Commentary / Japan Jul 25, 2019
The real policy challenges facing Japan
by Haruaki Deguchi
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must place priority on resolving several major policy challenges confronting Japan before he tries to revise the Constitution.
National Jul 10, 2019
Japan's population continues to slide even as foreign resident numbers increase
The number of Japanese citizens living in the country as of Jan. 1 fell by 433,239, or 0.35 percent, from a year before to 124,776,364, down for the 10th straight year, the government said Wednesday. The decline was the largest ever both in terms of ...
Business / Economy Jun 22, 2019
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved Friday a suite of labor reforms designed to solve Japan's demographic challenges while creating conditions to promote job growth, particularly for those struggling to find stable work. Under the annual economic policy blueprint, the government wants to ...
Commentary / Japan Jun 18, 2019
The fate of Japan, and everyone else
by Robert Samuelson
The world's third largest economy is slowly going out of business; its population is shrinking and it resists immigration.
National / Social Issues Jun 18, 2019
Japan has world's lowest proportion of working-age people, U.N. report says
While the ratio is falling worldwide, Japan stands out with just 1.8 people aged 25 to 64 for each person aged 65 or over.
Editorials Jun 11, 2019
Efforts must be maintained to create an environment in which people can marry and start families earlier in their lives.
National Jun 7, 2019
Number of newborns in Japan fell to record low while population dropped faster than ever in 2018
The rapidly aging country posted the largest margin of decrease in its population at 444,085 since comparable data became available in 1899.
National / Politics May 30, 2019
by Tomohiro Osaki
The comments have placed Yoshitaka Sakurada back into the spotlight after he was effectively forced out of his post as the Olympics minister last month.
National / Social Issues May 23, 2019
Japan to stop labeling people unmarried at 50 as 'lifelong singles'
The government will no longer use the term "lifelong singles" as a label for people who have not married by age 50, deeming the term inaccurate as people are increasingly tying the knot later in life, officials said Thursday. The label has been used in ...
National / Social Issues May 23, 2019
Job seekers in their 70s could become Japan's new normal
by Isabel Reynolds and Emi Nobuhiro
At the age of 75, Mikiko Kuzuno found herself recently laid off and applying for a job at a factory near Tokyo. She insisted on making the application in person. "I asked them to please take a look at me," she said. "I wanted to ...
National May 10, 2019
Japan enacts legislation making preschool education free in effort to boost low fertility rate
The ¥776 billion program makes preschool free for all kids between 3 and 5, and day care free for those 2 and below in low-income households.
National Apr 26, 2019
Number of abandoned homes in Japan edges up to record high of nearly 8.5 million
Empty homes now account for 13.6 percent of Japan’s housing stock, with the bulk of them concentrated in Yamanashi and Wakayama prefectures, government data show.