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February 05, 2025
 

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SOCIAL

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a news conference following their meeting in Moscow in July. Both of their countries have pro-government "fact-checking" websites.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 12, 2024
Rise in pro-government 'fact checking' sparks concern in Europe
Fresh initiatives are presenting themselves as genuine fact-checking outfits while pushing their own agenda.
X owner Elon Musk and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attend a viewing of the launch of a SpaceX test flight on Nov. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 10, 2024
Trump is on collision course with EU over big tech crackdown
In the coming months, several U.S. tech companies could face billions in fines or even mandatory divestment orders from EU investigations.
Students from Yamagata Prefectural Kamo Fisheries High School experience simulated pelagic tuna fishing using VR headsets in August.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2024
VR used to stir young people's interest in fishing industry
VR headsets allow users to see how workers catch tuna and do other work with a 360-degree view from aboard a ship.
A TikTok creator and advocate wears a button showing support outside of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 16 in Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 9, 2024
‘It’s for real this time’: TikTok creators react to potential ban
Many of TikTok’s users seemed to have only just begun to grasp that the app could be on its last legs in this country.
The government's pension reform plan under consideration will make it easier for part-timers to join the kosei nenkin employee pension program.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 8, 2024
Japan to scrap ¥1.06 million employee pension threshold in 2026
The government also plans to abolish a requirement that companies must have at least 51 employees for employees to join the kosei nenkin program.
The decision significantly raises the prospects of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks on a social media app used by 170 million Americans.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 7, 2024
U.S. appeals court upholds TikTok law forcing its sale
The decision is a major win for the Justice Department and opponents of the Chinese-owned app and a devastating blow to TikTok parent ByteDance.
A Lower House plenary session in Tokyo on Monday. The Liberal Democratic Party will hold a meeting on Dec. 20 to discuss the use of social media in election campaigns.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2024
LDP to hold meeting on social media use in election campaigns
The meeting on Dec. 20 comes ahead of major polls next year in which the party aims to win new supporters online and take measures to counter disinformation.
Ten people are suspected of forcibly entering a club in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Dec. 17 last year and assaulting a male security guard.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2024
Alleged operator of anonymous X account arrested over club assault
Z-Ri, a pun on the name of the kung-fu actor Jet Li, is an influential account that posts about the inner workings of Japan's underworld.
Yoshiki Taniguchi (right), mayor of Aioi, Hyogo Prefecture, apologizes to Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito ahead of a meeting between prefectural government officials and leaders of municipalities in the prefecture held in Kobe on Nov. 26. Taniguchi publicly questioned whether Saito had the credentials to become governor before his election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2024
'Old' media blames 'new' media for success of 'populist' candidates
Many young voters, especially those in their 20s, are believed to have supported Hyogo Gov. Saito due to his social media outreach.
Kiyotaka Sato, the suspect, enters the Koganei Police Station in Koganei City, Tokyo, on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 3, 2024
Two indicted men rearrested on fresh Kokubunji robbery charges
The suspects had already been arrested and indicted for committing a house burglary and hurting a resident in Saitama Prefecture.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito greets supporters upon his arrival at the Hyogo Prefectural Government office in Kobe on Nov. 19.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 2, 2024
Lawsuit filed over Hyogo governor's alleged election law violation
A lawyer for Saito said that the president of a public relations company had engaged in activities as a volunteer, other than five items including making posters.
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2024
Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms
“Futehodo” — a nickname for a TV drama that depicts the generational gap between the Showa and Reiwa eras — has been crowned the most trending word of 2024.
Political funds reports have shown that Japanese political parties and other lawmakers were keen to utilize social media and the internet for their political activities last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2024
Social media use rising among politicians: funds reports
Political parties see smartphones and online messaging as a vital way of reaching voters and affecting their voting behavior.
In an interview in Tokyo with the BBC that was published on Thursday, Fast Retailing CEO Tadashi Yanai said the company does not source cotton from China's Xinjiang region.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024
Uniqlo criticized in China after CEO says retailer does not use Xinjiang cotton
Tadashi Yanai, the CEO of Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing, said it does not source cotton from the region, which has faced allegations of forced labor.
Students look at their phones in Melbourne on Thursday as Australia looks to ban children under 16 from social media.
WORLD
Nov 29, 2024
What countries do to regulate children's social media access
Here is what Australia, European countries, and tech companies have been doing to regulate children's access to social media.
From late 2025, platforms including Meta's Instagram, Elon Musk's X, TikTok and Snapchat must show Australians they are taking reasonable steps to keep out users under 16 or face fines up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32 million).
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal / ANALYSIS
Nov 29, 2024
Australia looks for ways to enforce its teen social media ban
From late 2025, social media platforms including Instagram, X, TikTok and Snapchat must show Australians they are taking reasonable steps to keep out users under 16.
The Social Media Minimum Age bill sets Australia up as a test case for a growing number of governments which have legislated or said they plan to legislate an age restriction on social media amid concern about its mental health impact on young people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 29, 2024
Australia passes social media ban for children under 16
The law forces tech giants to prevent minors from logging in or face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars.
According to a recent survey by Child Fund Japan, a nonprofit, one in eight minors in Japan have experienced online requests from strangers to meet or for sexual photos. Despite the potential harms of social media, strong regulations are lacking.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2024
Japan doesn't need a social media ban, but it must protect children
Short of stopping minors from using social media, Japan needs to beef up its response to an evermore perilous online environment. One that adults often struggle to grasp.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2024
Musk pushes his preferred political picks via X. Trump isn't always swayed.
Several high-profile cases show some early limits to the billionaire's influence even as he has emerged as one of the president-elect's most powerful allies.
A Facebook "military interest" page that misrepresented old photos and videos of army operations to falsely claim that Washington was helping its ally Manila prepare for war.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2024
Philippines-China tensions trigger money-making disinformation
Clashes between the two countries in the South China Sea are being manipulated online by disinformation networks for profit, an analysis has found.
Crashed U.S. Army Black Hawk unit was responsible for doomsday readiness
A U.S. Coast Guard vessel attempts to retrieve the remains of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Friday after it crashed into the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport earlier in the week.
Why it's taking so long to reach the driver trapped in a Saitama sinkhole
Construction workers near a sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, on Monday
Record-breaking snowfall hits Hokkaido as cold front sweeps Japan
Snow-covered streets in Obihiro, Hokkaido, on Tuesday
Job-hopping Japanese workers push salaries higher
Japanese workers are increasingly job-hopping from one full-time position to another.
Tokyo police arrest brothel operator catering to foreign tourists
English-language signs and other materials seized from men’s aesthetic salon Sparaku by the Metropolitan Police Department on Tuesday in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
Fuji Media’s crisis entices investors betting on changes
While Fuji Media Holdings is known for its iconic sphere-and-lattice headquarters in the Odaiba district near Tokyo Bay, it also owns office buildings, condominiums, hotels, nursing homes, logistic facilities, resorts and even two aquariums.
Job-hopping Japanese workers push salaries higher
Japanese workers are increasingly job-hopping from one full-time position to another.
At the new Ginza Sony Park, listening is an art form
In addition to the commercial benefits from Ginza Sony Park's music-centered exhibition — such as promoting Sony's artists and products — there is a real effort to put music in focus.
Home away from home: My first time at a Tet festival in Japan
Billed as a “cultural bridge that connects Japan and Vietnam,” Tet Viet Saitama drew tens of thousands of attendees from across the Kanto region.
First official survey set to change backcountry Hokkaido skiing
The first official government survey of Hokkaido backcountry skiing could spell changes for trails in the northern prefecture.

Podcast

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

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?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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