Tag - mental-health

 
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July 12, 2026
 

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MENTAL HEALTH

Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jun 30, 2026
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Tochigi Prison, which houses 456 inmates, is a microcosm of what female prisons across the nation are facing, from a rising foreign population to mental health issues.
The National Police Agency said the eyes of the local community are essential in finding people with dementia who have gone missing.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 25, 2026
Reports of missing dementia sufferers in Japan fell in 2025 but remain high
Among those who were found, 139 were using location-tracking devices such as GPS or loss prevention tags for safety purposes.
Self-Defense Forces personnel stand guard at the entrance of the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2026
Harassed GSDF member’s PTSD recognized as on-duty illness
Since joining in 2006, the male member said he had been forced by several senior colleagues to wear women’s clothing and to expose his lower body.
A lawyer representing the mother (left, blurred for privacy reasons) of a girl who died after being detained speaks during a news conference in Kobe on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2026
Japanese mother sues state over teen’s ‘hostage justice’ death
The mother of a girl who died from emaciation following detention and alleged interrogations by authorities is seeking compensation, in the latest case of “hostage justice.”
Social camouflaging can help neurodivergent people navigate social situations, but researchers say the effort often comes with significant emotional and mental strain.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Jun 12, 2026
The challenge of being neurodivergent in Japan’s culture of conformity
As awareness grows, more Japanese adults are finding answers to challenges that went unnoticed for years.
Trials are being held to see whether anime could be used as a method of therapy, particularly for people who would otherwise struggle to ask for help.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 11, 2026
‘Filter of fantasy’: Psychiatrist trials anime therapy for depression
Francesco Panto’s team gave participants online counseling delivered by a psychologist who appeared on the screen as an anime avatar with a digitally altered voice.
Local governments are being asked to create a council that would help promote early intervention regarding youths at risk of suicide.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 8, 2026
Agency asks local authorities to set up youth suicide prevention councils
The aim is to quickly identify youths who are at risk of dying by suicide by obtaining information from schools and medical institutions, and promoting early intervention.
Pupils of Ikeda Elementary School in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, lay flowers at a monument at the school on Monday, the 25th anniversary of a mass stabbing that killed eight children.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 8, 2026
Work to improve safety continues 25 years after mass stabbing at Osaka school
On June 8, 2001, a man armed with knives broke into the school and stabbed eight children to death, and injured scores of others.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at an event in Tokyo on Feb. 3, 2025. The state of Florida in the U.S. alleges in its lawsuit that OpenAI has been "careless” in its introduction of its artificial intelligence chatbot to the public.
WORLD
Jun 2, 2026
Florida sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over chatbot safety concerns
Florida’s sweeping lawsuit cites a range of alleged harms caused by ChatGPT while stating the chatbot is particularly addictive, impacting both younger people and adults.
A prison officer in charge of education speaks to inmates at Osaka Prison in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on Feb. 26. A portion of the image is blurred for privacy reasons.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 1, 2026
Osaka Prison helps rehabilitate inmates with developmental disabilities
Prisoners with development disorders at Osaka Prison receive education and guidance focusing on facilitating self-understanding and improving cooperative behavior.
Students from Ricards Lodge High School in Wimbledon look at their mobile phones during an interview about their thoughts on a social media ban for children under the age of 16, in London, on Feb. 23
WORLD / Science & Health
May 26, 2026
Social media as bad for children as smoking, British doctors say
Britain is considering restricting children’s access to social media, including a ‌possible ban for children under the age of 16.
Community programs and tracking systems are expanding across Japan as local governments search for ways to prevent dementia-related disappearances.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
May 25, 2026
He told his wife he was ‘coming home.’ Then he disappeared.
One family’s search reveals Japan’s growing crisis of dementia-related disappearances.
Elon Musk at a federal courthouse for his lawsuit with OpenAI, in Oakland, California, on April 30. In a separate case in Australia, a court upheld a regulator's fine against Musk's social media company X after it failed to supply information to regulators in line with online child protection measures.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2026
Elon Musk’s X loses Australia child protection compliance lawsuit
The ‌eSafety regulator, a frequent target of online attacks by ​Musk, fined the company in October 2023, beginning the nearly three-year dispute.
Akiko Hashiguchi is one of the few people in Japan to publicly share her personal experience with muri shinjū under her own name. She has since been involved in parents’ support work and advocacy around developmental disorders.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 18, 2026
‘There was no village’: Japan’s troubling pattern of family murder-suicides
In a society where asking for help is often difficult, many parents and caregivers are unsure where to turn. Sometimes, it leads to tragedy.
Ndey Ndiaye (center) with her grandsons Fallou (left) and Bara (right) at their home in Mbour, Senegal. Ndey is raising her two grandsons after losing her daughter when the boat she was traveling in capsized trying to reach Europe.
WORLD / Society
May 15, 2026
Senegal’s children mourn in silence when migrant parents disappear
The number of such dead, missing and their children is at least in the thousands in Senegal in recent years, an advocate has said.
In Japan, where AI companion robots are being introduced in nursing homes to cope with a growing caregiver shortage, their use underscores both the urgency of the global aging crisis and the danger of placing too much reliance in technology.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2026
AI is coming for our aging parents, ready or not
Japan, long a leader in industrial automation, has been trying to make eldercare robots happen for a long time.
Ryo Hanamori speaks about his experience of suffering from compulsive buying disorder.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Apr 27, 2026
Confronting addiction: ‘I knew I had to stop buying things’
Ryo Hanamori fought his disorder for years. Now that he’s stable, he hopes to help others.
Navigating cancer treatment as a foreign resident of Japan can be an added layer of stress, but nonprofit organizations and community resources are available to support those with a diagnosis.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Apr 20, 2026
Counseling and community for foreign cancer patients in Japan
Navigating cancer treatment as a foreign resident can be daunting, but mental health clinics, nonprofit organizations and other platforms can support the journey.
Fadel Al-Naji, 14, who lost both legs, sits beside his brother Amir Al-Naji, 11, who lost an eye, after they were injured in an Israeli strike, at their home in Gaza City.
WORLD / Society
Apr 17, 2026
Gaza’s war amputees short of prostheses under Israeli restrictions
Such is the need for prosthetic limbs that two medical centers said they were trying to reuse old prosthetic limbs recovered from people killed in the war.
U.S. prison populations have dropped sharply since 2008, but gaps in mental health care mean many vulnerable individuals continue to cycle through the criminal justice system instead of receiving treatment.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2026
U.S. prisons are emptier. Will psychiatric hospitals fill up?
More recent statistics on psychiatric beds in hospitals and resident patients in state psychiatric hospitals show a mostly flat trajectory through 2023.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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