Tag - womens-issues

 
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April 01, 2025
 

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WOMEN'S ISSUES

Associate professor Soko Aoki (right) and her sociology students at Tohoku University have helped compile documents in the recently published “50th Year of Menstrual Products” book.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Mar 31, 2025
Menstruation and gender equality: Student movement revisited 50 years on
As "period poverty" has become a social issue, former members of the group have self-published a reference book about their activities.
A female soccer player controls a ball during a training session at the Golab Trust Sport Complex in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 10, 2014. Many women's soccer players have since fled the country after fear of persecution when the Taliban retook control of the Afghan government in 2021.
SOCCER
Mar 26, 2025
Afghan women players call for global support as they seek FIFA recognition
Many players from the Afghanistan women's team fled the country for fear of persecution when the Taliban took control of the Afghan government.
A shopkeeper displays women's wigs at his shop in Kabul on March 13. Until the Taliban took power, Afghan women could freely sell their hair to be made into wigs, bringing in crucial cash. But last year Taliban authorities imposed vice and virtue laws regulating everyday life for men and women, including banning sales of "any part of the human body" such as hair.
WORLD / Society
Mar 25, 2025
Afghan women risk Taliban wrath over hair trade
A ban imposed last year has forced women to brave punishment by covertly trading hair for crucial cash.
Former Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa says women should collaborate with one another more to boost growth and creativity.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2025
Osaka Expo to highlight women's empowerment
The Women's Pavilion, which French luxury brand Cartier and the Cabinet Office will operate, will showcase female social advancement in Japan.
Midwife Tabita dos Santos Moraes prepares cassava flour in Tefe in Brazil's Amazonas state last October. Tabita's great-grandmother taught midwifery to her aunts, who taught her mother, who taught her, starting at the age of 15.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 21, 2025
In the remote Amazon, midwives care for women stranded by drought
Years of extreme droughts in the Amazon rainforest have made river journeys to and from remote communities perilous.
Natsue Kondo (left) assumes the post of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's vice admiral commanding the MSDF's Ominato District, based in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, in December 2023.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2025
Natsue Kondo: The female vice admiral who broke the glass ceiling at Japan's SDF
The MSDF vice admiral remains the only female SDF officer holding any of the top ranks.
A maternal handbook used by Heba Jibril in northern Gaza
JAPAN / Society
Mar 21, 2025
In Gaza, Japan-backed maternal handbooks a vital source for child care
The health handbooks provide crucial information for women at a time when medical facilities are closed and digital information is scarce.
The Saitama Prefectural Police will trial polo shirt-type uniforms with high breathability from May to help officers bear the scorching heat in summer.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2025
Police in Japan to abolish skirts in uniforms in April
The move reflects the fact that a vast majority of female police officers already opt to wear pants.
Newly-elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry during her first news conference in Costa Navarino, Greece, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Mar 21, 2025
Kirsty Coventry enjoys 'extraordinary moment' as she becomes IOC's first female leader
The 41-year-old from Zimbabwe is also the youngest person to hold the most powerful position in sports governance.
Women's March Tokyo, a demonstration march against sexual violence and discrimination against women, is held on International Women's Day in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on March 8.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025
Women remain underrepresented in Japan's news industry
Correcting the gender gap is an urgent issue in the industry, with such a change expected to bring women's perspectives to newsrooms.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump's attack on DEI is making waves at international companies in Europe, Asia and beyond — but quietly, many businesses are standing firm on diversity initiatives.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2025
Trump has companies in Europe and Asia walking a DEI tightrope
Outside of the United States, many businesses are quietly standing firm on diversity initiatives.
There seems to be a preference for similarly educated and similarly earning spouses in modern marriages, reflecting a trend that prioritizes parity over "marrying up."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2025
What really changed the marriage market
The internet connects us with so many potential mates that our puny human brains can’t handle it.
Members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel discuss proposals about allowing spouses to retain their respective surnames, in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2025
Eternal debate over surname law comes to fore again
Since last October’s general election, momentum has picked up for a legislative change to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda addresses a rally calling for the introduction of a system allowing married couples to choose whether to use the same or different family names on Feb. 26 at parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Some 44% of Japanese lawmakers back selective dual surname system
The figure far outstrips the 1% who said that the country should maintain its current same surname system.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with parliamentary vice ministers at the Prime Minister's Office in November. The share of women among Japan's lawmakers was 15.7% as of last December.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025
Japan's share of female lawmakers lowest among G7 members
While the global average was 27.2%, the figure in Japan stood at 15.7% as of last December.
Ai Narabayashi, a member of the editorial department of Iwanami Shoten, the publisher of dictionary "Kojien," speaks during an interview in Tokyo in February. Narabayashi said the dictionary has the duty to record the Japanese language without hiding anything and accurately explain the meaning behind words and phrases.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 7, 2025
Why an iconic Japanese dictionary chooses to retain misogynistic words
Publisher Iwanami Shoten considers it a duty for its "Kojien" dictionary to record and accurately explain the meaning and background of words and phrases.
The illuminated advertising board of a host club in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district. The bill approved by the government on Friday aims to ban hosts from emotionally manipulating customers into making excessive purchases — a common tactic in the industry.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025
Japan looks to crack down on host club exploitation with tighter regulations
Police received 2,776 consultations nationwide related to host clubs last year, with many involving women coerced into sex work to cover unpaid bills.
Obstetrician and gynecologist Song Mihyon
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2025
Doctor urges awareness of a birth control pill covered by health insurance
“I think doctors need to tell their patients that a birth control pill covered by health insurance exists,” Song Mihyon said.
Globally, women are severely underrepresented among leading roles in cinema, with female directors accounting for just over 10% of the industry in Japan. Achieving gender equality on-set would have far-reaching consequences for the whole of society.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2025
Without women behind the camera, equality stays out of the frame
Cinema isn't only about what stories are told, but who tells them. Overcoming severe underrepresentation, women are reshaping the film industry and cultural narratives.
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
Alert raised for volcano in southwestern Japan
Shinmoedake, a volcano located between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in November 2019
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.
Who among the opposition would join the ruling coalition?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Friday.
Traveling the Three-Star Road, the tourist route made from thin air
Scenes like this snow-covered bridge leading to the village of Shirakawa-go are what make the Three-Star Road worth traveling — its name notwithstanding.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.

Podcast

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

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