Tag - the-zeit-gist

 
 

THE ZEIT GIST

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 5, 2013
Juku: an unnecessary evil or vital steppingstone to success?
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 at juku, or cram school.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 18, 2012
Nova's restructuring laid the foundations for Geos' revival
This year marked the fifth anniversary of the collapse of English language school giant Nova, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 26, 2007.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 18, 2012
Stop thinking — the test is about to start
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 11, 2012
Childbirth in Japan: Plan, prioritize for a smooth delivery
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. Add in talk of no pain relief typically being offered during labor and it is enough to make an expectant mother want to jump on the next plane home.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 4, 2012
'Were we marines used as guinea pigs on Okinawa?'
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 program subjected thousands of unwitting American service members around the globe to substances including sarin and VX nerve gases between 1962 and 1974.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 20, 2012
Tackling the nihongo mountain, by strategy: from base camp to the plateau and beyond
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 against a solid wall of indecipherable ideograms. Asking for directions was often a futile exercise, as most people only spoke a little English at best.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 13, 2012
Failing students: Japanese universities facing reckoning or reform
I had been warned of the "Circus," yet still I was unprepared.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 23, 2012
Against all odds, Mormons in Japan soldier on
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 America by a man named Mormon. Smith wouldn't show anyone the plates until he had translated the "reformed Egyptian" — a language unknown to linguists — using a "seer stone." Only after this miraculous translation did he reveal the plates to just 11 Mormon "witnesses."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 16, 2012
Niseko puts faith in powder to revive tourism boom
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.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 9, 2012
A guide to navigating Japan's exotic legal-eagle menagerie
A common mistake made by foreigners trying to accomplish things in Japan is to go to a lawyer (bengoshi) with their problems. It is not a mistake because of a bunch of hooey about Japanese people not looking to the law for solutions, but because a lawyer may not be the best man or woman for the job.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 2, 2012
Abuse by Irish priest could be tip of iceberg
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.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 18, 2012
Shilling for our side over the Senkakus
Akihiro Suzuki does not think war will come, but if it does, he believes Japan will prevail.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 18, 2012
It's past midnight but child-abduction treaty promise is not yet a pumpkin
Despite much promise and a flurry of activity, it didn't happen: Japan failed to ratify the Hague Convention on international child abduction and pass the extensive piece of accompanying domestic legislation the government felt was necessary in order for it to do so. Both items on the Diet agenda were left up in the air when it closed for business on Sept. 8, with an election for the House of Representatives expected to be held before the end of the year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 11, 2012
18 months on, 'stayjin' in Tokyo, Iwaki tell a tale of two cities
While the media both in Japan and overseas reported on a perceived exodus of foreigners in the immediate aftermath of the March 11, 2011, disasters in Tohoku, the reality is that very few actually left for good.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 4, 2012
With Berlitz beaten but not bowed, union fights on
Before instructors became embroiled in a fierce legal battle with Berlitz Japan, there was a time when the English language school chain's robust image made it a top choice among foreign job-seekers.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 4, 2012
Our mixed-race children deserve better than this, so why bother with Japan?
When it comes to parceling out rights, Japanese law makes a very clear distinction: What you get depends upon whether you are a Japanese citizen or not. Sort of.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 21, 2012
Do your research to avoid medical surprises in Japan
Understanding how Japanese medical practice differs from that in your home country can be crucial to avoiding unwelcome surprises next time you or a loved one find yourselves in need of treatment at a local clinic or hospital.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 14, 2012
Yokosuka rape victim takes fight for justice to U.S. courts
Australian Catherine Jane Fisher, who was raped by a U.S. Navy sailor in Yokosuka in 2002, has now taken her case for compensation all the way to the U.S. courts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 7, 2012
Poisons in the Pacific: Guam, Okinawa and Agent Orange
The day after 19-year-old Sgt. Leroy Foster arrived on Guam's Andersen Air Force Base, one of America's largest Pacific military installations, in 1968, he was assigned to what his superior officers called "vegetation control duties."
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 7, 2012
25,000 barrels of Agent Orange kept on Okinawa, U.S. Army document says
During the Vietnam War, 25,000 barrels of Agent Orange were stored on Okinawa, according to a recently uncovered U.S. Army report. The barrels, thought to contain over 5.2 million liters of the toxic defoliant, had been brought to Okinawa from Vietnam before apparently being taken to Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean, where the U.S. military is known to have incinerated its stocks of Agent Orange in 1977.

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