TOKYO - The number of students enrolling in doctoral programs in Japan has dropped by one-fifth over the past 20 years, government and other data show, in what business leaders say reflects the lack of attractive job opportunities for Ph.D.s.
In fiscal 2022, 14,382 students enrolled in doctoral programs across Japan, down 21% from a peak of 18,232 in fiscal 2003, according to data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and other sources. ...continue reading
A very strong Typhoon No. 18 is moving west-northwest over waters south of Japan and is forecast to pass near Minamidaito Island on August 25 before approaching Okinawa and the Amami Islands, raising concerns over prolonged violent winds and heavy rain. As of 9 a.m. on August 24, the typhoon was moving west-northwest at 35 kilometers per hour while maintaining very strong intensity.
Kyoto is stepping up efforts to capture Japan's growing nighttime economy, with Toei Kyoto Studio Park extending its hours to 9 p.m., a new theater drawing visitors near Kyoto Station and nighttime tours expanding in Gion as the city seeks to encourage tourists to stay out longer and explore more areas after dark.
A 39-year-old woman from Taiwan has been arrested on suspicion of pouring an oil-like liquid on the national treasure Buddha Footprint Stone at Yakushiji Temple in Nara in April, police said.
Japan executed 58-year-old death row inmate Sunao Takami on August 21 for setting fire to a pachinko parlor in Osaka in 2009, killing five people and injuring 10 others, in the first execution carried out under the Takaichi administration.
Japan's government is moving toward abolishing the Cool Japan Fund, a public-private investment vehicle created to support the overseas expansion of Japanese anime, food culture and other industries, after its cumulative losses reached 54 billion yen.
An unofficial website that allows South Koreans to check whether their ancestors were considered collaborators during Japan's colonial rule is rapidly gaining users, fueling online scrutiny of family histories and attacks on descendants even as public sentiment toward Japan has reached its highest level since surveys began.
A Japanese sister school of Britain's prestigious Gordonstoun School, whose alumni include King Charles III and his father Prince Philip, is scheduled to open in Wakayama city in September 2027 as a fully residential international school charging annual tuition of about 8 million to 10 million yen.
As Japan's summer vacation enters its final weeks, concern is growing over an "experience gap" that leaves children from single-parent and financially struggling households with fewer opportunities for travel, leisure and other activities that can shape their development.
Spanish soccer powerhouse Real Madrid held its first official soccer school in Hokkaido in August, bringing about 90 young players from across Japan to Urakawa, a town of roughly 11,000 people in the Hidaka region, with organizers now considering opening a permanent residential academy there as early as 2028.
Mahjong is shedding its long-standing image as a smoke-filled gambling pastime for adults and emerging as a "brain sport" enjoyed by university students and children, with cleaner venues, professional competition and regulatory changes helping broaden its appeal.
The University of Tokyo is expected to post a 4.4 billion yen deficit for fiscal 2026, marking its first two consecutive years in the red since becoming a national university corporation in 2004, as inflation, rising personnel costs and long-standing structural constraints place growing pressure on its finances.
A 72-year-old emeritus professor at Kagawa University lost more than 9 million yen and even sold his apartment after becoming the victim of a romance scam in which a woman calling herself "Aiko" gradually gained his trust before introducing an investment scheme.
Eighty-one years after the end of World War II, a newly donated book and the testimony of a man who moved to Manchuria as a child are preserving the history of a Japanese settlement known as Hamamatsu Village, whose residents fled advancing Soviet forces after years spent pursuing the promise of a more prosperous life.
