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A sit-in by visa violators and their families entered its second day Tuesday in front of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau with protesters seeking government good will. The action at the bureau in Minato Ward is being organized by the Asian People’s Friendship Society, ...
Kazuhiro Shiraishi, 66, is a guest-house manager in the Izu-kogen Highlands, a famous resort area on the Izu Peninsula of Shizuoka Prefecture. Looking out onto the Pacific Ocean, and just 90 minutes by train from Tokyo, Izu has a warm climate all year round ...
“I was stopped by two men in a government-registered vehicle, blindfolded and dragged off the street. They took me away to a house in a place I did not know. I was forced into a room with blood all over the walls and floor, ...
Takashi Miike's blood-soaked vengeance tale, one of two Japanese films being shown in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, draws the biggest boos so far, with critics savaging it as overacted and cliched.
Have you ever given your best effort while striving to achieve something but felt like what you were doing was futile? That’s the feeling I’m getting about Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics. With just over three months to go until the IOC ...
I really feel sorry for dentists because they have to deal with difficult patients, especially those who have inflated ideas about their own dental IQ. I recently went in to have some dental work finished that had been started six months ago. I just ...
Despite the temperature being hot as blazes, mid-August is still considered the end of the swimming season in Japan. In our area of the Seto Inland Sea, it used to be said that after O-bon (around Aug. 15) the enko (sea nymphs) come out ...
I walked into the veterinarian’s office with my disgruntled cat. I’d been worried about my cat for a week already. Her health was steadily declining and I knew something was seriously wrong when the 4 a.m. Kitty Alarm stopped going off — that feline ...
One job that exists in Japan that doesn’t in my country is that of the career fairy. These are people, usually women, who work at places like the central post office or the bank and are on hand to help customers as they walk ...
“We went to the beach on the mainland,” said a foreign friend, “and it wasn’t very nice.” Why not? I wondered. The Seto Inland Sea has some great beaches. “Well,” she said, “first of all we had to pay ¥1,000 just to park the ...
Fed up with long working hours, minimal job security and paltry remuneration in Japan’s depressed economy, maneki neko cats all over Japan are going on strike. “I don’t know where the hard-working, beckoning cat image comes from,” said one battery-enhanced cat who agreed to ...
When my cat turned 13 recently, I knew it was time for the dreaded “cat discussion.” You know, the one where you tell them about the happy hunting ground in the sky. Since cats usually die before their owners do, it’s tough for me ...
The ban on serving raw beef liver at restaurants in Japan is a small victory for the bovine community. The question now is, will this cause a black market to fill the gap? Could mere cow tipping turn into liver-stealing? Will we have little ...
“Why did you come to Japan?” We’ve all been asked this question. I still can’t give a good answer. I certainly know why I came here, but such a point-blank question, usually from someone you hardy know, calls for an equal and reticent answer. ...
The setsuden (power-saving) campaign is now in full force, as residents all over Japan are being encouraged to conserve electricity so there is enough to get through the high-use summer months. Even on my small island of 609 people, each household received a list ...
Read my lips: no new taxes! Just old ones raised. Civil service workers are taking a pay cut to help pay off Tohoku earthquake and tsunami debt, the government is discussing raising pension payments while cutting benefits, Tokyo Electric Power Co. is raising electricity ...
Welcome to the rainy season. Welcome to the invasion of insects! Contrary to what most people will tell you, I think the rainy season is the most exciting part of the year in Japan. Believe me, you’re gonna see plenty of strange things. Every ...