Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Aug 7, 2012
Less naming and shaming, better translations and more pragmatism, please
Readers’ responses to Debito Arudou’s last column, “In formulating immigration policy, no seat at the table for non-Japanese”: Outrageous claims need rebutting In his July 3 column, Mr. Debito Arudou makes gratuitous mention of my name and says that in my articles for The ...
Issues | HAVE YOUR SAY Jul 31, 2012
Debate rages over value of JET program, assistant language teachers
Some readers’ responses to letters published in this column on July 10 (“Readers lament the ever-shrinking eikaiwa salary“) regarding Patrick Budmar’s July 3 Zeit Gist article, “The curious case of the eroding eikaiwa salary“: ALTs a waste of boards’ money I agree with much ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Jul 31, 2012
Gawking children are tolerable, but adults have no excuse
Belated readers’ responses to “Parents, please keep your kids away from me at feeding time” by Christy Bridgeman (Hotline to Nagatacho, May 22) and J. Bradley Bulsterbaum’s letter on the subject, “Cut gaijin-gawking children some slack — it’s how they learn” (Have Your Say, ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Jul 24, 2012
'Flyjin' feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan: some readers' responses
Responses to Patrick Budmar’s June 12 Zeit Gist article, ” ‘Flyjin’ feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan:“ Don’t offer stage to Chicken Littles Ivan Stout and “Kate” may feel vindicated, but they certainly hold themselves up to continued derision by their rationalizations, ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Jul 17, 2012
Employees should work toward a life of leisure, not live to work
Some readers’ responses to Hifumi Okunuki’s June 19 Labor Pains column, “In ‘right-to-work’ Japan, employees should also have the right to rest“: The pursuit of real leisure Hifumi Okunuki calls for comments regarding Japanese workers’ right to rest. I agree with her criticism that ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Jul 10, 2012
Readers lament the ever-shrinking eikaiwa salary
Some readers’ responses to “The curious case of the eroding eikaiwa salary” by Patrick Budmar (Zeit Gist, July 3): JET program is a dinosaur Your article paints the image that only JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) ALTs (assistant language teachers) connect to their ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Jul 3, 2012
Strong winds linger from the microaggressions tempest
Readers’ responses to Debito Arudou’s May 1 Just Be Cause column, “Yes, I can use chopsticks: the everyday ‘microaggressions’ that grind us down,” his followup June 5 JBC column, “Guestists, Haters, the Vested: Apologists take many forms,” and Colin P.A. Jones’ counterarticle, “Much ado, ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Jun 26, 2012
Cut gaijin-gawking children some slack — it's how they learn
Re: “Parents, please keep your kids away from me at feeding time” by Christy Bridgeman (Hotline to Nagatacho, May 22): I don’t square with this writer’s rub; inquisitive children are amusing too, especially when trying to understand something. And the questions they ask! You ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY Jun 5, 2012
'It's just because ... foreigners know best': readers' views
Some readers’ views on John Spiri’s May 1 Zeit Gist column, “It’s just because . . . foreigners know best”: Why does Japan fire us all up? I applaud John Spiri for his long but well-balanced Zeit Gist article, and I note The Japan ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY May 29, 2012
Your haiku: the good, the bad and the ugly of Japan
The following are the winners of the haiku competition launched to mark the Community section’s 10th anniversary. The five recipients of the top prize, a copy of Debito Arudou and Akira Higuchi’s “Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants and Immigrants,” are marked by an asterisk. Other ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY May 22, 2012
The elephant in the foreigner's room now has a name: microaggression
Some positive and negative readers’ reactions to Debito Arudou’s provocative and widely read May 1 Just Be Cause column, “Yes, I can use chopsticks: the everyday ‘microaggressions’ that grind us down“: POSITIVE A weight off my shoulders I just wanted to thank you for ...
Voices | HAVE YOUR SAY May 15, 2012
Readers vent over 'Bread and becquerels'
Some readers’ responses to the April 17 Zeit Gist column by Gianni Simone, “Bread and becquerels: a year of living dangerously“: Feeding foreign media falsehoods In reading the article “Bread and becquerels,” I cannot help but be puzzled by the content and implications. Contrary ...