, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 6, 2024
China's latest cry for more babies may fall on deaf ears
Events aimed at encouraging couples to marry and have babies were criticized for being regressive, disparaging toward women, and reinforcing gender roles.
Interest has grown worldwide in the genetic testing of embryos for couples trying to conceive through IVF.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 17, 2024
Testing for desirable embryos inconsistent and unreliable, new study says
In recent years, interest has grown worldwide in the genetic testing of embryos among couples trying to conceive through IVF.
A woman holds a banner during a demonstration in support of surrogate motherhood in Rome on April 5. The banner reads: "We are families not crimes."
WORLD / Society
Oct 17, 2024
Italy extends ban on surrogacy to couples who seek arrangements abroad
The highly divisive bill makes Italians who seek surrogacy in other countries liable for prosecution on their return home.
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.
People shop at a flea market hosted by Bunjang, an e-commerce platform for secondhand sales, in Seoul on Aug. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 28, 2024
South Korea's birth rate drive struggles to sway 'YOLO' generation
Asia's fourth-largest economy plans to launch a new government ministry dedicated to demographic challenges.
Hungary, which has increased its birth rate since 2010, has adopted policies that support those who want or have children, including financial incentives, housing subsidies and better work-life balance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2024
Why do young people in Hungary want kids more than in Japan?
Marriage and birth rates are plummeting in Japan, while many young people in Hungary want families thanks to measures that support their choices in life and at work.
A medical technician selects eggs for an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure Paris in 2019.
WORLD / Society
Jul 25, 2024
IVF mistakes are opening a new front in the fight over reproductive rights
The $40 billion U.S. industry is expected to triple in size over the next decade as more people delay having babies until later in life.
Nikon's new microscope specialized for intracytoplasmic sperm injection, a fertility treatment
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 3, 2024
Nikon develops microscope for fertility treatment
The product reduces the number of operational steps involved in intracytoplasmic sperm injection by about 75%.
The total fertility rate dropped to 1.5 children per woman in 2022 from 3.3 in 1960 on average across OECD countries, a report from the organization has said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 21, 2024
Birth rates halve in richer nations as costs weigh, OECD report says
Many in OECD member countries are now choosing to have children later in life or not at all, the report said.
Renho (left) and incumbent Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike are both pushing for child care policies in their campaign pledges for the Tokyo gubernatorial election next month.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 18, 2024
Koike and Renho take aim at Tokyo's declining birth rate
In unveiling their campaign manifestos, both gubernatorial contenders have pledged to bolster child-rearing policies.
Tomomi Bitoh, 33, Japan's top ultrarunner, stretches as she takes part in a workout session around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 6, 2024
As Japan's birth rate drops, runner freezes her eggs to sustain motherhood dream
Last year Tokyo authorities started offering subsidies of up to ¥300,000 ($1,900) for women aged between 18 and 39 to have their eggs frozen for future pregnancies.
Japan’s birth rate has been in decline for decades as more women choose to get married and start a family later in life.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2024
Japan’s birth rate hit new low in 2023
The latest figure of 1.20 is 0.06 point down from the previous year in 2022 and the lowest since the government started keeping records in 1947.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan buys first South Korean rice in over two decades as prices surge
Bags of rice at a warehouse in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Japan imported South Korean rice for the first time since 1999 this month amid soaring domestic prices for the staple grain.
Nvidia CEO lobbies Japan to generate more power to fuel AI
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang answers questions from reporters after his meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Monday.
Nvidia CEO urges LDP to build up Japan’s AI infrastructure
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives a gift from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the start of their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
Yen on the march as Plaza Accord 2.0 debate grows
The yen strengthened dramatically this month — hitting ¥139.9 to the dollar on Tuesday — and could become a topic of conversation in trade talks between the United States and Japan.
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
The floor is art: Takuro Tamayama transforms mundanity
Takuro Tamayama’s sculpture “Models (Pair, 6 sets, 12 rings)” comes with a mathematical formation that scales it for different spaces.
Nothing sells like Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s marketing megastar
People walk past an advertisement featuring Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani outside Tokyo Dome on March 18.
Calling all Potterheads: ‘The Goblet of Fire’ comes to Tokyo
The Tokyo version of the globe-trotting exhibition features a Ministry of Magic set, which includes an imposing replica of the Magic Is Might monument representing magical fascism.
Tokyo stock picker advises Trump-proofing portfolios with Godzilla creator Toho
The head of Godzilla, a Japanese monster movie character, is seen on a building of Toho Cinema in Tokyo. Toho is one tariff-defensive stock being recommended by brokers.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Longform

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By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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