National
NRA makes new reactor safety regimen official
The Nuclear Regulation Authority officially approves new safety requirements for reactors aimed at preventing disasters like the catastrophe at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Chatting about Japan with Snowden, the NSA whistle-blower
by Christopher Johnson
Edward Snowden, the fugitive former CIA employee and NSA contractor who leaked secrets about America’s spying operations, often hung out online with foreigners in Japan who shared his interests in anime, video games, martial arts, the stock market and the expat lifestyle. Snowden, who ...
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Democracy, interrupted: How local voices were silenced in Tokyo's first referendum
by Chris Burgess
On Sunday, May 26, something quite remarkable happened in Kodaira city, western Tokyo: Over 50,000 citizens voted in Tokyo’s very first local referendum (jūmin tōhyō) on the issue of whether a 50-year-old plan to construct a road should be reviewed or not. Unfortunately, the ...
Our Lives | WHO'S WHO
Finnish diplomat pushes child-rearing for dads
by Mami Maruko
For Finnish diplomat Mikko Koivumaa, being an ikumen (men who take an active role in ikuji, or child rearing) comes naturally. Hailing from a country known to have a high level of gender equality, Koivumaa says ikumen is standard practice in Finland. “In Finland, ...
