Commentary / Japan Jun 10, 2020
Media collaborators threaten press freedom in Japan
Japan has too few good journalists because mainstream media reporters unconsciously begin their stories from the point of view of prized informants.
Richard Solomon
For Richard Solomon's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Our Lives | TELLING LIVES Mar 12, 2020
A singular moment in a teahouse full of tales
Key to understanding the idea of the "storytelling teahouse" is the Japanese concept of "ichi-go, ichi-e" ("one time, one meeting").
Our Lives | TELLING LIVES Mar 12, 2020
A story of family told across multiple continents
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu has two families: one hailing from Ireland and the other from Japan. His paternal ancestors emigrated from southwestern Ireland to the northeastern United States near the end of the 19th century. His grandmother died when his father was still a child, leaving ...
Our Lives | TELLING LIVES Mar 12, 2020
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu draws on his own past of otherness to foster inclusion today
A professor and counselor, Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu believes that telling your own story under the right circumstances can be part of a healing process.
Commentary / Japan Dec 16, 2019
Public records: Here today, gone tomorrow
Preserving the past is not just an academic exercise.
People | The Big Questions Nov 17, 2019
Encouraging innovation among Japanese startups
“How lucky I am to be here, right now,” is something Tom Kelley often tells himself. The D4V chairman (Design for Ventures) and IDEO partner could be sitting in any one of IDEO’s nine global offices, but the Tokyo studio is his favorite.
Commentary / Japan Nov 8, 2019
Looking overseas to solve Japan's labor shortage
Japan is running out of time. Where will migrants come from when the international competition for Asian workers heats up?
Commentary / Japan Sep 23, 2019
BOJ's next step down a narrow path
Other central banks will likely release fresh rounds of monetary easing, but Japan's central bank is out of ammunition.
Commentary / Japan Aug 2, 2019
Pension reform must accompany consumption tax hike
To end people's fears that the public pension won't support them in retirement, the government must place comprehensive social security reform at the top of the political agenda.
Our Lives | TELLING LIVES Mar 24, 2019
Robert Ryker carved a niche for Tokyo Sinfonia by rescoring more than 500 classics
Conductor Zubin Mehta once told Robert Ryker that Mehta's two orchestras, the Montreal Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, had the world's two finest tuba players. Ryker, then 22 years old, was one of them. It was a rare compliment for any musician, most ...