Japan's bad medicine for its bad romance problem
Waka Ikeda is a Tokyo-based freelance journalist covering society, culture and the movie industry.
In the late 1980s, Bon Jovi released "Bad Medicine," a song about a toxic relationship. Nearly four decades on, Japan faces its own "bad medicine" epidemic: government-prescribed dating apps, speed-dating events and marriage seminars aimed at curing a national romance crisis. But like the song's doomed love affair, these taxpayer-funded remedies may be making things worse -- offering solutions to a generation too paralyzed by self-doubt to embrace them.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
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At least 30% of children six months to 5 years old suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they're too thin for their height. And at least two people or four children under 5 per 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease. The report is based on available information through July 25 and says the crisis has reached 'an alarming and deadly turning point.' It says data indicate that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of Gaza — at its lowest level since the war began — and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City. The report says nearly 17 out of every 100 children under the age of 5 in Gaza City are acutely malnourished. Mounting evidence shows 'widespread starvation.' Essential health and other services have collapsed. One in three people in Gaza is going without food for days at a time, according to the World Food Program. Hospitals report a rapid increase in hunger-related deaths in children under 5. Gaza's population of over 2 million has been squeezed into increasingly tiny areas of the devastated territory. 'This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes,' U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres said in a statement on the new report, adding that the 'trickle of aid must become an ocean.' More deaths to come The IPC alert calls for immediate and large-scale action and warns: 'Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the strip.' Humanitarian workers agreed. 'If we don't have the conditions to react to this mass starvation, we will see this exponential rise,' said Rachael Cummings, humanitarian director for Save the Children International, based in Gaza. 'So we will see thousands and potentially tens of thousands of people die in Gaza. That is preventable.' She described children digging through trash piles outside their office, looking for food. Anything less than a ceasefire and a return to the U.N.-led aid system in place before Israel's blockade in early March 'is policymakers condemning tens of thousands of people in Gaza to death, starvation and disease,' said Rob Williams, CEO for War Child Alliance. 'All of the children who are currently malnourished will die. That is, unless there's an absolutely rapid and consistent reversal of what is happening,' said Dr. Tarek Loubani, medical director for Glia, based in Gaza. 'Open every border crossing' Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war. In March, it cut off the entry of all goods, including fuel, food and medicine, to pressure Hamas to free hostages. Israel eased those restrictions in May but also pushed ahead with a new U.S.-backed aid delivery system that has been wracked by chaos and violence. 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Japan Times
3 days ago
- Japan Times
Japan startup transplants iPS cells for heart treatment in clinical trial
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Japan Times
3 days ago
- Japan Times
80% of high schoolers in Japan show interest in wages and labor systems
About 80% of high school students in Japan are interested in wages and labor systems, according to the results of a questionnaire survey released by the labor ministry on Tuesday. The results were included in the 2025 white paper on health, labor and welfare, which features education on social security and labor laws. "The more education students receive, the greater their interest and understanding," the ministry said in the paper, which was presented at the day's cabinet meeting. The ministry analyzed valid responses from 3,000 individuals who took part in the online survey conducted in January. With multiple answers allowed, 80.0% of respondents expressed interest in wage rules, followed by working hour rules, at 79.5%. Medical service systems were selected by 63.6%, and pension systems by 58.3%. Nursing care systems were cited by only 43.3%. The white paper cites civics classes as good opportunities for high school students to learn about social security systems. It also highlights efforts to promote vocational awareness during school by dispatching employees from Hello Work public job placement offices to universities and high schools.
