Panchira fans will be disappointed with the new TV adaptation of Wandering Witch — The Journey of Elaina. Based on the popular light novel series and its manga version, the anime is one of the highlights of the fall TV season in Japan. But its original creator wants to keep it clean and accessible to…

Since apparently no one in Japan is getting married, having kids, or even having sex — if you believe the media headlines — perhaps we should take note of this cautionary tale of a woman who wanted to produce offspring without the customary hassle of finding a willing or capable partner. Starting a family is…

For years it has been notoriously difficult to get hold of: the morning-after pill. In Japan, for a woman to receive emergency contraception, she has to go to a doctor and get a prescription. And it’s expensive, too. But women have been campaigning for years to remove the barriers blocking easy access to the morning-after…

Female athletes will receive better protection against voyeuristic photography while competing, the Japanese Olympic Committee has said. Working in partnership with the Japan Sport Association and All Japan High School Athletic Federation, the JOC is preparing concrete steps to prevent exploitative photos being taken and shared of athletes. Dressed in clothing designed to help them…

Airi Rissen (立仙愛理) might well be one of the lesser-known idols in the AKB48 ranks, but that may change soon. The 21-year-old from AKB48 Team 8 and Kochi Prefecture representative was doing a live broadcast online while dressed in a sailor school uniform. That alone would probably send fans into raptures, but then she decided…

A 19-year-old Japanese college student has posted nude selfies online showing off her absolutely stunning bust. Apparently a nursing student — imagine this beauty as your nurse in hospital one day! — she has the breasts of a porn star. While she hides her face behind a mask, this being the Covid era, she is…

Sex education is notoriously inadequate in Japan, contributing to the relatively low usage of condoms by young people. But it seems some pedagogues are determined to make up for this in other areas of teaching. At least, that might appear to be the logic partially behind why an educational event at Kyoto University recently included…

The transgender community does not get much mainstream attention in Japan as elsewhere, perhaps with the exception of Matsuko Deluxe, and the major debates over pronouns and gender definitions have not dominated public discourse in the same way as they have in other countries. Nonetheless, transgender sexuality has a long and vibrant history in Japanese…

Japanese celebrity Dewi Sukarno (pictured) recently made the astonishing assertion on a TV show that “the foremost cause of infertility is abortion.” Though abortion is relatively common in Japan, it still carries a stigma and the social structures are not in place that you might expect, as Sukarno’s ignorance demonstrates. As Nikkei reported this month,…

We read a report in the UK’s Guardian newspaper about the story of two gay men in Amagasaki, just west of Osaka, who were turned away from love hotels. The male receptionist at one politely informed the couple that men were not allowed. Not to be deterred from their tryst, the men tried another love…