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Keiji Hirano
For Keiji Hirano's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2019
A 70-year fight: Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow's quest for the abolition of nuclear weapons
On the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, 13-year-old Setsuko Nakamura was on the second floor of a wooden building in Hiroshima with her classmates when a blue flash of light engulfed her.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2019
Pope and ex-death row inmate Iwao Hakamada could meet during Japan visit in signal on capital punishment
Expectations are growing that Pope Francis will meet with an 83-year-old man whose death sentence was recently suspended after a 48-year stint on death row, to send a clear signal about his opposition to capital punishment.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Aug 15, 2019
Long after his hanging, teen quadruple-murderer continues to stir debate on death penalty in Japan
Half a century since his arrest in 1969, and 22 years since his execution, Norio Nagayama, a repentant random killer who became a prolific writer behind bars, is still provoking debate on the issues surrounding capital punishment, poverty and children's rights.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 24, 2019
A son's struggle for acquittal in deadly 1949 Mitaka train crash
Kenichiro Takeuchi has gone through numerous hardships as the son of a former death row inmate who was convicted of carrying out a mysterious fatal train accident in chaotic postwar Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2019
Photojournalist documents the 'unheard voices' of Japanese wives who went to North Korea
An award-winning photojournalist has shed light on forgotten Japanese women who married Korean men and moved to North Korea during a 1959-1984 repatriation project.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 28, 2019
Archive to tell story of Beate Sirota Gordon's pivotal role in fight for gender equality in Japan
Documents related to Beate Sirota Gordon, the American translator who played a major role in the formulation of the Japanese Constitution's gender equality protections, are being archived in a project exploring the development of women's rights.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 24, 2018
Filmmaker makes her case for a nuclear phase-out in latest documentary
Masako Sakata, an award-winning Japanese documentary film director, took the long route to answer a gnawing question: How is it that Japan is still wedded to atomic power while Germany decided to phase out its nuclear plants by 2022 in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2018
Photos highlight the everyday lives of prisoners in Japan
A week-long photo exhibition being held next month will aim to shed light on the everyday lives of inmates of Japanese prisons and promote public awareness about the challenges the country's criminal justice system faces.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 16, 2018
Documentary takes a look at friendship in the aftermath of wrongful imprisonment
Kim Sung-woong, a documentary film director, says he listened with awe as he heard remarks by a man who was falsely accused in a high-profile murder case.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 2, 2018
Teigin Incident: 70 years on, efforts continue to clear late artist's name in 1948 Tokyo mass murder
Marking the 70th anniversary of one of Japan's most compelling mass murder cases, a Tokyo gallery is showcasing 21 paintings made by a death row inmate who was convicted of the Teigin Incident, with the aim of providing the public with a look into the creativity of the award-winning artist who remained true to his craft even in prison while pursuing exoneration.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 19, 2017
Taiwanese man facing deportation from Japan struggles to stay with same-sex partner
A Taiwanese man who has lived in Japan with his male Japanese partner for nearly a quarter century is now on the brink of separation not because he has fallen out of love but because he faces deportation for overstaying his visa.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 7, 2017
LGBT advocates push for nationwide recognition of same-sex marriage
Calls are growing in Japan for same-sex marriage to be legalized so LGBT couples can enjoy the same benefits that heterosexual couples do.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 2, 2017
Veteran activist, sour on electoral system, keeps fight for local rights alive over half a century
Shogo Miyazaki, a defiant activist who led an unsuccessful movement to oppose the construction of a freight line through a quiet residential area of Yokohama in the 1960s and 70s, is still unconvinced about the utility of Japan's electoral system.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2017
Japanese researcher focuses on U.S. minorities, without reservation
A Japanese researcher whose worldview was shaped by a transcontinental journey in his youth has spent years chronicling the lives of Native Americans and other minorities in the United States.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2017
Asia Press, freelance journalists' group, marks 30th birthday
Marking the 30th anniversary of its founding, a group of freelance journalists shared its news gathering experiences at a symposium in Tokyo on Saturday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2017
Japan NGO Carabao Family helps sustain small Philippine farms, one water buffalo at a time
For the past three decades, a Japanese nongovernmental organization has been supporting farmers in the Philippines by providing them with the workhorse of Southeast Asia: the water buffalo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jun 13, 2017
Drama based on actual interrogation tapes shows how man claiming innocence was pushed to confess
A newly compiled DVD features a dramatic re-enactment of how police coerced a man during interrogation in 1963 to confess to the murder of a 16-year-old high school girl in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2017
Guidebook covers 'comfort women' museums across Asia
A Tokyo-based museum that focuses on issues involving wartime sexual violence against females has compiled a guidebook on its counterparts around Asia in an effort to have more of the victims heard.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2017
Famed Saitama art gallery kicks off fundraising campaign to preserve Hiroshima Panels
A gallery in Saitama Prefecture has launched a fundraising campaign to preserve its main exhibit — a series of large panels depicting the horrors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — in the face of damage caused by insects, ultraviolet rays and grit and dust.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 29, 2017
Newly released archives stir memories of Japan's anti-apartheid campaign
Activists who took part in an anti-apartheid movement years ago in Japan, while voicing support for those oppressed in South Africa, are featured in newly released university archives.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world