Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Mar 5, 2013

Juku: an unnecessary evil or vital steppingstone to success?

by Louise George Kittaka

For the past year, Tokyo sixth-grader Manami has had dinner at home an average of four times a week. The rest of the time she has had to make do with a juku-ben, a boxed dinner prepared by her mother and consumed between classes ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Dec 18, 2012

Nova's restructuring laid the foundations for Geos' revival

by Patrick Budmar

This year marked the fifth anniversary of the collapse of English language school giant Nova, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 26, 2007. Under the guidance of Nagoya-based G.Communication, the cram school and restaurant operator that initially bailed out the company, Nova was ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Dec 11, 2012

Childbirth in Japan: Plan, prioritize for a smooth delivery

by Louise George Kittaka

Emotions during pregnancy and childbirth run the gamut, from excitement and trepidation to joy and even fear. Foreign women who find themselves pregnant in Japan may experience additional stress as they cope with cultural differences, language issues and being away from their own families. ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Dec 4, 2012

'Were we marines used as guinea pigs on Okinawa?'

by Jon Mitchell

Newly discovered documents reveal that 50 years ago this week, the Pentagon dispatched a chemical weapons platoon to Okinawa under the auspices of its infamous Project 112. Described by the U.S. Department of Defense as “biological and chemical warfare vulnerability tests,” the highly classified ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Nov 20, 2012

Tackling the nihongo mountain, by strategy: from base camp to the plateau and beyond

by Gianni Simone

For foreigners who arrive in Japan with little knowledge or preparation, the first encounter with the local lingo can be brutal. In the past, for instance, newcomers would have taken the train from Narita airport to Tokyo or Shinjuku station and promptly run up ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Nov 13, 2012

Failing students: Japanese universities facing reckoning or reform

by Nicolas Gattig

I had been warned of the “Circus,” yet still I was unprepared. A vast lecture hall, students scattered, some of their chats undisturbed by the start of class. I write notes on the board; not a single pen takes the cue. A while into ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Oct 23, 2012

Against all odds, Mormons in Japan soldier on

by John Spiri

According to the Mormon version of postbiblical events, Joseph Smith, guided by an angel in 1823, found sacred golden plates buried in Manchester, New York, outside Rochester. The plates are claimed to have been buried around the year 400, having been brought from Central ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Oct 16, 2012

Niseko puts faith in powder to revive tourism boom

by Patrick Budmar

Throughout most of the 2010s, the meteoric rise in popularity of Hokkaido’s ski resorts among foreign visitors was widely documented in both the domestic and overseas media. In particular, the quiet town of Niseko in southwestern Hokkaido, 100 km west of Sapporo, quickly and ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Oct 2, 2012

Abuse by Irish priest could be tip of iceberg

by Michael Bradley

It is over three years since it was revealed that an Irish Catholic priest had abused several children in Japan. His victims here are probably still unaware their tormentor was a serial offender. Father Patrick Maguire worked in Japan between 1961 and 1974, during ...

Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Sep 18, 2012

Shilling for our side over the Senkakus

by David Mcneill

Akihiro Suzuki does not think war will come, but if it does, he believes Japan will prevail. “Of course, in general military terms China is more powerful,” says the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly lawmaker. “But with the weapons and technology we have from America, we ...