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P/CLOUDY
The consumption tax increase next April will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people's financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the impact of the hike, experts say.
Every parent is all too familiar with The Tantrum. The screaming, the flailing arms, the angry head butting — and the timing (normally in the most inconvenient public place possible).
International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.
Tucked away behind the main museums in Ueno, the Tokyo University Art Museum may not be on most people’s radar, but it is definitely one of the city’s top museums in terms of curatorial quality. Whenever I go there, I am always delighted by ...
Francisco Liriano showed up at PNC Park on Tuesday afternoon in a suit with his suitcase packed for a trip St. Louis. The message reverberated through the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse. After 21 years away from the playoffs, it was time for the best story ...
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 ...
Congratulations to Donald Keene, who was granted Japanese citizenship last month with great media fanfare. At 89 years young and after a lifetime contributing to world scholarship on Japan, he truly deserves it. Unfortunately, while receiving all the kudos, Keene demonstrated that he had ...
Last December, the Japanese government announced that a new visa regime with a “points system” would be introduced this spring. It is designed to attract 2,000 non-Japanese (NJ) with a “high degree of capability” (kōdo jinzai), meaning people with high salaries, impeccable educational and ...
The Just Be Cause column has been running now for four years (thanks for reading!), and I’ve noticed something peculiar: how commentators are pressured to say “nice” stuff about Japan. If you don’t, you get criticized for an apparent “lack of balance” — as ...
Here’s JBC’s fourth annual roundup of the top 10 human rights events that affected Japan’s non-Japanese (NJ) residents last year. Ranked in ascending order of impact: Kim Jong Il dies This might rank higher with the benefit of hindsight, but right now it’s unclear ...
These past few columns have addressed fundamentally bad habits in Japanese society that impede positive social change. Last month I talked about public trust being eroded by social conventions that permit (even applaud) the systematic practice of lying in public. This month, let’s discuss ...
There is an axiom in Japanese: uso mo hōben — “lying is also a means to an end.” It sums up the general attitude in Japan of tolerance of — even justification for — not telling the truth. First — defining “telling the truth” ...