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June 30, 2026
 

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Tomoko Otake

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Tomoko Otake
Tomoko Otake is a senior writer with a strong interest in health, medical and social issues. A native of Nara Prefecture, she obtained an M.A. in journalism from The University of Montana.
People in Japan get among the fewest hours of sleep in the world, with the OECD data showing that the average amount is 7 hours and 22 minutes — far shorter than the global average of 8 hours and 28 minutes.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 17, 2026
Japan’s health ministry to allow clinics to add sleep disorders as their specialties
The move aims to make it easier for people to find doctors who can treat insomnia and other sleep-related health issues.
Yoshiko Sato, visiting Minato Park in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, with her two sons, says the park carries a special meaning for her.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 11, 2026
A Japanese city looks to pick up the pieces yet again
Fourteen years after the city of Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake, it experienced the nation’s worst wildfire in 60 years.
Lesoeru 72, which is priced at ¥6,930 per tablet, must be taken within 72 hours of intercourse.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 10, 2026
Second morning-after pill now available over the counter in Japan
Lesoeru 72, which went on sale on Monday, joins NorLevo as the country’s only two emergency contraceptive medications that do not need a doctor’s prescription.
An iPS cell-derived heart muscle sheet developed by Cuorips
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Feb 20, 2026
iPS cell-based products win conditional approval from health ministry panel
The endorsement was based on small-scale clinical studies that confirmed only their safety and “presumed” their efficacy.
Alejandro M. Lopez brings his Altadena wildfire experience to Tokyo, where his exhibition explores trauma, renewal and climate change.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2026
A California wildfire survivor turns devastation into art with a message on the climate crisis
Alejandro M. Lopez channels the Altadena blaze into paintings that trace trauma, melancholy and renewal in Tokyo.
The biennial comprehensive fee review is a major policy tool for the government, showing the direction of the nation’s health care as the population ages and medical needs surge and diversify.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 13, 2026
Japan health panel adopts medical fee changes to raise wages and cope with inflation
By tweaking fees here and there, the government seeks to keep health care costs relatively low while meeting new medical needs.
Some AI-generated content is easy to spot as fake and is marked as such, but others are convincing enough that anyone scrolling through social media could easily be misled.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 7, 2026
In Japan, generative AI takes fake election news to new levels
Leaders of a new Japanese political party unveil a logo that features China, a candidate campaigns in freezing weather wearing tank tops and grannies vent in public — or do they?
Passengers walk in the thermal scanner area at Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Tangerang near Jakarta on Jan. 30, following the implementation of health screening for arriving passengers, after India confirmed two cases of the deadly Nipah virus.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 6, 2026
Low risk of Nipah virus outbreak in Japan, health ministry says
No case has been reported in the country so far.
A protester rallies in Nara on Jan. 21 against the life sentence handed down to Tetsuya Yamagami for fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2026
Assassin of Shinzo Abe files appeal against life sentence
Tetsuya Yamagami reportedly agreed to appeal after strong persuasion from his lawyers.
Ski fields in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture, which rose to national prominence during Japan’s 1980s and early 1990s ski boom and hosted the 1998 Nagano Olympics, remain central to the village’s winter economy.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 2, 2026
In Hakuba, getting the tourism balance right
As tourism surges, a ski town in Nagano Prefecture weighs economic revival against rising costs, crowds and cultural clashes.
Outside the Nara District Court in the city of Nara ahead of the sentencing of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man behind the July 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2026
Shinzo Abe’s assassin gets life sentence
The sentence meted out to Tetsuya Yamagami, who shot the former prime minister in Nara in July 2022, brings an end to the trial for a murder that shocked Japan.
News reporters gather in front of the Nara District Court on Oct. 28, when the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, opened.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 20, 2026
Shinzo Abe’s assassin faces verdict
One of the key points in the trial is how the judges will weigh on Tetsuya Yamagami’s troubled upbringing and motivations for fatally shooting the former prime minister.
A monitor shows Japanese Environment Minister Hirotaka Ishihara delivering a speech at a ministerial meeting of the 30th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in Belem, Brazil, in November.
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2026
Japan to stay the course on fighting climate change despite U.S. exit
Experts say the U.S.’s recent departure from international climate organizations will have a limited impact on Japan’s own initiatives.
An image of an app for insomnia treatment. For Taro Ueno, a psychiatrist and president of Susmed, the idea to develop an app for insomnia came from observing how doctors in Japan overprescribe sleeping pills.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 6, 2026
Japanese startups tout chatbot-powered apps as treatment for medical conditions
These prescription-only apps are designed to help treat a range of conditions, such as hypertension, alcohol addiction and insomnia.
Betting money through online casinos is illegal in Japan, but a National Police Agency-commissioned report released last year estimates that 3.37 million Japanese have used online casinos.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jan 5, 2026
App that blocks gambling sites may offer lifeline for addicts in Japan
Anti-gambling advocates praise Gamban, but say that much more needs to be done to curb addictions.
Undated photos of migrant workers and their families at the Canada Museum in Mio, Wakayama Prefecture
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2026
Tracing the family tree: Roots tourism gains traction in Japan
More and more overseas residents of Japanese descent are hoping to learn more about their family history, heritage and traditions.
Houses burned down by the Palisades Fire in Malibu, California. The widespread wildfires represented the most costly climate-linked disaster of 2025, in financial terms.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Dec 28, 2025
In 2025, climate policy was shoved aside even as extreme weather intensified
This year was not a good one for environmentalists or climate scientists as action against warming faced headwinds around the world.
Tetsuya Yamagami in Nara in July 2022. Earlier that month Yamagami had shot the former prime minister with an improvised shotgun at point-blank range.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Dec 23, 2025
The making of Shinzo Abe’s assassin
Tetsuya Yamagami’s path to the assassination had many turning points, but his alarm over the Unification Church’s ties with the prime minister, and financial woes, drove him on.
The Nara District Court in November. Prosecutors in the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with the fatal shooting of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have focused on the cruel and premeditated nature of the killing.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2025
Prosecutors demand life sentence for suspect in Shinzo Abe shooting
Tetsuya Yamagami, who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, is standing trial for murder and other charges at Nara District Court.
A hospital in Osaka Prefecture in 2021. The government plans to raise the copayments for all people undergoing expensive care to reflect the rising medical costs.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 16, 2025
Health ministry panel agrees to raise medical fee caps, but with refined approach
Income threshold categories determining patient burdens for high-cost medical care will be fine-tuned to ensure that those who earn more pay more.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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