Japan and Hungary

Available for over a year

Personal stories, insight and wit from correspondents around the world, introduced by Pascale Harter. In this edition: Big in Japan The low Japanese birthrate is one of the most widely-known facts about the country. Little surprise, then, that the nation also has one of the highest adoption rates in the world - second only to the United States of America. But we're not talking about babies or children here. In Japan, it's overwhelmingly grown men - in their 20s and 30s - who are being adopted. Mariko Oi explains why. Down to earth with a bump Exactly a year ago this week, our Budapest correspondent Nick Thorpe, had a story to chase. Many stories, in fact he's writing a book about the mighty River Danube and had set out to cycle its length across Hungary. But when he'd almost reached half-way, disaster struck - in the form of a bicycle accident. It was a painful collision - but ended up teaching him new things about Hungarian healthcare, attitudes, and obligations.