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 | VIEWS FROM THE STREET Aug 12, 2013
Tokyo: If today was your last day on Earth, what on Earth would you do?
by Mark Buckton
Shintaro Horiki Barman, 33 (Japanese) I would do as I always do — no real changes for me. I would stay home or go to work, to sleep — same as always, except perhaps for one thing: I always take one hour to get ...
Issues | JUST BE CAUSE Aug 5, 2013
Ol' blue eyes isn't back: Tsurunen's tale offers lessons in microcosm for DPJ
by Debito Arudou
Spare a thought for Marutei Tsurunen, Japan's first European-born naturalized immigrant parliamentarian, who was voted out in last month's House of Councilors election.
Voices | VIEWS FROM THE STREET Jul 29, 2013
Tokyo: Now that Abe's coalition has a majority in both Diet chambers, what should he do?
by Mark Buckton
Kiyomitsu YokoyamaProperty manager, 34 (Japanese)I would like to buy a house in the future, so while housing loan taxes are low now, I would like to see Mr. Abe help those looking to buy houses by lowering these taxes even further. Also, I think ...
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jul 29, 2013
Prove you're Japanese: when being bicultural can be a burden
by Louise George Kittaka
Japanese are Japanese and foreigners are foreigners, and never the twain shall meet? In many aspects of daily life in this country, there is one way for the Japanese and another for the rest of us. Like it or not, that's just how it ...
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jul 29, 2013
There is more to my son than the fact he's a 'half'
by Ryan Surdick
For foreign residents, having a child in Japan can be a daunting prospect. Going to the hospital and trying to figure out what the doctor is saying in complex Japanese medical terms is just one of myriad trials.
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jul 15, 2013
Trolls or media watchdogs?: Japan's foreign-born defenders
by Stuart Braun
Have the foreign media got it in for Japan? Do they unduly focus on, and sensationalize, Fukushima radiation leaks, alleged racial intolerance and the self-aggrandizing policy pronouncements of the reborn Liberal Democratic Party?
Issues | JUST BE CAUSE Jul 8, 2013
Police 'foreign crime wave' falsehoods fuel racism
by Debito Arudou
These Community pages have reported many times on how the National Police Agency (NPA) has manufactured the illusion of a “foreign crime wave,” depicting non-Japanese (NJ) as a threat to Japan’s public safety (see “Upping the fear factor,” Zeit Gist, Feb. 20, 2007; “Time ...
Politics & Diplomacy Jul 6, 2013
Expats vote at embassies, consulates
Expatriate voters began visiting Japanese embassies and consulates around the world Friday to cast their ballots for the July 21 House of Councilors election. Jun Makihara, 55, who stopped by Japan’s consulate general in New York, said he would vote for Prime Minister Shinzo ...
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jun 25, 2013
Authors take polar-opposite tacks as they try to decipher Japanese women
by Gianni Simone
It’s an all-too-familiar story: On the romantic front, foreign ladies living in Japan have it bad while the guys do unbelievably well. For every woman who complains about Japanese men’s aloofness and lack of communication skills, there is a man who boasts about all ...
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jun 25, 2013
'Yellow fever' and the fantasy of the Asian female
by Nicolas Gattig
Here is a dumb thing you should never do: watch the 007 caper “You Only Live Twice” with your feminist American girlfriend — a woman of color to boot. In a series renowned for its sexism, the Japan entry takes the biscuit. My date ...
How-tos | LIFELINES Jun 25, 2013
A year on, what you should already know about residence cards and re-entry
by Masami Kittaka
Reader CW writes: “I’ve lived here 35 years and am a permanent resident. Recently I met an American who had just returned through Tokyo immigration and all the information about his work, residence and visa status was on his card but not on his ...
Community Jun 25, 2013
Western men, on Japanese women: book excerpts
• From “Understanding Japanese Women: Taking the Mystery Out of the Mysterious Women of Japan” by David J. Radtke: A few years back, while deeply entrenched in running a private English school here in Japan, I had the opportunity to work with a very ...