Naomi Osaka is doing something that you’d think would be pretty un-extraordinary. The tennis champion has added her voice to a chorus of Black voices — athletes among them — that have been crying out against police brutality, systemic racism, social injustice and inequality. After withdrawing from the Western & Southern Open, Osaka came back to the game with a message; one that she has been convey

OITA – Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, there have been an increasing number of reports that foreign residents living in areas with prominent international communities in Japan are being subject to discrimination and hateful remarks. A 22-year-old Indian student at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University was targeted in a verbal attack while walking around Beppu Station, Oita Prefecture, in the

Article expired

Fifty years ago this year, a blue robot cat from the future descended on Japan, setting in motion the establishment of a bona fide pop-culture legend: Doraemon. Doraemon has entertained generations of children in the intervening years, both in Japan and overseas, through manga, anime, video games and a mind-boggling array of toys and other merchandise. I am a recent convert to the joys of this par

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has quickly become an online meme following his announcement Wednesday evening that the government will distribute two cloth masks to every household in the nation, a policy many slammed as out of touch with reality. Presiding over a COVID-19 meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, Abe revealed a batch of measures the government would be taking to alleviate the nationwide

No one says passive smoking is good for you, but just how bad is it? The answer is vital in deciding public policy. If it is just a matter of manners, smokers and nonsmokers should compromise, albeit with smokers giving most of the ground. On the other hand, if passive smoking is a health hazard then public policy must take an uncompromising stand. With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics coming up, the gover

GENEVA – A U.N. rights expert who visited Japan last year noted "significant worrying signals" for the country's freedom of expression and opinion in a report released Tuesday in Geneva. The lack of debate over historical events, restrictions on access to information justified on national security grounds and government pressure on media "require attention lest they undermine Japan's democratic fo

The article you have been looking for has expired and is not longer available on our system. This is due to newswire licensing terms.