Editorials May 9, 2018
Sufficient steps should be taken to avoid any social confusion resulting from an amendment to lower the legal age of adulthood from 20 to 18.
Editorials Apr 29, 2018
With the population shrinking, markets are contracting. The government needs to decide how best to maintain competition between companies in such an environment.
National Apr 13, 2018
Japan's population shrinks for seventh consecutive year as it falls to 126.70 million
Japan's population fell for a seventh consecutive year in 2017, with people 65 or over accounting for a record 27.7 percent of the total, government data showed Friday. According to the World Health Organization, a country is considered an "aging society" when the proportion of ...
National Apr 12, 2018
The government is weighing the creation of a new residence status allowing those on the program to stay longer in the country, as part of efforts to tackle labor shortages.
Commentary / Japan Apr 12, 2018
Utilities can help save Japan's elderly
by Nathaniel Bullard and Miho Kurosaki
By monitoring utility use, companies can play a role in reversing the tragic trend of "lonely deaths."
Editorials Mar 31, 2018
The recent proposal by a panel of experts for more diverse forms of municipal assemblies seeks to address a grim challenge to sustaining democracy in Japan's rural areas.
Editorials Mar 30, 2018
The welcome development can be sustained through strong government support and guidance.
Commentary / Japan | SENTAKU MAGAZINE Jan 28, 2018
A new medical system threatens to deprive residents in rural communities of the opportunity to receive proper medical care.
National / Social Issues Jan 16, 2018
An increasing number of people in Japan are living alone, and a lot of them are men with flimsy ties to their community. Many are elderly and isolated, lacking any support, or are still in the working population but have delayed or shunned marriage only ...
Business Jan 12, 2018
Airbnb becoming rural income source from India to Japan
by Rina Chandran
Mobile apps that help women in the Indian countryside and tiny villages in Japan to open their homes to visitors from across the world are generating incomes, revitalizing remote communities and helping to curb migration to cities. A women's organization in the western Indian state ...
National / Social Issues Jan 9, 2018
Unclaimed remains accumulating in aging Japan
by Mizuho Aoki
The smell of mold wafted through the small underground room at a municipal-run cemetery in the city of Saitama in late November, where around 600 unclaimed urns filled the shelves. Pointing at the only vacant rack in the vault, Saitama official Satoru Shimizu said it ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Jan 8, 2018
Village in Nagano comes up with hunk calendar to help 12 bachelors find mates
Women hoping to find Mr. Right in 2018 should check for dates on the Otoko Goyomi (Men's Calendar) published by the village of Otari in Nagano Prefecture. The calendar showcases a dozen local bachelors who are looking for wives. Otari is promoting the charms of ...