HEALTH: Religion Lends Shelter, Activism to HIV/AIDS

Sneha Samaj, an HIV-positive woman from Nepal, attends a spiritual class once a month. There, she reads the Bible and discusses the importance of compassion together with others living with HIV/AIDS, under the gentle leadership of nuns.

HEALTH: Asian Homemakers Now at High-Risk for HIV/AIDS Infection

Pheng Pharozin, 25, a soft spoken Cambodian woman was happily married with an infant daughter when she tested positive for HIV two years ago.

HEALTH-ASIA: Communities Can Tackle HIV/AIDS Say Activists

Building communities that accept people living with HIV/AIDS is crucial in controlling an epidemic in the region, activists said Saturday at the 7th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.

JAPAN: Tokyo Touting Tots

Record drops in the nation's birth rate for the past four years has finally prodded officials to suggest sweeping changes in Japanese society to rectify the situation, but experts say results could take longer than expected.

JAPAN: Healing the Wounds of Crime

A long overdue move to help the families of crime victims meet with offenders has been launched by a group of lawyers and experts in a bid to pave the way for a process of healing and reconciliation that they say is almost non-existent in Japan.

POLITICS-JAPAN: A Budding Green Party

After years of promise and failure, Japanese activists and politicians are taking the first formal steps to launch a Green Party this year to protect and promote peace movements and preservation of the environment.

NO TOBACCO DAY-JAPAN: Anti-Smoking Activists Still Have Uphill Battle

Japan is slowly shedding its ''smoker's paradise'' image as an increasing number of health- conscious Japanese demand anti-smoking measures to be implemented in public places. But anti-smoking activists are not claiming victory, yet, and say they still have an uphill battle to wage.

LABOUR-JAPAN: Male Migrant Workers, Too, Have it Tough

Ananda, a Sri Lankan man, left for Japan a year ago after mortgaging his parents home to raise 7,000 U.S. dollars to pay a broker for a three-month tourist visa.

/ARTS WEEKLY/JAPAN: 21st Century Museum Shows the Way to Oldies

Dare to breakaway from tradition and be different. That's the challenge thrown by a new Japanese museum to its older counterparts, as they struggle to survive with falling visitors and dwindling budgets.

POLITICS: Analysts Question Japan’s Readiness for Security Council Role

While it might be full steam ahead for Japan in its bid for a permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council, analysts wonder whether the country, despite being the largest financier of the United Nations, is ready for this prestigious position.

JAPAN: Dwindling Workforce Forces a Rethink on Role of Women Workers

Faced with a rapidly ageing population and a dwindling workforce, Japanese companies seem to be pushing for reforms to woo more women workers. But activists contend this has not really ended their long battle to change the country's male-dominated corporate culture, where there is still resistance to expanding women's professional roles.

RIGHTS: Threat of Deportation Looms Over Filipino-Japanese Children

Seven-year-old Masami has a weird predicament. While she is considered Filipino, her younger sister, born to the same father, is considered Japanese. And it seems their father, who only recognised Masami as his after she was born while her younger sister was acknowledged before birth, has caused all this mess.

ENERGY: Japan’s Nuclear Dream Could Be World’s Nightmare

As Japan debates on how to meet its gargantuan energy needs in the 21st century, and whether nuclear power should be in the energy mix, plans to revive its controversial plutonium reprocessing plant at the remote village of Rokkasho-mura in Japan's northern Aomori prefecture has alarmed the global anti-nuclear movement.

INT’L LABOUR DAY: Old, Grey Japanese Make Way for Unskilled Foreign Workers

It can be seen as an International Labour Day bonus for those trying to seek their fortunes in Japan. Beginning May 1, Tokyo will be less fussy with unskilled foreign workers and start opening its labour market doors to them to ward off a looming demographic crisis.

INT’L LABOUR DAY: Old, Grey Japanese Make Way for Unskilled Foreign Workers

It can be seen as an International Labour Day bonus for those trying to seek their fortunes in Japan. Beginning May 1, Tokyo will be less fussy with unskilled foreign workers and start opening its labour market doors to them to ward off a looming demographic crisis.

LABOUR-JAPAN: Unions Blame Train Company As Crash Death Toll Rises

While Japan still searches for answers as to how a packed commuter train on Monday jumped the tracks on the outskirts of the western city of Osaka and smashed into an apartment complex, labour activists said West Japan Railway Co. or JR West - the operator of the fatal train line - had to bear a large part of the blame for causing the country's worst rail accident in 40 years.

POLITICS: Japan’s Africa Aid Package Could Translate Into Support For U.N. Bid

The Asia-Africa Summit scheduled to begin in Bandung, Indonesia on Friday could be an opportunity for Japan to play a leading role in alleviating poverty among African nations, which might augur well for its bid for a permanent seat at the U.N. Security Council.

POLITICS: China’s Virulent Anti-Japan Protests Worry Businessmen

Shared economic interests between Japan and China might be keeping each other at peace. But the peace is more cold than cuddly as thousands of people took to the streets of the Chinese city of Shanghai on Saturday in the latest bitter anti-Japanese demonstrations over the weeks.

POLITICS: Japan Gravitates India’s Way to Seek Security Council Support

Using its traditional checkbook diplomacy Japan is trying to woo India to support its bid for a permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council, say analysts.

JAPAN: Tampering of Historical Facts Make China, South Korea See Red

New history textbooks that glorify Japan's wartime past and distort facts of the country's past colonisation of East Asia have heightened anti-Japanese sentiment in China and South Korea. However, some Japanese academics remain adamant that the textbooks record the ''true and correct'' stance of Japan in World War II.

JAPAN: Livedoor’s Horie, Man the Media Loves to Hate

The typical reaction when something jolts staid and homogenous Japan is to blame it on the insensitive foreigner. But the ongoing saga played between a new Japanese Internet business and two well established broadcasting companies is otherwise proving to be quite shocking.