Abortion pill: Why Japanese women will need their partner's consent to get a tablet
In May, a senior health ministry official told parliament it was finally set to approve an abortion pill manufactured by British pharmaceutical company Linepharma International.
But he also said that women will still need to "gain the consent of their partner" before the pills can be administered - a stipulation pro-choice campaigners have called patriarchal and outdated.
Medical abortions, using pills rather than surgery, were made legal in France 34 years ago. Britain approved them in 1991, and the US in 2000.
In many European countries this is now the most common form of terminating a pregnancy - pills account for more than 90% of abortions in Sweden, and around 70% in Scotland.
But Japan, a country with a poor record on gender equality, has a history of being extremely slow to approve drugs related to women's reproductive health. ...continue reading

WION - Jan 27
Hundreds of schools as well as universities across Japan received fax messages with bomb and death threats on Wednesday, stoking panic and subsequent closure of the schools.

NHK - Jan 26
Archaeological workers in western Japan have unearthed a shield-shaped mirror and a long sword at an ancient burial mound.

Nikkei - Jan 25
Jan. 26 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of the violinist and teacher Shinichi Suzuki, whose approach to early childhood music education is widely known as the Suzuki Method.

Nikkei - Jan 22
Graduates of the world's top universities will be allowed to stay in Japan for up to two years to look for jobs, up from the current 90 days, under a rule change being considered by the government, Nikkei has learned.

Xinhua - Jan 20
Japan's suicide rate increased from the previous year in 2022 owing to the increased rate among males for the first time in 13 years, the government said in a report on Friday.

FRANCE 24 English - Jan 20
Although #Japan is the only G7 country where same-sex marriages are illegal, there have recently been some positive changes for the #LGBT community.

NHK - Jan 20
Two of Japan's top-tier national universities have announced a new name they chose to have after their planned merger.

newsonjapan.com - Jan 20
An orgasm is the climax of sexual arousal and is characterized by a feeling of intense pleasure and release of tension.

newsonjapan.com - Jan 19
Moving away from your homeland can be very challenging, even if it is for the best. It is leaving a world that used to be your comfort zone with people that relate best to you to a new world with different people, cultures, and traditions.

Kimono Mom - Jan 16
Today we came to Tottori prefecture, to film a commercial for Japan's No.1 Airline, ANA. This is our first time to appear any corporate commercial and travel with filming crew.

Japan Today - Jan 15
Japan's unified university entrance exams started Saturday across the country as organizers implemented stricter rules to prevent cheating after a photographed image of a question was leaked during the test last year.

Paolo fromTOKYO - Jan 14
Spending Japan New Year's Holiday at my Japanese wife's parent's house in Aichi Prefecture. This is what it is like living in Japan outside of Tokyo and how Japanese families spend New Year's Eve together and what happens the following days.

Dylan Iwakuni - Jan 13
The process of deconstructing a 93-year-old Kominka (traditional house) in Saitama, Japan for it to be relocated to Yamanashi.

The Shogunate - Jan 11
Takeda Katsuyori famously lost at the battle of Nagashino in 1575, but what if he had prepared differently for his famous clash against Oda Nobunaga?

Japan Today - Jan 09
Young women in colorful kimonos and and smartly-dressed men celebrated Coming-of-Age Day at ceremonies across Japan on Monday.

Nikkei - Jan 07
Nearly three-quarters, or 73%, of Japanese public high schools have no framework for accepting foreign resident students, putting them at a serious disadvantage in visa status and work opportunities, a Nikkei survey shows.