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March 01, 2025
 

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WELFARE

Atsuko Sato holds her shiba inu, Neiro, alongside the bronze statue of her shiba inu Kabosu, in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025
Shiba inu Kabosu continues to be loved after death
Atsuko Sato received many letters from Kabosu fans across Japan on the dog's birthday last November, six months after her death.
Dewi Sukarno (center) at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 14, 2025
Celebrity Dewi Sukarno launches political group for animal rights
The 12 Heiwa To party, whose name is a play on "wan-nyan" (bow-meow), will focus on animal protection as its main policy.
Tsuneo Yamaguchi, head of the Nihon Dobutsu Kaigo Center (right), takes in a border collie that was affected by the disaster in the Ishikawa town of Uchinada, from its owner.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2025
Nonprofit continues to care for pets displaced by Noto earthquake
One owner left their dog at the center after being unable to find an evacuation center that would accommodate pets.
Whips, cages and other items that were seized from Hiroshi Tsuji, who has been rearrested on suspicion of violating the animal welfare law, by the Metropolitan Police Department are displayed in the city of Tachikawa, Tokyo, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 7, 2025
Kawasaki taxi driver rearrested on suspicion of killing pigeon
It is believed Hiroshi Tsuji initially gave the bird food and water but began abusing it when it showed no affection in return.
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 / Society / Longform
Feb 3, 2025
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?
They're no substitute for policy, but by providing food and belonging, these safe spaces are filling in the cracks of the nation's fraying communities.
On Hiroshima Prefecture's Okunoshima island where more than 1,000 rabbits roam freely, 77 carcasses of the animal have been discovered since late November.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025
On Japan's 'rabbit island,' bunnies are mysteriously dying one by one
Police have arrested a man for kicking a rabbit, which later died, as a probe continues over the deaths of more than 70 bunnies on Okunoshima island in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Runaway youths have recently been gathering in areas such as the Toyoko area of the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, where they often get into trouble.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2025
Japan to allow youths to stay at shelters without parental consent
Those under the age of 18 will be able to use shelters even if obtaining prior consent from those with parental authority is expected to be difficult.
Tomoko Yamashita, head of the NPO that runs Park. Youth & Books & Design, says she wants to make the facility a place where older teens can feel secure.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Dec 23, 2024
New facility offers truant high school students a place to feel at home
Himitsukichi, a nonprofit group, has renovated an old, vacant house to turn it into a site for older teens.
Children eat at a <i>kodomo shokudo</i> in the city of Osaka. The number of such cafeterias, which provide free or low-cost meals to children in need, has surpassed 10,000 nationwide.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 13, 2024
Number of cafeterias for children in need hits record high in Japan
There are now more kodomo shokudo, which offer free or low-cost meals, than elementary and junior high schools.
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.
Masayo Ishimaru, the head of volunteer group Tanpopo no Sato, cuddles cats rescued from a pet hoarder, in the city of Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, in September.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 4, 2024
Local governments tighten rules on pet ownership as hoarding persists
Municipalities are introducing mandatory reporting requirements for owners of large numbers of pets as well as fines for non-compliance.
Mika Abe (right) opened a restaurant committed to animal welfare in Sendai in November.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Dec 2, 2024
Restaurant committed to animal welfare opens in Sendai
Muku offers dishes including grilled pork from pasture-raised pigs and poached eggs from cage-free chickens, served as part of a salad bowl.
If the economic situation remains the same as in the past 30 years, the financially fragile basic pensions are projected to continue decreasing until fiscal 2057, with the basic pensions for people aged 65 expected to be 30% lower than the current amount.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 26, 2024
Japan's government proposes raising future basic pensions by 30%
The biggest obstacle will be whether Japan can secure stable financial resources for the measure.
Violin, a day care center for the elderly, is housed in a building that used be an office of the Kudokai crime syndicate in the city of Kitakyushu. It retains the original look of the Kudokai facility, with its thick steel-plated front door, glittering chandelier and marble floor.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Oct 28, 2024
Former yakuza office repurposed to become elderly care facility
The building that houses Violin, a day care center for the elderly, was once one of the main facilities for the Kudokai syndicate.
Protesters take part in a demonstration in support of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson in Paris on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 25, 2024
Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson requests French nationality
France is pushing for Watson's release from a Greenland jail where he is being held pending possible extradition to Japan.
Participants in a protest call for the release of Paul Watson, founder of anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, in Paris on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 24, 2024
Protesters in Paris demand release of Sea Shepherd founder
Japan has placed founder Paul Watson on an international wanted list on suspicion of obstructing the country's research whaling, demanding his extradition.
A man who works for a restaurant consults a social welfare council official in Tokyo about COVID-19 relief loans in June 2020.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2024
Welfare councils loaned ¥1.4 billion in COVID relief to ineligible borrowers
Individuals who were receiving welfare support were ineligible for the loans because they are already guaranteed a minimum standard of living.
Men called seko watch bulls fight during the ushi no tsunotsuki event in the Yamakoshi district of Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 13.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 23, 2024
Bullfights continue as symbol of reconstruction after Niigata quake
The former village was devastated by a quake that struck the region in October 2004, killing 68 people and injuring 4,805 others.
Political parties are highlighting measures to reform the health care system for the elderly and the public pension system as the population ages.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2024
Parties highlight measures for working generation
The country's health care and public pension systems are being discussed ahead of the upcoming general election.
With projections indicating a population drop in Japan from around 125 million to 63 million by 2100, traditional solutions like immigration and labor reforms are unlikely to be effective in time.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2024
Japan should master, not resist, its demographic destiny
Japan needs a strategic reorientation toward accepting and mastering its demographic changes rather than resisting them.
Standoff in the skies: Witnessing an unsafe intercept over the South China Sea
A Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy helicopter is seen from aboard a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft in the skies above Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Feb. 18.
Six-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA great Diana Taurasi retires
Diana Taurasi celebrates after winning her sixth Olympic gold medal with Team USA at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 11, 2024,
Itochu drops Seven & I buyout, putting Couche-Tard back in limelight
Itochu dropping its Seven & I Holdings buyout plan would place Alimentation Couche-Tard’s offer back in the limelight.
Prince Hisahito's coming-of-age ceremony set for Sept. 6
Prince Hisahito in the city of Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, on Feb. 12
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, according to preliminary population data released Thursday by the health ministry.
Nils Nielsen's vision for Nadeshiko Japan comes to life at SheBelieves Cup
Nadeshiko Japan celebrates after winning the SheBelieves Cup in San Diego on Wednesday.
Famed artist Takashi Murakami partners with MLB for Tokyo Series
A model wears items that are part of Takashi Murakami's collaboration with MLB.
Oscar-nominated documentaries put Japan under the microscope
Journalist and filmmaker Shiori Ito made the documentary “Black Box Diaries” about her years-long battle to find justice following her sexual assault.
Jose Ando's rapid rise from first pages to the Akutagawa Prize
Jose Ando purposefully wrote his Akutagawa Prize-winning novel “Dtopia” to be accessible to an audience beyond Japan and to spark conversations about race, gender and the effects of modern entertainment.
Standoff in the skies: Witnessing an unsafe intercept over the South China Sea
A Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy helicopter is seen from aboard a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft in the skies above Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Feb. 18.

Podcast

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

Longform

The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.
The high cost of letting Japan's condos crumble
By Tomoko Otake

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