Â鶹´«Ã½

Tag - covid-19-in-japan

 
Â鶹´«Ã½
Search
 
August 11, 2026
 

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

COVID-19 IN JAPAN

A Disaster Medical Assistance Team commander (Shun Oguri, right) and a health ministry official (Tori Matsuzaka) work together to respond to Â鶹´«Ã½ first brush with COVID-19 in ¡°Frontline ¡ª Yokohama Bay.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2025
¡®Frontline ¡ª Yokohama Bay¡¯ revisits nation¡¯s first pandemic struggles
Part docudrama, part recognition of unsung crisis responders, ¡°Frontline ¡ª Yokohama Bay¡± looks back at the ship that warned a nation: COVID-19 is here.
"Jinsei," which follows its protagonist over a century, probes themes of identity and societal issues with a dark comic touch. The director, however, says he created the story without knowing where it would lead.
CULTURE / Film
May 16, 2025
For his first feature film, director Ryuya Suzuki created a masterpiece
With no script or crew, the animator created ¡°Jinsei,¡± a bold debut inspired by classics such as ¡°Citizen Kane¡± and ¡°Scarface.¡±
Takaji Wakita, deputy head of the Japan Institute for Health Security, speaks during an interview on April 21 in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 8, 2025
Japan bolsters pandemic readiness with new health crisis institute
The Japan Institute for Health Security represents the centerpiece of a strengthened framework designed to apply lessons from the early missteps of the COVID-19 crisis.
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode ¡ª conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" ¡ª is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 3, 2025
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
NHK¡¯s new four-episode miniseries, ¡°After the Quake,¡± probes the ripple effects of past major disasters across Japanese society.
The Japan Institute for Health Security will be responsible for information analysis, research and crisis response related to infectious diseases.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2025
Japanese version of U.S. CDC launched for future pandemics
The institute will be responsible for information analysis, research and crisis response related to infectious diseases.
Yarn shortages are a sign that hobbies like knitting and crochet are gaining in popularity.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 4, 2025
¡®Granny hobbies¡¯ are the new self-care
Pastimes long associated with Japanese grandparents are booming on social media as young people look for new (old) ways to relax.
The weak yen is often cited as one reason why many Japanese don't go abroad.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025
Only 17% of Japanese people own passports, Foreign Ministry says
Around 3.7 million passports were issued domestically in 2024,?a 8.8% increase from the year before but?down 15.2% from prepandemic numbers in 2019.
The drop in domestic shipments of paper and paperboard in 2024 came as newspaper publishers ended evening editions and the trend of reducing paper use in offices continued.
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ domestic paper shipments hit 39-year low in 2024
The drop came as newspaper publishers ended evening editions and the trend of reducing paper use in offices continued.
Domino's Pizza will close 172 unprofitable outlets out of about 1,000 stores in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2025
Domino¡¯s pizza to close 172 outlets in Japan
The global delivery pizza chain will prioritize investments in areas that will help it improve earnings.
People who were onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship when the COVID-19 cluster infections in the ship broke out in February 2020 pray Monday in Yokohama for those who died of the disease.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2025
COVID-19 victims of Diamond Princess ship remembered five years on
Of a total of 3,711 passengers and crew members on the ship, 712 became infected with the novel coronavirus and 14 died from the disease.
Institute of Science Tokyo Distinguished Professor Yoshinori Fujiyoshi (left) and Assistant Professor Shun Nakamura, who developed a peptide that can bind to the spike proteins of the novel coronavirus to prevent COVID-19 infections, at the Institute of Science Tokyo's Ookayama campus in Tokyo on Monday
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 23, 2025
Japanese researchers develop peptide preventing COVID-19 infections
The peptide, which is a short chain of amino acids, has shown effectiveness in experiments involving various coronavirus strains.
A keen fisherman from Tokyo (Masaki Suda) moves to a tight-knit community in Miyagi Prefecture during the COVID-19 pandemic in ¡°Sunset Sunrise.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2025
¡®Sunset Sunrise¡¯: Rom-com finds pathos in peak pandemic setting
Yoshiyuki Kishi¡¯s film delivers a deliciously uplifting story with humor and heart in a tight-knit community impacted by disasters.
Japan's first COVID-19 case was confirmed on Jan. 15, 2020, and there have been reports of cases of prolonged COVID-19 aftereffects having impact on social life.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2025
Caution still needed five years after Â鶹´«Ã½ first COVID-19 case
Waves of infections have continued even after Japan lowered the classification of COVID-19 under the infectious disease law in May 2023.
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in October.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 29, 2024
Meiji Seika Pharma files suit against lawmaker over ¡®unfounded¡¯ vaccine claims
CDP Lower House lawmaker Kazuhiro Haraguchi has said that the drugmaker¡¯s replicon vaccine is ¡°akin to a biological weapon.¡±
Employees at large Tokyo companies who travel to the office daily to work fell to 47.4% in 2024 from 53.1% in the previous year, a survey shows.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 8, 2024
Hybrid work on the rise for Tokyo¡¯s office employees: NRI Survey
For the July 2024 Nomura Research Institute survey, the firm polled 3,091 people from ages 20-69 who work for large companies in Tokyo.
Ema Ryan Yamazaki¡¯s ¡°The Making of a Japanese¡± is an even-handed portrait of elementary school in Japan, where the citizens of tomorrow are forged.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2024
¡®The Making of a Japanese¡¯: A warm and engaging portrait of Japanese schoolchildren
Ema Ryan Yamazaki¡¯s documentary is a candid and heartfelt glimpse of elementary school in Tokyo.
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2024
Â鶹´«Ã½ 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Travelers spent ?5.86 trillion in Japan through September of this year, preliminary figures show, eclipsing the ?5.3 trillion they spent in all of 2023.
Senior IMF official Vitor Gaspar speaks during an interview in Washington last Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024
IMF official warns Japan of debt deterioration in event of future shock
The IMF predicts that Â鶹´«Ã½ debt will exceed 250% of its gross domestic product this year before gradually decreasing.
A man who works for a restaurant consults a social welfare council official in Tokyo about COVID-19 relief loans in June 2020.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2024
Welfare councils loaned ?1.4 billion in COVID relief to ineligible borrowers
Individuals who were receiving welfare support were ineligible for the loans because they are already guaranteed a minimum standard of living.
A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Tokyo on Oct. 1. Experts say fears over the newly approved replicon vaccine are unwarranted.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2024
Experts move to allay replicon COVID shot fears in Japan amid backlash
The health ministry and experts say concerns around ¡°shedding¡± are unwarranted.
America¡¯s cyberforces grapple with cluster of deaths by suicide
The U.S. Cyber Command building (center) stands on the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

Podcast

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

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER