National
Researchers hurt at Ibaraki nuclear facility
Up to 30 researchers are feared to have suffered internal radiation exposure after an experiment went awry at a Japan Atomic Energy Agency facility.
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Apr 10, 2012
Book is behind bullying of mixed-race children
Dear Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Hirofumi Hirano, My three beautiful children were all born in Japan and went to Japanese public schools. Their mother is a native Japanese of Japanese ethnic background, and I am a Canadian citizen of African ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Apr 3, 2012
'Silver democracy' could undermine Tohoku's reconstruction
Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, With all the challenges facing your government in reforming the economy and rebuilding Tohoku, I imagine you don’t have much time for poetry. But there is a poem I’d like to share with you, and I think you’ll agree ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Feb 21, 2012
Focus on 'exceptions' waters down abduction pact
For the attention of the Japanese government: Like many other court hearings that follow a divorce, a court transcript out of Tennessee reflects testimony concerning a couple’s two children: Attorney: Ms. Savoie. … You have known all along that Dr. Savoie’s biggest fear is ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Dec 13, 2011
One-fifth of kids deprived of contact with one parent
Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Minister of Justice Hideo Hiraoka, Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba, Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare Yoko Komiyama, and the government of Japan, I pose the question: How many children in Japan cannot be with both of their ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Dec 13, 2011
One-fifth of kids deprived of contact with one parent
Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Minister of Justice Hideo Hiraoka, Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba, Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare Yoko Komiyama, and the government of Japan, I pose the question: How many children in Japan cannot be with both of their ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Nov 22, 2011
Universities risk getting what they pay for with English tutors
To the Ministry of Education, I returned from summer vacation and, as I do every year, inquired about how friends had enjoyed their holidays. For many, the promised joy of spending time with family and friends was marred by the news that they were ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Oct 25, 2011
Kurosawa's nightmare and the voices of Fukushima
Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, After the disasters of March 11 occurred, I was reminded of Akira Kurosawa’s 1990 movie, “Dreams.” The film includes one episode, “Mount Fuji in Red,” that depicts explosions at a nuclear power plant near Mount Fuji that actually cause ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Oct 18, 2011
Noda, tear down this 'nuclear village'
Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, The Great East Japan Earthquake was a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions. While the quake and tsunami did tremendous damage to Tohoku, the triple meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant did even more harm to the country by ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Sep 27, 2011
Words of wisdom from JFK to Japan's new chief
Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, The German architect Walter Gropius said, “Specialists are people who always make the same mistakes.” He could have been talking about the majority of postwar Japanese prime ministers. In your lifetime, 25 prime ministers have governed Japan, or tried ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Sep 20, 2011
Restructuring for the future, not rebuilding the past
Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Over 560 sq. km of northeast Japan was inundated by the tsunami that followed the massive March 11 earthquake, leaving over 20,000 dead or missing and devastating farmland, ports and nearly the whole regional fishing economy. The subsequent shutdown ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Sep 13, 2011
Japan gets vital chance to rethink energy policy
Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan continues to resonate far beyond its geographical borders for many reasons, but most of all because it exposed a deep fault line that runs through the global nuclear industry. The ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Aug 30, 2011
Japan's 'silent tsunami' severs parental ties, wrecks children's lives
To the next Prime Minister, I am the cofounder of Children First (childrenfirst.jp), an NPO that focuses on children’s issues. Every three minutes another child loses all contact with one of their parents after divorce. Every seven minutes another child is a victim of ...