Reference | FYI Jun 18, 2013

'Big data' — a digital sea of personal info ripe for the taking?

by Hiroko Nakata

Shop at Amazon.com and one automatically receives recommendations on books and other items based on previous queries and purchases. Similarly, checking a Facebook entry causes ads for local products and services to pop up. These automatic ads and messages are the product of “big ...

Reference | FYI Jun 11, 2013

New ID system for keeping tax tabs, finding cheats

by Mizuho Aoki

The Diet passed the “common number” bill May 24, paving the way for every resident, including foreigners, to be assigned a personal identification number. Holders of the “my number” IDs will be notified around fall 2015 and they will take effect starting in January ...

Reference | FYI Jun 4, 2013

A term for Abe's ilk? Well, nonliberal

by Eric Johnston

Foreign media and overseas Japan experts largely use 19th- and 20th-century labels to describe Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and current Japanese politics led by his Liberal Democratic Party — “right-wing,” “hawkish,” “conservative” and “nationalist.” Japanese and the Japanese media either use and agree with, ...

Reference | FYI May 28, 2013

Tokyo's Koreatown emerged from the flow of bilateral ties

by Jun Hongo

Diplomatic friction between Tokyo and Seoul over territorial and historical disputes is making headlines once again, and Tokyo’s right-wing protesters know just where to go to get in the face of its Korean residents: Koreatown in Shinjuku Ward’s Shin-Okubo district. Following are some questions ...

Reference | FYI May 21, 2013

Fukushima No. 1 can't keep its head above tainted water

by Reiji Yoshida

More than two years into the triple-meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, workers continue to wage a desperate battle to keep the stricken reactors cool while trying to contain the 400 tons of radioactive water produced by the process each day.

Reference | FYI May 14, 2013

New thugs on block sidestep the usual suspects

by Tomohiro Osaki

Japan’s underworld, namely the “boryokudan” (gangster organizations) better known as yakuza, have been targeted with crackdowns in recent years focused on cutting their funding and expanding their criminal liability. But a new type of thug appears to be acting with impunity by operating in ...

Reference | FYI May 8, 2013

Spring fever hits workers, students hard after Golden Week

by Masaaki Kameda

It’s now a month since freshmen, finally freed from the stressful life of studying to pass rigorous university entrance exams, began their new lives at their new schools. April was also when newly hired workers began working at companies, gently easing into their new ...

Reference | FYI Apr 30, 2013

People's award: glittering honor or political tool?

by Kazuaki Nagata

The People's Honor Award, bestowed on those who have made tremendous achievements in their careers, has often drawn criticism for its vague nomination criteria and opaque selection process.

Reference | FYI Apr 23, 2013

Is legislation weighty enough to rebalance election system?

by Ayako Mie

While the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe enjoys high support rates, hovering around 70 percent, its very legitimacy is being questioned. More than a dozen high courts have handed down rulings confirming that vote-value disparities tainted the Dec. 16 general election that returned ...

Reference | FYI Apr 16, 2013

Startups find there's financing in numbers

by Hiroko Nakata

In a country where a stubbornly stagnant economy has turned the adventurous away from high-risk investment, fundraising has become one of the highest hurdles a startup can overcome.

Reference | FYI Apr 9, 2013

Foreign trainee system said still plagued by rights abuses

by Masami Ito

Last month, a Chinese trainee went on a stabbing rampage at a Hiroshima Prefecture seafood company where he worked, killing the president and an employee and wounding six others. The man had been a trainee at the oyster-processing plant as part of a government-authorized ...

Reference | FYI Apr 2, 2013

Resurgent rubella raises fetus threat

by Mizuho Aoki

The rubella epidemic is spreading quickly, particularly in the Kanto region. Usually limited to developing countries, the disease, also known as German measles, poses a threat to pregnant women as it can cause disorders in fetuses, including hearing impairments, cardiac disease and cataracts. Rubella ...