In Japan, a nine-year-old boy has won an online sumo wrestling contest. This is the first time Japan is holding a nationwide virtual sumo wrestling contest with participants not having any contact with each other, in line with coronavirus restr

Episode 19: Separate surnames for spouses in Japan?

Sep 29th, 2021 5m 51s

Japan is the only country in the world known to have a law forcing married couples to share a surname - a provision that is more than a hundred years old. Although Japanese laws do not stipulate which partner must change their surname to match

Episode 18: Combating food wastage in Japan

Sep 22nd, 2021 5m 41s

In Japan, food products have deadlines within which they should be shipped to stores. Products that miss these delivery deadlines get discarded although they are still well within their ‘best by’ dates. To combat this problem of food waste, Nes

Episode 17: Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai receives approval from US FDA for drug to treat Alzheimer’s Disease

Sep 15th, 2021 5m 13s

On June 7 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug Aducanumab, co-developed by Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai and U.S.-based Biogen to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The drug is effective in removing amyloid beta,

Episode 16: Japan passes law for flexible paternity leave for new fathers

Aug 25th, 2021 4m 26s

A new paternity leave bill passed by Japan’s House of Representatives in June 2021 allows new fathers to take a total of four weeks off within eight weeks of a child’s birth. Up to 80% of their salary will be guaranteed under this law.Japanes

Episode 15: The Top 10 Japanese Salarymen Poems (Senryu) in 2021

Aug 18th, 2021 8m 16s

Senryu is a type of traditional Japanese poetry originating in the Edo Period, made up of three lines of five, seven and five syllables respectively. Every year, Japanese life insurance company Dai-ichi runs a poetry contest, encouraging Japane

Episode 14: LGBT legislation gets shelved in Japan

Aug 11th, 2021 6m 56s

Plans to pass a bill protecting LGBT individuals in Japan were shelved by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan in June 2021. The ruling party’s conservative lawmakers were reported as making discriminatory remarks against sexual minoriti

Episode 13: Japan’s new natural World Heritage sites

Aug 4th, 2021 6m 29s

Local residents rejoice as Japan looks to welcome Amami Oshima and Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, as well as the northern part of the main Okinawa Island and Iriomote Island in Okinawa Prefecture as new natural World Heritage sites

Episode 12: The Moritomo Gakuen scandal and the disclosure of the ‘Akagi’ file that tells it all

Jul 28th, 2021 4m 52s

Moritomo Gakuen is a Japanese private school operator located in Osaka, Japan, which found itself at the center of a scandal in 2017 involving a steep discount given by the Japanese Finance Ministry’s Kinki Bureau on the sale of the plot of the

Episode 11: Japanese kids try working remotely with Kidzania’s first online program

Jul 21st, 2021 6m 5s

As Japanese adults embrace remote work due to COVID-19, their children also get their taste of working remotely with family entertainment center operator Kidzania, which allows children to role-play adult jobs.Our resident news anchor discuss

Episode 10: Japan’s 2030 greenhouse gas emission targets

Jul 14th, 2021 7m 12s

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that Japan will target a 46% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from 2013 levels at a 2-day virtual climate summit hosted on 22nd and 23rd April 2021. Our resident news anchor discusses Ja

Episode 9: Japanese Princess Mako's fiancé Komuro Kei and his family's money troubles

Jul 7th, 2021 8m 3s

The planned marriage between Princess Mako, the niece of Emperor Naruhito, and Kei Komuro has been postponed for over three years since they became informally engaged in September 2017. In February 2018, allegations surfaced that a ¥4 million l

Episode 8: Japan’s strange school rules

May 6th, 2021 5m 26s

Did you know that Japanese schools have strange rules such as only having one keychain on your school bag, or not being able to wear a scarf without your coat?Our resident news anchor discusses what are “black school rules” in Japan and how t

Episode 7: Abe’s drive to amend the Japanese Constitution

Apr 29th, 2021 5m 40s

On 27 March 2021, former Japan prime minister Abe gave a speech in Niigata where he stressed once again the need to add a reference to Japan’s Self-Defence Forces in the Japanese Constitution. Our resident news anchor discusses the significan

Episode 6: Japan’s groundbreaking marriage equality ruling

Mar 26th, 2021 5m 23s

Today, our resident news anchor discusses the Sapporo's District Court ruling on 21 March 2021 that the current law, which does not recognize same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional because it violates the principle of equality. We will cover th

Episode 5: Addressing the gender disparity in Japanese society

Mar 15th, 2021 5m 24s

On February 3rd 2021, then president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori, made disparaging remarks toward women, saying that meetings would never end because "women talk too much". His sexist remarks caused a furore among th

Episode 4: What is Hina-matsuri (Girls' Day) and how is it celebrated in Japan?

Mar 3rd, 2021 3m 50s

On the third of March every year, Japan celebrates hina-matsuri, also known as Doll's Day or Girls' Day. Our resident news anchor discusses the origins and - Introduction to Hina-matsuri ひな祭り概要- What are the hina-ningyou, the ornamental dolls

Episode 3: How severe was the recent earthquake in Fukushima?

Feb 19th, 2021 4m 58s

Today, our resident news anchor discusses the latest earthquake to hit Fukushima on 13 February 2021:- Why we picked this news topic ニュースを選んだ理由- About the recent earthquake in Fukushima 今回の地震について- The largest earthquakes in Japanese history

Episode 2: How Japanese national university entrance examinations are changing in 2021

Feb 12th, 2021 4m 29s

Today, our resident news anchor discusses the latest changes to Japanese university entrance examinations in 4 parts:- Why we picked this news topic 大学入試のニュースを選んだ理由- What are most Japanese university entrance examinations like? 日本の大学入試- W

Episode 1: How working remotely is affecting eyesight in Japan

Feb 5th, 2021 4m 10s

Today, our resident news anchor discusses the trend of working remotely in Japan, and its impact on eyesight.- Why we picked this news topic リモートワークのニュースを選んだ理由- What is remote work? リモートワークとは- The pros and cons of working remotely リモートワークのメリ