Could jealousy link the Financial Ministry scandals together?
Although not directly related, the allegation that former Administrative Vice Minister Junichi Fukuda was a sexual harasser was initially reported as a sideshow to the ongoing Moritomo Gakuen influence scandal that is dogging both Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Finance Ministry. Fukuda was ...
Japan struggles to fashion casino guidelines that satisfy the public
On April 3, the ruling coalition adopted a plan for integrated resorts featuring casino gambling that it will submit for Diet approval during the current session, although some media organizations think that won't happen. The public still isn't comfortable with the idea of casinos ...
In Japan no one wants to talk about sex education
The English "penis" — which rhymes with "Venice" in katakana — is the preferred technical term when discussing male genitalia in Japan, but even that seems to be taboo in broadcast situations.
Takeshi Kitano to abandon his 'army' of talent
There's a tired adage that goes, "Behind every great man is a great woman." In Japan, you could amend it to: "Behind every great older man is a great woman making sure he stays relevant, especially if he's in show business." The tabloid press ...
Once falsely convicted in Japan, rarely exonerated
A lot of eating goes on in the new documentary "Gokutomo" ("Friends in Prison"), which is about five men, all convicted of murder, who spent many years in prison. Watching one of them casually buy a sweet bean bun at a convenience store, you ...
Japan struggles to overcome its groping problem
A group of men boarded the women-only car of the Chiyoda Line subway in Tokyo during the morning commute on Feb. 16 as a form of protest, saying that excluding men was a form of discrimination. Such protests are not unusual, but the media ...
Japan's labor reform ignores elementary principles
Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry reported that the labor share in the final quarter of calendar year 2017 for companies with capital of more than ¥1 billion was 43.9 percent. That basically means 43.9 percent of these companies’ income went to employees. The ...
Japan's media out of step with mental health issues
In January, a couple in Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, were arrested for allegedly confining their daughter for at least 15 years before she froze to death in December at the age of 33. The couple told police they had kept her in the tiny room ...
Japan bobsled makers miss out on Olympic games glory
On Feb. 17, the BBC reported that the Jamaican women's bobsled team would compete in its “preferred sled” at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea “after a beer producer purchased the craft and donated it” to the team. The main concern had been ...
Media reports de-romanticize the cleanup work on the Fukushima nuclear power plant
Most of the reliable reporting about the clean-up of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant since it suffered three meltdowns in March 2011 has been from on-site workers. Even when articles appear in major media outlets about the situation at the crippled reactor, ...
Did press reports of a lawsuit spur an amendment to the welfare ministry's policy on benefits?
On Jan. 16, the Fukushima District Court ruled in favor of a woman and her daughter who had sued the city of Fukushima for cutting their welfare benefits. When the woman’s daughter was in high school, the woman received a grant scholarship to help ...
NHK tries to clear up LGBT misconceptions
Last month, publisher Iwanami Shoten was criticized for its definition of “LGBT” in the newest edition of Kojien, which is considered to be the most authoritative dictionary of the Japanese language. The complaint was specifically about the meaning of the acronym’s “T” portion, which ...
