Editorial Standards

Accuracy, fairness and transparency are the foundation of everything Japan Issue publishes. These standards are our promise so that readers can trust what they read on Japan Issue.

Fact-checking and sources

• Official sources first — We prioritize primary sources such as announcements and statistics from the Government of Japan, its ministries and agencies, local governments, public institutions and international organizations.
• Cross-checking — News articles are published only after checking several independent sources. We never use unverified figures, institutions or quotes.
• Source records — We keep a record of the sources behind each article in our internal files.

Fairness

We do not speak for any political party, company or group. On disputed issues we report official positions and confirmed facts in a balanced way, and we keep facts separate from interpretation and outlook.

Use of artificial intelligence (AI)

Japan Issue is published in 20 languages, and our editorial team uses AI tools to organize material and to write each language edition natively. AI-assisted articles are held to the same sourcing rules and quality checks, and anything that falls short is not published.

Corrections

When an error is confirmed, we fix it promptly and note significant corrections in the article. Requests for corrections or replies are welcome through Tips & Contact.

Advertising and news are separate

Advertising and partnerships do not influence which stories we cover or what they say, and ads are clearly marked as distinct from articles.

Privacy and human rights

We do not publish information that identifies private individuals, such as their names, faces or contact details, and we avoid defamatory or discriminatory language.