Japan approved the sale of an abortion pill for the first time, a move many medical professionals and supporters see as a major milestone for reproductive and women’s rights in the socially conservative country, the Independent reported over the weekend. The health ministry said the medication...
Read full story →
Japan is running out of land to bury culled chickens, as the country experiences a record outbreak of avian flu that analysts say will put a strain on the supply of poultry and compound the global spike in the price of eggs, CNN reported Thursday. Japanese...
Read full story →
Japan’s Foreign Ministry ordered a popular social media personality and lawmaker to turn in his passport, a week after lawmakers ousted him from parliament for never showing up for work, Kyodo News reported Thursday. Last week, the upper house of the legislature voted to strip Yoshikazu...
Read full story →
Japan and South Korea pledged to improve military and economic ties after a Thursday summit as they aim to mend relations strained by long-running historical disputes in order to shore up a united front against North Korea and China, the Wall Street Journal reported. South Korean...
Read full story →
Police in the Aichi prefecture arrested three young people in connection with cases of sushi terrorism that have been rising in Japan and threatening the iconic conveyor belt sushi culture in the country, NBC News reported. The three youngsters, who are aged from 15 to 21,...
Read full story →
Japan is planning to raise the country’s age of consent from 13 years old to 16, as part of a major overhaul of sex crime legislation, Agence France-Presse reported. The country has currently the lowest age of consent among the Group of Seven industrialized nations, which...
Read full story →
A Japanese court acquitted three former Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) executives, who were charged with negligence in the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant meltdowns, the first criminal prosecution related to the incident that occurred more than a decade ago, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The three...
Read full story →
Japan and the United States are planning to strengthen their defense alliance and upgrade the US military’s posture in the country, moves aimed at countering China’s influence, CNN reported Thursday. Officials from both countries announced the plan during the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting on Wednesday,...
Read full story →
Japan introduced new monetary incentives this week to urge families to move out of Tokyo, a move aimed to address decades of demographic decline and economic migration to the capital, the Financial Times reported Monday. Officials said the government will offer families up to $7,600 per...
Read full story →
Japan is planning on increasing defense spending to two percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) over the next five years. That might not seem like a lot in relative terms but it would be double what the country now spends, Reuters noted. North Korea’s erratic,...
Read full story →
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered an investigation into the Unification Church this week amid a recent scandal over his ruling party’s links to the controversial religious group, the Guardian reported. The government’s probe followed a recent investigation which found that half of all lawmakers from...
Read full story →
Japan will implement measures to get rid of floppy disks and other old-fashioned technology after the country’s digital affairs minister “declared war” on obsolete devices to push the government into the digital age, Sky News reported. Minister Taro Kono said that existing regulations will be updated...
Read full story →
Japanese authorities are warning beachgoers to beware of an angry dolphin that is responsible for attacking at least six swimmers at three beaches in western Japan over the past month, the Guardian reported. Victim accounts from the attacks on three beaches in the Fukui Prefecture on...
Read full story →
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent a ritual offering to a controversial World War II shrine in the capital on Monday, a monument that has drawn criticism from Japan’s wartime victims, South Korea and China, the Guardian reported. The offering was made to Tokyo’s Yasukuni shrine...
Read full story →
On Friday, a gunman murdered former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, a towering figure in Japan. The seismic impact of that killing will linger for years to come, a Bloomberg opinion piece noted. This is a country where violence is so rare that most people can remember...
Read full story →
Japanese lawmakers passed a bill Monday that would make online insults punishable by prison terms and steep fines, legislation considered a major step in tackling cyberbullying in the country, Kyodo News reported. The new rules come two years after the death of Hana Kimura, a 22-year-old...
Read full story →
Japan is preparing to reopen to foreign tourists this month, even as Hollywood celebrities and South Korean entertainers have been able to enter the country amid strict border closures because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reported. Over the past weeks, foreign actors and K-pop...
Read full story →
The founder of one of the world’s most infamous terrorist groups in the 1970s walked free from a Japanese prison Saturday after serving a 20-year sentence, apologizing for the damage she and her group had inflicted on the innocent decades ago, Sky News reported. Fusako Shigenobu,...
Read full story →
Japanese lawmakers passed an economic security bill Wednesday aimed at protecting the country's supply chains and critical infrastructure from theft and cyberattacks amid growing tensions with China, Reuters reported. The legislation would allow the government to closely monitor Japanese companies working in sensitive sectors, including transport,...
Read full story →
Japan recently lowered its adult age, a move that human and women’s rights advocates fear could make it difficult to protect women under the age of 20, who have been coerced into appearing in pornographic movies, Japan’s Jiji Press reported. Earlier this month, Japanese lawmakers voted...
Read full story →