91²Ö¿â

Tag - mhlw

 
Menu
Search
 
April 28, 2026
 

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

MHLW

A plastic surgery clinic advertisement displayed in a subway station in Seoul. Of the total number of medical tourists to South Korea in 2025,the largest share (62.9%) went for dermatological treatment and 11.2% for orthopedic treatment.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2026
Number of Japanese heading to South Korea as medical tourists rises in 2025
The number of Japanese medical tourists to South Korea in 2025 stood at about 600,000, or up 36.0% from the previous year.
A 2024 survey on high school students found that roughly 1 in 70 reported having misused over-the-counter drugs in the past year.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 27, 2026
Japan to tighten rules on OTC drug sales to curb misuse among youth
Cases of acute poisoning and addiction to medication have surged since the COVID-19 pandemic, often involving easily accessible drugs sold at drugstores.
Health minister Kenichiro Ueno speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 24, 2026
91²Ö¿â health minister calls for measles vaccinations
According to the minister, 299 measles cases were reported between Jan. 1 and April 12, already exceeding the total figure for 2025.
Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine President Koji Nishida speaks during a news conference in Kobe on March 18.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 4, 2026
Patient deaths prompt concern over regenerative care not covered by insurance
A series of fatal accidents and regulatory violations involving noncovered regenerative care has prompted health authorities in Japan to review related systems.
Yuri Okina, tapped to lead the Government Pension Investment Fund¡¯s key management committee, left the Bank of Japan for the Japan Research Institute in 1992 and earned a doctorate in economics from Kyoto University in 2011.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2026
Female economist to lead key panel at Japan¡¯s GPIF in a first
Yuri Okina will start her five-year term as the chair of the GPIF's 10-person management committee panel on April 1.
CBN cookies at a store in Shibuya on Thursday
JAPAN / Society
Mar 19, 2026
Consumer products containing cannabis-derived CBN to be banned starting June
Under the revised ordinance, only patients with specific conditions, such as intractable diseases with no alternative treatment, will be allowed to use them.
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 ¡ª 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.
Japan is moving to make child deliveries free of charge in an effort to tackle the declining birth rate.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 13, 2026
Japan moves to cover full cost of child delivery with public health insurance
The measure, aimed at tackling the nation¡¯s declining birth rate, was approved in a Cabinet meeting on Friday, with implementation eyed by fiscal 2028.
A labor ministry survey showed Thursday that 10.5% of workers want to work longer hours, including 0.5% who would want to exceed the 80-hour monthly overtime cap.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
One in 10 Japanese workers want to labor longer, survey shows
Meanwhile, 30.0% hope to reduce their work hours, and 59.5% are satisfied with the status quo, according to the labor ministry survey.
A care worker demonstrates exercises for residents at a nursing home in Tokyo. A decision on raising the share of nursing-care costs paid by older people has been postponed again by the government.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Feb 24, 2026
Expansion of nursing care costs delayed again
The government is shelving until fiscal 2026 a plan to widen the scope of those required to make a 20% copayment, concerned the move could add to the burden of higher costs.
Myocardial sheets made from iPS cells
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2026
Japan panel OKs medical products using iPS cells
The products, if approved by the health minister, are expected to be the world's first of their kind.
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 Vietnamese worker picks tomatoes at a farm in Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, in 2018. Vietnamese comprised the largest percentage of foreign workers in Japan in 2025.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2026
Foreign workers in Japan reach a record 2.57 million in 2025
The total was up 11.7% from a year earlier and comes amid an acute labor shortage in the rapidly aging country.
Government data shows that 1,074 students died last year, including 532 elementary, junior high and high school students ¡ª the highest number since 1980.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2026
Japan¡¯s suicide death toll drops to record low
The overall number fell by 1,223 from the previous year¡¯s confirmed total, marking a third consecutive annual decline.
Two new drug ingredients found in cough and allergy medicines will be added to a list of over-the-counter drug ingredients that may be abused.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 25, 2026
Japan to designate eight ingredients for list of drugs with abuse risk
These ingredients will be subject to sales restrictions under the revised pharmaceutical and medical device law, which takes effect in May.
Prostate cancer logged the highest five-year survival rate by cancer type, according to a health ministry survey based on data from Japan's national registry.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2026
Five-year cancer survival rates released using national registry data
According to the data on some 990,000 people diagnosed with cancer in 2016 across the country, prostate cancer logged the highest net survival rate.
A building housing the welfare ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2025
Cases of disability abuse hit record high in fiscal 2024, ministry data shows
Physical abuse, including assault, was the most common type, followed by psychological abuse such as verbal harassment.
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.
The health ministry plans to lower official drug prices to reduce financial burdens on the public, as market prices often fall below official prices due to competition.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2025
Japan to lower official drug prices in fiscal 2026
The government is expected to lower the state-set prices of drugs after a health ministry survey found that market prices are lower than the official prices.
Nearly 1 in 5 of those who said they smoke also said they wanted to quit, a health ministry survey has found.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 3, 2025
Japan sees drop in regular smokers, national health survey finds
Nearly 1 in 5 of those who said in the health ministry's annual survey that they smoke also said they wanted to quit.
Magnitude 6.2 quake shakes Hokkaido
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake, measuring an upper 5 on Japan¡¯s seismic intensity scale, struck Hokkaido before 5:30 a.m. on Monday.
Beyond the hub-and-spoke: Japan quietly emerges as a secondary connector
Commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment, Maj. Gen. Toshikatsu Musha, and commander of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Amphibious and Mine Warfare Force, Rear Adm. Ikeuchi Izuru, attend the opening ceremony of the U.S.-Philippines Balikatan joint military exercises, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on April 20.
The language around Japan¡¯s new bike rules leaves no room for ¡®maybe¡¯
Under the new blue ticket system, cyclists will have one week in which to pay fines for minor traffic violations.
China holds live-fire drills in waters near Luzon as Japan joins military exercises in Philippines
Head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Jr., speaks during the opening ceremony of the U.S.-Philippines Balikatan joint military exercises, at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on Monday.
Laps of icy roads in China show sodium batteries making an EV breakthrough
A CATL sodium-ion battery model.
The American chef reconnecting with Japan through a Kyoto restaurant
Located in Kyoto¡¯s historic geisha district, the SoNoMa experience begins in the front room of the restaurant, where guests are served a welcome drink and a trio of small bites.
Hokusai¡¯s erotic art on display at a Kabukicho noh theater
¡°The Dream of the Fisherman¡¯s Wife,¡± a rarely exhibited print by Hokusai, will be on display at the Shinjuku Kabukicho Noh Theater for a limited time, from May 1 to 10.?
Inkonbini: Slice-of-life, cozy gaming from Japan¡¯s convenience stores
Alongside the simplified management of a convenience store, Inkonbini asks players to help a small cast of regular shoppers with not only their shopping but problems in their personal lives.
Japanese developers worry over construction supply shortages amid Iran war
Paul Nikel, President of West Canada Homes, with an increasingly rare supply of plastic foam
Professional sumo awaits three potential new stars
Bill Christopher Li, now known as Honoikazuchi, at the All-Japan championships at the Kokugikan on Nov. 30

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
Can AI replace a priest? Japan¡¯s temples and shrines are testing the limits.
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER