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.
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Oct 2, 2011
Japan's leaders still don't get it — but whither that 'heretical' 1960s spirit?
by Roger Pulvers
Upwards of 2,000 demonstrators clash with riot police. Sections of trains are set alight, the fire spreads into the station and trains don’t start running until late in the morning. In the middle of the night, some 450 people are arrested. Another time, at ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Sep 25, 2011
Humble pie notably absent from the food fancies of worthies and others
by Roger Pulvers
Food is a staple fare of the media, whether in the form of recipes, restaurant reviews or photographs of meals to die for. Food is health; food is economics; food is culture; but food is also politics. “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Sep 18, 2011
Mako: the Japanese-American actor who fought racist stereotypes
by Roger Pulvers
Second of two parts When “The Green Hornet,” the old radio and comic book series about the masked white vigilante, was turned into a television series in 1966-’67, Japanese-American actor Mako played the Chinese Low Sing, while Chinese-American and Hong Kong actor Bruce Lee ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Sep 11, 2011
Taro Yashima: an unsung beacon for all against 'evil on this Earth'
by Roger Pulvers
First of two parts A little boy cannot be found at his village school. He is hiding under its floorboards. His name is Chibi, which means “little tyke.” He cannot make friends. The other children will not play with him. Chibi stares at the ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Sep 4, 2011
As 9/11 nears, morality dictates we recall victims of America, too
by Roger Pulvers
In the lead-up this week to the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, it is important to keep in mind this: Dates take on a mythical significance that may mask reality. Sept. ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Aug 28, 2011
Fame may be fleeting, but warm memories of Miyoshi Umeki live on
by Roger Pulvers
Aug. 28 is the fourth anniversary of the passing of a woman who was an icon in both Japan and the United States. Yet her death in 2007 was barely noted in this, her home country, despite her meteoric rise to stardom in America ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Aug 21, 2011
Should wartime and peace allow such different attitudes to murder?
by Roger Pulvers
It is now nearly a month since the July 22 attacks on innocent Norwegians by the rightwing anti-Muslim terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, and aftershocks from those mass murders are still reverberating around the world. Yet massacres of innocents are everyday occurrences in wartime. Nowadays, ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Aug 14, 2011
Barriers to multiculturalism are as low as they've ever been in Japan
by Roger Pulvers
Second of two parts Multiculturalism entails much more than a spot of schmoozing with your friendly checkout counter migrant or splurging once a week on a spicy takeaway. Rather, it is an entire paradigm of social organization that offers and guarantees equality of opportunity ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Aug 7, 2011
Norway's horrors betray a bigoted ignorance of nationality's meaning
by Roger Pulvers
First of two parts The horrendous acts of terror perpetrated last month in Norway amount to an attempt to stem the tide of multiculturalism flowing throughout Europe. They were apparently committed with a mind to incite a white Aryan revolution against non-whites and Muslims. ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Jul 31, 2011
Timely film reiterates the 'no nukes' urgings of Barefoot Gen's creator
by Roger Pulvers
“Nothing has changed from the time of the atom bombs. … It stands to reason that people are terrified of what they cannot see. I understand the hysteria. In the end, humans must not resort to the atom that they cannot control. The time ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Jul 24, 2011
What a difference a friend's tales of 'hair on the heart' can still make
by Roger Pulvers
“Shinzo ni Ke ga Haeteiru Wake” is the intriguing title of a book published in April by Kadokawa. The book was written by my good friend, Mari Yonehara, and its title in English would be “That’s Why Hair Grows on the Heart.” In this ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Jul 17, 2011
In charting their life's course, today's youth might better stay foolish
by Roger Pulvers
Why is this generation of young people in Japan so self-absorbed and seemingly unconcerned, to the point of distracted apathy, about the social and political dilemmas facing their country today? I have been trying to put my finger on the pulse of this generation ...