In recent years, Japan has been promoting a national shift from “savings to investment.” With the introduction of the new NISA system, more and more ordinary people have started investing.…
It was a shocking headline that sent ripples through both Japan and Europe — a senior Japanese football official arrested in France for possessing child pornography. The news immediately fueled…
The intricate interplay between money, influence, and democracy is once again under the spotlight in Japan. In a disturbing turn of events, senior executives of a pachinko company were arrested…
In recent months, a disturbing new trend has come to light in Japan’s online resale markets: the shady sale of fake ultrasound (“echo”) photos, used to con unsuspecting partners out…
Life’s burdens are seldom chosen—but sometimes, they’re impossible to set down. This is the story of Rika Matsumoto (松本麗華), the daughter of Shoko Asahara (real name: Chizuo Matsumoto, 松本智津夫), the…
Why Muslim Communities Seek Earth Burial, and the Tensions with Municipalities and Locals Japan’s growing diversity has brought new opportunities, but it has also revealed cultural and religious frictions. One…
Japan’s demographic challenges are no secret—one of the world’s lowest birthrates, an aging population, and shrinking social infrastructure. But a subtler trend is gaining attention: the rise of involuntarily single…
Introduction In recent years, Japan has witnessed a sharp increase in romance scams, a type of fraud that preys on emotions and trust rather than brute force. These scams often…
Introduction In recent years, Japan has seen the rapid growth of so-called “sugar daddy” matching services, locally known as papa-katsu (パパ活). These services connect older, wealthy men with younger women…
Aum Shinrikyo is remembered as the most infamous cult in modern Japanese history and the group responsible for the deadliest terrorist attack of the postwar era. While decades have passed…
