In his Olympic year, Oscar Pistorius steadily became an avid firearms collector, joining a gun-collecting club and purchasing a collection of firearms that included a .500 Magnum pistol and a civilian version of a military assault rifle.
When it comes to gender equality, Japan has never failed to disappoint.
Here's an open secret: Japanese men have a bad international reputation on the romance front.
SELLING WOMEN: Prostitution, Markets and the Household in Early Modern Japan, by Amy Stanley. University of California Press, 2012, 282 pp., $49.95 (hardcover) In the vast cultural landscape, Japan fascinates the mainstream with manga and anime, the martial arts, Zen and kimono. Of course, ...
Manchester United's Shinji Kagawa is back with a bang, becoming the first Asian player to score a hat trick in the English Premier League.
Debito is the Just Be Cause columnist for the Community Page and has been contributing to The Japan Times since 2002. Author of seven books, including “Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants and Immigrants” (2nd Ed.), “Japanese Only” and the novel “In Appropriate,” he has been a naturalized Japanese citizen since 2000. His daily blog and archive is at www.debito.org.
For Debito Arudou's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
On Jan. 1, The Japan Times’ lead story was “Summer poll to keep Abe in check.” It made the argument that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party alliance falls short of a majority in the Upper House, so until elections happen this summer ...
Back by popular demand, here is JBC’s roundup of the top 10 human rights events that most affected non-Japanese (NJ) residents of Japan in 2012, in ascending order. Bubbling under • China’s anti-Japan riots (September) and Senkaku-area maneuvers (October to now). • North Korea’s ...
Remember grade school, when the most demanding question put to you was something as simple as “What color do you like?” Choose any color, for there is no wrong answer. This is the power of “like,” where nobody can dispute your preference. You don’t ...
On Oct. 25, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara announced his resignation from office. He now plans to stand for election to the Diet as head of a new conservative party. He suggested political alliances with other conservative reactionaries and xenophobes, including Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto ...
No doubt you’ve seen the news about the Takeshima and Senkaku disputes: Japan is sparring with China, South Korea and Taiwan over some specks in the ocean. Why is this happening? Theories include pre-election political posturing and securing borders to exploit resources. But it’s ...
As per this column’s title, this month’s topic was chosen, well, “just because” it’s been on my mind. Some weeks ago I was asked to give a speech at my current research institute. When I offered workshops on activism and racial discrimination in Japan ...
As Beto awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his futon into a gigantic cockroach. “What’s happened to me?” he thought. In his native land down south, he had been a person — if at times underprivileged due to his ...
Last month the Japanese government took baby steps toward an official immigration policy. Ten ministries and several specialist “people of awareness” (yūshikisha) held meetings aimed at creating a “coexistence society” (kyōsei shakai) within which non-Japanese (NJ) would be “accepted” (uke ire). This is a ...
Last month’s column on “microaggressions” was my most debated yet. Thanks for reading and commenting. So this month, let’s explore how the microaggression dynamic works in all societies, and why some people live in denial of it. Brace yourself for a bit of theory ...
Have you ever noticed how many interpersonal interactions in Japan are like “speed dates” of set questions? For example, the taxi drivers who have the odd fascination about where you’re from, whether you’re married, how much you like Japan, and how hard you think ...
