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Heleen Mees
For Heleen Mees's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2011
The false panacea of workforce flexibility
AMSTERDAM — Competitiveness has become one of the economic buzzwords of our time. U.S. President Barack Obama trumpeted it during his State of the Union address in January, while European leaders and Japanese fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano have embraced it as a priority.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2009
Fight prostitution by punishing the solicitors
AMSTERDAM — Prostitution is virtually the only part of the personal services industry in the Netherlands that works. One can't get a manicure in Amsterdam without booking an appointment two weeks in advance, but men can buy sex anytime — and at an attractive price. The legalization of prostitution in October 2000 merely codified a long-standing Dutch tradition of tolerance toward buying and selling sex. But is legalization the right approach?
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2008
Girls and women: first casualties in wartime
AMSTERDAM — Truth is often said to be the first casualty in wartime. But if the real truth is told, it is women who are the first casualties. In conflict zones, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF recently observed, sexual violence usually spreads like an epidemic. Whether it is civil war, pogroms or other armed conflicts, all too often women's bodies become part of the battlefield.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2007
Close Europe's gender gap
NEW YORK -- Last spring, The Economist trumpeted "womanpower" as the driving force for the world economy. But if Europe's economy is to become more competitive and innovative, it is not enough that women enter the labor market in droves. To reap the full fruits of women's talents, they must be in more top jobs, too, both in the public and private sector.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2006
European women caught in leisure trap
PRAGUE -- Black Friday in the United States traditionally is the day after Thanksgiving that signals the start of the holiday season sale. At daybreak, people line up before department stores to get the special "early bird" bargains.

Longform

High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?