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July 03, 2026
 

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DISCRIMINATION

Naoe Yakiya, director of U.N. Women's Japan office, is interviewed in Tokyo in January.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 3, 2026
U.N. Women Japan director Naoe Yakiya stresses importance of diversity in media
Yakiya stressed the role that media and advertising can play in shaping society in an interview ahead of International Women’s Day on Sunday.
Setagaya Mayor Nobuto Hosaka (right) speaks during a symposium on partnership systems held on Dec. 10 in Tokyo. Hosaka has described his ward's system as being "connected to human dignity."
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Feb 18, 2026
A decade on, Japan steadily warms to same-sex partners
As lawsuits seeking the recognition of same-sex marriage proceed in courts nationwide, municipalities and others continue to explore how best to protect individual rights.
The media-savvy Rev. Jesse Jackson advocated ​for the rights of Black Americans and other marginalized communities dating back to the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1960s.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2026
Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader and U.S. presidential hopeful, dies at 84
The media-savvy Jesse Jackson advocated ​for the rights of Black Americans and other marginalized communities dating back to the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1960s.
The University of Tsukuba says it is investigating whether online comments made by two faculty members against foreign nationals amount to a breach of work regulations or its social media guidelines.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 17, 2026
University of Tsukuba apologizes over comments against foreign students
Two faculty members posted inflammatory comments on social media about foreign nationals, including describing foreign students as “incompetent” and “troublemakers.”
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks with former President Barack Obama as they attend the State Funeral Service for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington on Jan. 9.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2026
Obama deplores lack of shame after Trump racist monkey clip
Trump has told reporters he stood by the thrust of the video’s claims about election fraud, but that he had not seen the offensive clip at the end.
Stonewall National Monument in New York on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2026
‘Outrage’ as LGBTQ pride flag removed from Stonewall monument
The removal of a rainbow flag from the U.S.’s most prominent gay monument after new rules issued by the Trump administration sparked an outcry and noisy protest on Tuesday.
Then-U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks with former President Barack Obama as they attend the State Funeral Service for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in Washington last year.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 7, 2026
White House defends, then deletes, racist Trump post depicting Obamas as apes
An adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump said he had ⁠not seen the video before it was posted late on Thursday and ordered it taken down once he had.
Defense lawyers of a 1952 murder case seeking a retrial hold signs reading "unjust decision" on Wednesday in the city of Kumamoto.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2026
Court rejects retrial request for executed man believed to have had leprosy
It was a rare case in which a retrial was sought for a defendant who had already been executed.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (third from right) bows as she meets with the victims of forced sterilization at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 22, 2026
Takaichi meets with victims of forced sterilization
The prime minister said the government’s responsibility is “extremely grave” and added that she wanted to make sure everyone received compensation.
Prime minister Sanae Takaichi and Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama attend a budget committee session in the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Nov. 11. Their rise to the nation’s highest offices underscores the growing prominence of women in Japanese politics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 16, 2026
Feminism’s failures and the secret to Takaichi’s success
A movement that cannot accommodate this complexity — that insists feminists must agree on everything or be dismissed as traitors — consigns itself to irrelevance.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi receives a courtesy call from female ambassadors, including Mexican Ambassador to Japan Melba Pria (third from right, front row), at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 16, 2026
Takaichi asks female envoys to work together to fight gender barriers
Meeting with members of the Group of Women Ambassadors in Japan, the prime minister cited the “glass ceiling” and the “glass cliff” women face.
Tomoko Yoshino, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, met Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday, where they are believed to have discussed the draft report.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2025
Japan to delay new gender equality program to next year
The delay comes amid concerns over a plan to legalize the use of birth names for married couples, which was added to the draft of a report serving as the basis for the program.
People observe a moment of silence on Sunday in Sydney during a vigil for victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2025
Australia falls silent and lights candles for Bondi Beach shooting victims
A father and son are accused of targeting the beachside Hanukkah celebration, killing 15 people including children and Holocaust survivors.
Newly elected Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi, if called upon to present the Prime Minister’s Cup, should refuse to enter the sumo ring because the dohyō’s sacred meaning depends on preserving its ritual form rather than modern political symbolism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2025
Why Prime Minister Takaichi should refuse to enter sumo’s dohyō
The dohyō is not a stage for political theater. It is a sacred space, not a square to be conquered for an #InstagrammableMoment.
People arrive for the funeral of 10-year-old Matilda on Thursday in Sydney. Matilda was killed in the Bondi Beach mass shooting on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2025
Australia promises crackdown on hate as youngest Bondi Beach shooting victim is remembered
Fifteen were killed in the Hanukkah attack inspired by the Islamic State group that shocked the nation.
An Instagram post on Dec. 6 shows Cocona, a member of a popular Japanese pop group XG, coming out as transmasculine nonbinary, assigned female at birth.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 17, 2025
XG member Cocona’s coming out as nonbinary puts spotlight on gender identities
The announcement drew support from fans, but also backlash, which highlights a limited understanding of nonbinary identities in Japan.
During a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that was supposed to focus on economic policy, U.S. President Donald Trump repeated past comments on some countries whose citizens immigrate to the U.S.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 11, 2025
Trump targets nonwhite immigrants in renewed xenophobic rants
The U.S. president is openly ranting and reusing a phrase that had sparked an outcry during his first term.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara holds a news conference at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday. Kihara is leading a new Cabinet-level panel to review foreign-national related issues.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2025
Fixing immigration without sparking xenophobia
Don’t lump long-term, law-abiding foreign residents in with new arrivals.
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (front center) delivers a speech on the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Sunday. Centuries of belief and tradition still underpin the all-male association's stance of excluding women.
SUMO
Nov 11, 2025
As Japan’s female leader rises, can she cross sumo’s sacred line?
Professional sumo’s ring remains off-limits to women and girls — not by law, but by centuries of belief and tradition.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a self-made politician from a humble family, earned her way into Japan’s old-boys’ club through sheer determination, an achievement worth celebrating.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 31, 2025
Takaichi deserves better than gendered stereotypes
Takaichi’s diplomatic interactions don’t strike me as “selling her womanness” to Trump, as some have claimed.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
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.
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
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.

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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