Scrub homes, denude trees to wash cesium fears away
Worried about radioactive fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant? Don’t wait for the government to help. Experts advise people who live in and near Fukushima Prefecture where they face...
View ArticleWhat’s at stake in upcoming Osaka mayoral poll?
Voters go to the polls Nov. 27 to elect a mayor for the city of Osaka and the prefectural governor. But it’s the former that is drawing the most attention, due to the candidacy of ex-Gov. Toru...
View ArticleTokyo’s intentions for Senkaku islets
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara’s plan to have the metropolitan government purchase the Senkaku Islands continued to cause ripples Wednesday, with both China and Taiwan quickly issuing statements...
View ArticleChinese smog bomb floats toward Japan
Smog in China has reached alarming levels as its rapid industrialization spews ever-more toxic particles into the air. Over the past month or so, the problem has become particularly acute, raising...
View ArticleTake care with ticks to avoid potentially fatal illness
The health ministry confirmed Tuesday that the tick-borne disease thrombocytopenia syndrome, or SFTS, was responsible for the death of an adult male in Hiroshima last summer, bringing the number of...
View ArticleHow signs of a ‘lost continent’ came into JAMSTEC’s underwater view
The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the Brazilian government announced Tuesday the discovery of a large mass of granite on the seafloor near Rio de Janero — a landmark finding...
View ArticleMonju: Generating only misfortune
The troubled Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor made headlines again when the Nuclear Regulation Authority said it apparently plans to ensure the facility remains idled after announcing that the...
View ArticleTepco trying to keep radioactive water from reaching sea, but can it?
Although Tepco assures that it is taking and planning steps to prevent more tainted groundwater from reaching the sea, it's unclear how effective those efforts are. The post Tepco trying to keep...
View ArticleFormer leader of Japan’s ruling party against raising defense profile
Ahead of the anniversary Thursday of Japan's surrender in World War II, former Liberal Democratic Party President and noted dove Yohei Kono says Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could be igniting a...
View Article‘Barefoot Gen’ pulled as anti-war images strike too close to home?
The decision by the board of education of Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, to limit students’ access to the manga series “Hadashi no Gen” (“Barefoot Gen”) at school libraries continues to cause a stir....
View ArticleADIZs common but China’s is worrisome
China’s announcement Saturday of its establishment of an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea that includes the Japan-controlled Senkaku islets has worsened already tense bilateral...
View ArticleFlu menace again reaching peak
While this year’s influenza season is predicted to peak around early February, anybody of any age group, sex or nationality is at risk of infection all the way through March. While 210,000 children...
View ArticleA closer look at the Supreme Court’s welfare benefits ruling
Opinions are divided over how the Supreme Court ruling last week declaring permanent foreign residents of Japan ineligible for welfare payments will affect the foreign communities in Japan. In Japan,...
View ArticleHow much do you know about dengue fever?
The health ministry has confirmed the first domestic dengue fever case in Japan in nearly 70 years. A Saitama Prefecture teen girl was found Wednesday to have contracted the virus through a mosquito in...
View Article‘Right to be forgotten’ on the Internet gains traction in Japan
The Internet has made fact-checking easy and people routinely use it for this end, for example, to Google client names and personal backgrounds before their first business meeting, or to take a quick...
View ArticleIs China-led bank a lost opportunity?
China’s proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is causing a stir as the majority of Group of 20 leading economies sign on as founding members, while the U.S. and Japan remain on the sidelines....
View ArticleDetecting breast cancer is not an exact science
Former professional wrestler-turned TV personality Akira Hokuto, 48, made headlines this week when she announced on Wednesday she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She ...
View ArticleJapan’s electricity shake-up gives power to the people
Japan’s electricity market receives a fundamental shake-up on Friday, with the introduction of greater competition for households and small businesses. Until now, regional utilities have ...
View ArticleQuestions and answers: The Kumamoto earthquakes
The series of huge earthquakes and aftershocks that have been rattling wide parts of Kumamoto and Oita prefectures since Thursday have raised fears that other ...
View ArticleMasuzoe clings to office as pressure mounts over funds scandal
Japanese Communist Party representatives in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly announced Monday the party’s decision to submit a no-confidence motion against Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe, which ...
View ArticleQ&A: How to survive this year’s scorching summer in Japan
This year’s heat wave is again lethal, having already killed over 30 people and sent more than 10,000 to hospitals since July 9 due to ...
View ArticleOkinawa’s referendum on relocating the U.S. Futenma base to Henoko: Why now...
On Sunday, Okinawa Prefecture’s 41 cities, towns and villages held a referendum on whether to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan, in ...
View ArticleHow debt, tax hike will affect reconstruction
To finance reconstruction in areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, ideas have been floated for issuing debt or raising the consumption tax . ...
View ArticleSeveral factors driving plan to double sales tax
The government on Thursday announced a social security reform plan that includes a proposal to gradually double the consumption tax to 10 percent by fiscal ...
View ArticleTrack record of coalition plans not always grand
Amid the chaos breaking out in Nagata-cho since Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced his intention to resign, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan is once ...
View ArticleAre worries over meat warranted?
About 1,500 cows that were fed hay containing radioactive cesium in excess of the government limit were found to have been shipped from Fukushima and ...
View ArticleDPJ-only poll, but of national import
The Democratic Party of Japan will hold a midterm presidential election Monday to pick a successor to Prime Minister Naoto Kan.Among the seven possible candidates, ...
View ArticlePrestigious school seen as ticket to rise to the top of political ladder
Newly appointed Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda may compare himself to a "dojo" (loach), but in reality he is an elite politician with a diploma from ...
View ArticleScience far from conclusive on low-level radiation risks
The March 11 nuclear accident at the Fukushima No. 1 plant has transformed what used to be a long-standing academic debate into an urgent issue ...
View ArticleTo ‘stand on Taiwanese soil’: An interview with Taiwan’s top diplomat
Joseph Wu shares his thoughts on Tokyo-Taipei cooperation, TSMC semiconductors, Japan's new defense posture and the future of relations with Beijing.
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