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June 25, 2026
 

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MHLW

Health minister Kenichiro Ueno lays flowers during a ceremony held in Tokyo Monday to restore the honor of leprosy patients in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 22, 2026
Japan commemorates victims of discriminatory leprosy policy
A ceremony was held in Tokyo to restore the honor of leprosy patients in Japan, who had suffered severe discrimination based on a policy of forced isolation.
Japan¡¯s population decline continues to accelerate despite some modest positive signs, highlighting the need for broader social, economic and cultural changes to raise the birth rate.
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2026
A bleak prognosis for Japan¡¯s demographic future
The most recent government statistics show fertility rates hitting record lows ¡ª again.
Japan¡¯s real wages have risen 1.9% from a year earlier, extending gains to a fourth month and reinforcing expectations for another Bank of Japan rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 5, 2026
Japan¡¯s real wages rise for fourth month, backing BOJ hike
Inflation-adjusted wages rose 1.9% from a year earlier, accelerating from a revised 1.4% gain in the previous month, the labor ministry reported Friday.
Starting in June, the health ministry will ban the manufacturing, sale, possession and use of the cannabis-derived compound cannabinol (CBN).
JAPAN
May 31, 2026
Japan to ban cannabis ingredient CBN from June
The ministry will regulate CBN as a designated drug under the pharmaceutical and medical devices law through a revision of a relevant ordinance.
Organ transplants are sometimes called off due to staff shortages, for example, at medical institutions in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 28, 2026
Health ministry to give financial aid to organ transplant hospitals
The aid program is designed to reduce cases in which transplants are canceled due to staff shortages, as more people become organ donors.
A building housing the health ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 22, 2026
Kissei ordered to add warning over vasculitis drug after fatalities
Twenty patients who took Tavneos, a drug for blood vessel inflammation, later died after developing liver dysfunction.
Japan is a leading and growing market for HTPs, also known as heat-not-burn products. They use electronic devices to heat tobacco and create a nicotine-containing aerosol without burning it.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 21, 2026
Heated tobacco products may be more harmful than cigarettes, Japan panel review says
The literature review found that heated tobacco products may produce greater amounts of cancer-causing substances than regular cigarettes.
IPS cells cultured by Sumitomo Pharma
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 13, 2026
Health panel approves coverage for iPS cell-derived Parkinson¡¯s disease treatment
The approval of Sumitomo Pharma¡¯s Amchepry makes it the world¡¯s first commercialized medical product derived from iPS cells.
A scientist from the Malbran Institute handles containers used to diagnose the Andes hantavirus, which contain RNA from the Andes virus as part of the detection process, in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 7, 2026
Risk of hantavirus transmitting between humans is low, health ministry says
The virus has infected several passengers, killing three, who were aboard a Dutch cruise ship.
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
Japan¡¯s 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.
Japanese companies get serious about workplace DEI
People working in human resources departments participate in a workshop in Tokyo in January. The participants played a card game in which they took on roles of people with various disabilities.
Consumer affairs watchdog raises alarm over air conditioner repair scams
The National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan has issued a warning over a rise in air conditioner repair scams.
China accuses Japan of ¡®harassment¡¯ during far-seas aircraft carrier training
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier takes part in a military drill in the western Pacific in April 2018.
Japan top court upholds order to dissolve Unification Church
Japan's Supreme Court has upheld lower court rulings ordering the dissolution of the controversial religious group known as the Unification Church.
Masayoshi Son dismisses Musk¡¯s idea for orbital data centers
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son dismissed the idea of space-based data centers, arguing that the AI race will be won by computing power on Earth.
Stepping up, not aside: Japan¡¯s retirement-age tour guides
Yoichi Miura (third from left) now divides his time between his import business and guiding international visitors across Japan.
Japan-South Korea detente persists ¡ª but breakthrough remains elusive
While Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have kept relations from sliding backward, experts say they have struggled to turn stability into concrete steps forward.
Japan¡¯s AI goldrush faces backlash as data centers sprout up in urban areas
Erin and Munekazu Tanikawa look out from their balcony at the construction site of a planned 52-meter-tall data center that would dominate their surroundings, in the city of Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, last month.
Distracted walkers in Japan are a real safety risk. My mother knows firsthand.
In Tokyo and other major Japanese cities, <i>aruki-sumaho</i> ¡ª walking while using a smartphone ¡ª has become a persistent safety concern as commuters navigate crowded stations and sidewalks while focused on their devices.
Can automation offset Japan¡¯s military workforce shortage?
A Ground Self-Defense Force uncrewed ground vehicle takes part in a live-fire military exercise at the Higashi Fuji Training Field in Shizuoka Prefecture on May 7.

Podcast

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

Longform

Social camouflaging can help neurodivergent people navigate social situations, but researchers say the effort often comes with significant emotional and mental strain.
The challenge of being neurodivergent in Japan¡¯s culture of conformity
By Tomoko Otake

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