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Deaths way up, births way down yet again in Japan as population shrinks faster than expected

At least there are some things you can rely on these days.

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Japan’s population of people over 100 surpasses 90,000 for first time

A vast majority of those in triple digits are women.

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Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare reveals the five prefectures with highest divorce rates

Surprise: Tokyo isn’t even close to the top five.

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COVID-19 appears to be suppressing the flu in Japan, number of cases down and decreasing

COVID-19 might have even canceled flu season.

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Hiking restrictions result in huge drop in climbing accidents, with zero on Mt. Fuji

Closing popular hiking trails has led to an unexpected extra benefit.

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One in four Japanese women is now over 70

Not no country for old women.

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The number of suicides among Japanese citizens jumped in August, worrying officials

Many are concerned that the stress of the pandemic could be causing more people to experience depression.

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Survey shows how Japanese couples feel about spending so much time together sheltering in place

Survey examines how stay-home recommendations are affecting daily family life. 

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Survey results reveal average number of days people can bear to self-quarantine

The survey results shed some light on how long people are willing to stay inside in the name of social distancing.

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Chart breaks down how often consent is given in manga from different publishers.

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Report reveals that more than 40 percent of Tokyo Olympics volunteers are made up of foreigners

Disproportionate amount of foreign volunteers is perhaps the first of its kind in Olympic history.

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Japan suffers 37th consecutive year of low birthrate, Japanese people may become extinct someday

Turns out that Japanese citizens are aware of their fate, but there seems to be no solution to avert the impending disaster.

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Japan reports fewer children and more elderly people for 35th year in a row

New data confirms the number of children in Japan is only continuing to decline.

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A surprising number of Japanese kids still bathe with their parents up until high school

As shocking as it may sound to a Westerner’s ears, some Japanese kids continue bathing with their parents up until high school. It turns out, though, that doing so may have a positive impact on their grades.

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Japanese women share the top 10 times they’re embarrassed to be seen doing something alone

Sometimes doing stuff by yourself is the best way to go. Heading to the bathroom, for example, is generally something people prefer to do alone. And there are plenty of people out there who prefer to go to out alone; catching a movie or a show by yourself can be great if you hate making small talk, for example. But still, there are some times that doing something alone can be downright embarrassing.

So, to find out what the worst was, the Japanese website goo polled some of their readers to find the top 10 times they’re embarrassed to be seen doing something alone. Check out the ranking and see how many you agree with!

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Nearly five percent of Japanese are addicted to gambling – even though it’s still “illegal”

What do loud noises, small shiny balls, and bright lights have in common? Pachinko parlors. Pachinko, which can be described as a cross between pinball and slot machines, is a favorite pastime in Japan, despite gambling being illegal (because it’s not technically gambling). The players, who often spend hours sitting in front of these noisy, bright machines, win shiny steel balls, not money, so it’s not gambling, right? Right. Enter loophole: They can take their baskets of balls to a neighboring, but “separate,” establishment to exchange the balls for cash prizes. How convenient!

Pachinko parlors are often huge, gaudy buildings, common even to countryside towns. If you pass one early in the morning, there will often be a line of people rounding the corner, waiting for the doors to open. Many people, especially men, love pachinko. Some members of the government, however, are starting to believe that their citizens love it a little too much.

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Suicides drop for second year in Japan, still leading cause of death among young adults

The Japanese government recently released its 2014 white paper on suicide in the nation. While the continuing downward trend in the number of people taking their own lives is encouraging, the statistics also revealed the sobering and troubling fact that suicide is the leading cause of death among Japanese aged 15 to 34.

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The country that sent the most foreign visitors to Japan in 2013 was…

In 2013, a grand total of 10,363,904 foreign tourists visited Japan! That number surpasses the goal of the Visit Japan Campaign, which began in 2003 with a goal to increase the number of overseas visitors to 10 million.

The Japanese language version of popular travel planning and information website TripAdvisor was quite excited by this news, and recently produced their own visual graphic detailing some fun facts about foreign tourists in the Land of the Rising Sun during 2013. Can you guess which country most of the visitors came from, or which country had the highest percentage jump in visitors? How about the most popular tourist destinations for foreigners traveling in Japan? Find out all that and more after the jump.

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Milf or maiden? One third of single Japanese men surveyed say they prefer an older lover

From December 6-9 of this year, Japanese Facebook dating app Match Alarm quizzed 2,944 singles in their twenties and thirties about their dating habits. They were asked to identify if they prefer to date someone of the same age, older or younger. Hmmm…Do we have to pick just one??

A resounding 81.3% of women replied that they would rather be with a silver fox than a younger stud. And one in three men said they preferred an older lover.

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As of 1 October this year, knowingly downloading copyrighted music and video in Japan became punishable by up to two years in prison and a 2 million yen (US$25,000) penalty.

The law was passed in June after the Japanese music industry, the second largest in the world after the US, reported continued financial losses, with analysts suggesting that just one in 10 downloads were legal.

Since the law came into effect, there have certainly been some changes, and many internet users have become reluctant to click that download button for fear of receiving a hefty fine, meaning that the law has been a success in a way.

According to a recent statistical survey, however, since the law was passed, sales of music in Japan have continued to fall and consumers are actually showing less interest in music than ever before…

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