Categories: Social Trends

Will Blue Lights Reduce Suicides in Japan?

Posted by: Kenji Hall on November 05

The color blue has been thought to have a calming effect on people. But can it prevent suicides? Railway operator JR East is hoping that blue light-emitting-diode, or LED, lamps...

Hunger Scorecard: China Improves, India Deteriorates

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 16

In a report released to mark World Food Day on Oct. 16 by anti-poverty NGO ActionAid, China gets high marks for hunger alleviation while India is singled out for...

Shanghai Pushes "Two Child" Population Policy

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on July 24

Here's a twist on baby boomers: China's longstanding "One Child" population control policy is being relaxed by the city of Shanghai in a bid to boost a higher birth rate...

On China, the Economic Crisis and the Jews

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on February 24

The New Yorker's China blogger, Evan Osnos, has a post asking the age-old question, "Is China Good for the Jews?" Mainland China has just a tiny number of Jews (most...

Slumdog Millionaire and reflections on India

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on February 10

Slumdog Millionaire is a brilliant, authentic, deeply disturbing and deeply uplifting film all at the same time. The depiction of slum life, a brutalized childhood, gang wars, police methods, India...

1000 Caught Cheating on China Civil Service Exams

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on January 20

Desperate times call for desperate measures. As the worldwide slowdown starts to bite in China, job hunting has become particularly brutal. According to the official state news ageny Xinhua,...

Tougher Rules, Smart Cards Snuff Out Smoking in Japan

Posted by: Kenji Hall on October 23

Smokers are a dying breed in Japan. That's one way of looking at the annual nationwide survey of smoking released by Japan Tobacco today. The country's biggest cigarette maker found...

Inflation Shines Spotlight on Japan's Penny-Pinching Geniuses

Posted by: Kenji Hall on August 27

Only in Japan would a housewife taping plastic flaps to the shelves inside her fridge make it to prime-time TV. Of course, she wasn't just accessorizing her fridge. She was...