Politics & Diplomacy
Hashimoto to retract sex suggestion for U.S. military
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto aims to retract his remark that U.S. servicemen in Okinawa should use its adult entertainment industry to avoid committing sex offenses.
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Dec 27, 2011
Readers' views: Do foreigners deserve a fairer shake in Japan?
Some responses to the Nov. 6 Just Be Cause column by Debito Arudou headlined “For the sake of Japan’s future, foreigners deserve a fair shake“: Favoring ‘the 1 percent’ Debito Arudou’s comments on unfairness toward foreigners in Japan are well taken. However, after living ...
Issues | JUST BE CAUSE Dec 6, 2011
For the sake of Japan's future, foreigners deserve a fair shake
by Debito Arudou
These past few columns have addressed fundamentally bad habits in Japanese society that impede positive social change. Last month I talked about public trust being eroded by social conventions that permit (even applaud) the systematic practice of lying in public. This month, let’s discuss ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Nov 15, 2011
Tatemae as truth, culture clashes and Arudou's dangerous myth
Some responses to Debito Arudou’s Nov. 1 Just Be Cause column, headlined “The costly fallout of tatemae and Japan’s culture of deceit“: Tatemae a type of truth, not lie Although I agree with fellow activist Debito Arudou on most things, I must take issue ...
Community | THE ZEIT GIST Nov 1, 2011
Schizophrenic Constitution leaves foreigners' rights mired in confusion
by Colin P. A. Jones
Pop quiz: Who live in palatial homes in fashionable Tokyo neighborhoods but are subject to various forms of discrimination, have no family registry, can’t vote and have limited constitutional rights? Answer: the Imperial Family. For those of you who responded “expat bankers,” I will ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Sep 13, 2011
The loneliness — or otherwise — of the long-distance foreigner
The Japan Times received a large number of readers’ emails in response to Debito Arudou’s Just Be Cause column published Aug. 2, headlined “The loneliness of the long-distance foreigner.” Here, belatedly, are a selection. The elephant in the room This topic is something of ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Aug 2, 2011
World needs lessons in dealing with difference; Japan needs an education in attracting students
Following are three more readers’ mails in response to both Gerry McLellan’s May 24 Hotline to Nagatacho column “Japanese adults need an education in dealing with difference” and other letters published on the subject on June 28. Education also needed elsewhere In response to ...
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Jul 12, 2011
Boycott sumo, a sport tainted by racist rules
To the Japan Sumo Association: I have yet to watch a sumo bout. It’s one of the few unfulfilled goals I set for myself when I made a list of things to do while living in Japan. I’ve heard that sporting events in Japan ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Feb 1, 2011
Rural alien attacks 'insult' in Arudou almanac; 'Love it/leave it' lacks logic
Following are responses to “Arudou’s Alien Almanac” by Debito Arudou (Just Be Cause, Jan. 4): Insulting rural Japanese I enjoy reading The Japan Times online very much, and look forward to the news almost every day. It’s reported in a well-written and seemingly unbiased ...
Issues | JUST BE CAUSE Feb 1, 2011
Naturalized Japanese: foreigners no more
by Debito Arudou
In Dec. 28′s Japan Times, Charles Lewis wrote a respectful Zeit Gist column asking three fellow wise men (sumo wrestler Konishiki, musicologist Peter Barakan and Diet member Marutei Tsurunen) about their successful lives as “foreigners” in Japan. Despite their combined century of experience here, ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Jan 18, 2011
Mind the gap, get over it: readers' views
Following are are a selection of readers’ responses to “Mind the gap, get over it” by Charles Lewis (Zeit Gist, Dec. 28): Patronizing, naive, dangerous While living in Japan from 2007 to 2010, I experienced my fair share of discrimination. I was denied housing, ...
Community Jan 4, 2011
Arudou's Alien Almanac: 2000-2010
by Debito Arudou
No. 5: The Otaru onsen case (’99-2005) This lawsuit followed the landmark Ana Bortz case of 1999, where a Brazilian plaintiff sued and won against a jewelry store in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, that denied her entry for looking foreign. Since Japan has no national ...
Issues | THE ZEIT GIST Dec 28, 2010
Mind the gap, get over it: Japan hands
by Charles Lewis
Things have changed for the better for foreigners since the old days in Japan. Cries of “Expel the barbarians!” are rare now. The five settlements where foreign residents were required to live in the Meiji Era are a thing of the past. The Ee ...