Nicolas Gattig - The Japan Times

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Nicolas Gattig

Nicolas Gattig is a teacher and writer from San Francisco. His articles/essays about politics and education have been published in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, SOMA magazine, Street Sheet, and the Japan Times. He is greatly interested in literature and the effects of culture.

For Nicolas Gattig's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA

Nov 19, 2014

San Francisco's huff with Hashimoto over 'comfort women' reveals double standards

San Francisco's reaction to Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's comments about 'comfort women' says much about equality between nations, about how we judge each other through cultural lenses and blinders, and how we have to keep finding ways to address grievances from our past.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA

Oct 15, 2014

For Americans abroad, old 'Duke' flicks can transport us home

As expats, our Americatown is the corner DVD shop, where we know who we are and have roots.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT

Jun 23, 2014

Can Japan show the West how to live peacefully with Islam?

Uniting a colorful mix of expats, removed from the context of sectarian strife and the historical Western interference still haunting many Muslim countries, could the Japanese brand of Islam be a showcase for its peaceful essence?

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA

Apr 23, 2014

In a world of pretense, are Japanese just more honest about lying?

The net sum of lying may be similar in Japan and America, but in their acceptance of life exigencies, the Japanese may be more realistic, more charitable and forgiving about the role that deception plays in our social relations.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT

Dec 2, 2013

Between dreams and discrimination, Japanese build new lives in the City by the Bay

How are modern-day Japanese immigrants experiencing life in America — and in particular, San Francisco? What are their dreams, their struggles and rewards? And how do they handle the need to belong, the ceaseless negotiation between assimilation and roots?

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT

Aug 19, 2013

The world's a stage, but you don't have to play along

On the night of April 18, three days after the Boston Marathon bombing, a side-drama to that story unfolded between three men as they criss-crossed the city, a performance staged partly in the theater of culture.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT

Jun 25, 2013

'Yellow fever' and the fantasy of the Asian female

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.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

Nov 13, 2012

Failing students: Japanese universities facing reckoning or reform

I had been warned of the "Circus," yet still I was unprepared.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

Nov 22, 2011

MacArthur, identity theory and Japan's lingering eigo woes

Some years ago I was teaching an advanced English class in San Francisco that featured a hodgepodge of students from all over the world. Just as the range of cultures and accents extended from Europe to the Middle East to Asia and South America, so did the array of communication styles. Yet while the Egyptians, Koreans, Colombians and French all commented on a host of themes with varying degrees of passion and volubility, it was often the same segment that monosyllabically toiled through the topics: the students from Japan.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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