Glen S. Fukushima - The Japan Times

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Glen S. Fukushima

For Glen S. Fukushima's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY

Mar 25, 2002

There's more to a name than meets the eye

As someone who has crossed the Pacific Ocean over 450 times since 1956, I am constantly fascinated by the similarities and differences between the United States and Japan. Among the challenges facing someone who lives in both societies is that what is so positive in one country can often be so negative in the other.

CULTURE / Music

Sep 26, 2001

Asian Youth Orchestra brings vigor and virtuosity

Asian Youth Orchestra Aug. 31, Sergiu Comissiona conducting the Asian Youth Orchestra in the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall -- "Russlan and Ludmilla" Overture (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, 1804-57); Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E Minor, Op. 64 (Felix Mendelssohn, 1809-47) featuring Leila Josefowicz; Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 (Anton_ Dvorak, 1841-1904).

COMMENTARY

Mar 28, 2001

Understanding 'leadership' in Japan

An American scholar who recently proposed writing a book about leadership in Japan was told by his colleagues, "A book? You'll be lucky to find enough material to write a chapter, or more likely a newspaper article, on the subject!"

COMMENTARY

Feb 9, 2001

Which 'global standard'?

At the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland last month, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara reportedly attracted more attention than Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.

COMMENTARY

Jan 18, 2001

Bush faces an expectation gap

The emergence of George W. Bush as winner in the 2000 U.S. presidential election is creating an "expectation gap" between Japan and the United States.

COMMENTARY

Aug 19, 2000

Labor challenges for Japan

Since the end of the Cold War -- symbolized by the collapse of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989 -- "globalization" has become the world's most controversial subject. But what does "globalization" mean?

COMMENTARY

Aug 2, 2000

A decade of transformation

The 37th annual U.S.-Japan Business Conference that met in Tokyo last month reflected the vast changes that have taken place in the U.S.-Japan economic relationship over the past 10 years.

COMMENTARY

Jun 14, 2000

The chancy politics of weather

In less than two weeks, on Sunday, June 25, Japanese voters will cast their ballots in what will be Japan's last general election of the 20th century. This may well turn out to be the most important Japanese general election since July 18, 1993, which resulted in the inauguration, on Aug. 9 of that year, of the first non-Liberal Democratic Party prime minister in 38 years, Morihiro Hosokawa, and precipitated a series of changes in Japanese politics that brought to an end the so-called 1955 System of one-party rule by the LDP.

COMMENTARY

Apr 6, 2000

Still searching for balance

Every spring, the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan sends a delegation to Washington, D.C. to meet with senior U.S. administration officials and key members of Congress to discuss issues of concern to the U.S. business community in Japan. Participating in the ACCJ visit last month for the seventh consecutive year (nine times since 1991) provided me an excellent opportunity to reflect on the continuities and changes — what I call the "Three Phases" — in the U.S.-Japan relationship since the inauguration of the administration of U.S. President Clinton in January 1993.

COMMENTARY

Mar 9, 2000

Telecommunications matters

Telecommunications has long been a contentious issue between the United States and Japan. This is because although Americans believe that the U.S. has the most advanced and most competitive telecommunications system in the world, market penetration in Japan for U.S. equipment suppliers and service providers has been extraordinarily low. This has been attributed to market barriers in Japan.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 5, 2000

Japan changes -- its own way

"Is Japan changing?" This is the question asked by virtually every recent visitor to Japan. The question reveals both the long-standing desire by many non-Japanese to see Japan change in fundamental ways and the heightened expectations fostered by years of hope-inducing Japanese rhetoric that the country is experiencing a "Third Opening," comparable to that following the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and the end of World War II in 1945.

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A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

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