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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 5, 2008

What's the biggest issue facing the Indian community in Japan?

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 20, 2007

Watching them watching us

A s many non-Japanese are well aware, today is "G Day," or "F Day," or whatever cute name you'd like to assign to it: The day that the government begins fingerprinting virtually all foreigners — or "gaijin," or more appropriately "gaikokujin" — entering Japan. And those of us who will be subjected...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 28, 2007

The blame game

We live in interesting times. With the shortage and high cost of domestic labor, the Japanese government has brought over record numbers of cheap foreign workers. Even though whole industrial sectors now depend on foreign labor, few publicly accept the symbiosis as permanent. Instead, foreigners are...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 28, 2007

All-women NPO acknowledges the small kindness

Bustling with resilience and enthusiasm, Yukiko Yamahashi sets the tone for one of the few Japanese NPOs (nonprofit organizations) that still retains any degree of independence from government control. This means, of course, that it is regarded as troublesome, and a price has been paid.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 26, 2007

The village of the dammed

Shortly after being relocated to other towns in the late 1980s to make way for Japan's largest dam, about 10 aging former residents defiantly returned to the abandoned village of Tokuyama, in western Gifu Prefecture, determined to live there as long as possible. They sheltered in their old homes or makeshift...
EDITORIALS
Mar 14, 2007

The EU steps up on climate change

The European Union last week claimed global leadership in the fight against climate change. At a Brussels summit, the 27-nation bloc agreed to binding targets that would cut greenhouse-gas emissions, promote energy efficiency and encourage the use of renewable energy sources. If the policies are implemented,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 3, 2006

Permanent visa can relieve pension pain

One of many foreign residents' biggest gripes about Japan is the requirement that they must pay into the Japanese pension system for as long as they work here, even though they won't stay long enough to receive any benefits. Permanent residency can help to side-step the issue without obliging somebody...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 28, 2006

Celebrating civilizations

The Islamic world is home to one of the richest and most important musical traditions on Earth. It doesn't hurt that it also spans an incredibly vast area, stretching west to Morocco and east as far as Indonesia, and that it contains an intricate tapestry of races, languages and cultures, or that it...
EDITORIALS
Aug 2, 2006

New beginning for a community

North Korea's July 5 missile launches were a timely reminder for East Asia. They served notice to foreign ministers attending the 13th meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) last last week in Kuala Lumpur that East Asia remains a dangerous place, and that their governments must work actively together...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Feb 4, 2005

Ancient Asakusa still central to community

The day in Asakusa begins with the tolling of the Senso-ji bell at 6 a.m. The temple bell, located behind two bronze bodhisattva statues dating back to 1678, is one of the nine official Time Bells of Edo, established in 1692.
Rugby
Dec 2, 2004

Tokyo's rugby community honors former teammate

Rugby players haven't always enjoyed the best of reputations.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 21, 2004

When it happens, it happens

A whirlwind romance Shortly before I was to return to Australia, I went to a Christmas party in the small town where I was studying Japanese.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2003

Iraq's long-suffering people desperately need the international community's help

"From now on it is each man for himself." Having said that, our colleague from UNICEF Iraq quietly locked our car's doors. We had just passed the final checkpoint between Kuwait and Iraq.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2003

Don't fear deregulation failures: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged his Cabinet on Tuesday to consider the hundreds of proposals by local municipalities nationwide seeking to create special deregulated zones.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2002

Emergency psychiatric care falling short

Her schizophrenia repeatedly sent her over the edge.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2000

Hair care for all the community . . . with a twist

Most people are a bit weary of hair salons; it's difficult to get what you want. Granted this may have something to do with the desired image you want. Yourself with say, Julia Robert's hair. It just can't be done. In a parallel universe maybe, but not this one.
JAPAN
May 20, 2000

Usu community relocation eyed

The government is considering relocating the entire community of the Lake Toya hot spring resort area, which lies at the foot of the erupting Mount Usu in southwestern Hokkaido, Construction Minister Masaaki Nakayama said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2000

Global community may have another beef with Myanmar

No democracy. International drug trafficking. Use of forced labor. Human rights violations. Is there anything else to add to the international community's charges against Myanmar's military rulers?
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Community cheers as Osaka's name announced

OSAKA -- Some 600 people including politicians, businesspeople and citizens gathered at the Osaka Municipal Central Public Hall to watch the live broadcast of the Japanese Olympic Committee's announcement that Osaka has been named as a candidate to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 23, 2023

A year after war broke out, Ukrainian evacuees take life in Japan one step at a time

Forced to abandon careers, education plans and other opportunities at home, those who made the 8,000 kilometer journey to East Asia have had their lives put on hold.
Andriy Ilkiv, head of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Department of the National Police in Lviv Oblast, shows his prosthetic leg against the backdrop of the GCS-200 demining complex near the village of Zaliman, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on May 2.
WORLD
Jul 3, 2025

Demining Ukraine: from drones to risking it with a rake

The drones which have revolutionized the way war is fought in Ukraine may also now become a game-changer in demining the country.
People carry a portable shrine at Sensoji temple during the Sanja Festival in May. The festival is one of the three largest in Tokyo.
LIFE / Language
Jul 5, 2025

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of a Japanese summer?

Fireworks and festivals are part of the traditional Japanese summer, but what do people associate with the season these days?
The Culver City Express Car Wash remains closed after a raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency detained many of its workers in Culver City, California, on June 11.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2025

Immigration raids derail Los Angeles economy as workers go into hiding

Few places in the U.S. are feeling the shock as acutely as Los Angeles, a longtime sanctuary city and home to one of the nation’s largest migrant labor forces.
Tsuyako Shimabukuro (front, second from left), head of the Eguchi community association in the town of Chatan, Okinawa Prefecture, and other community leaders discuss their efforts along with members of the prefectural association of families of missing persons with dementia.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Dec 30, 2024

Okinawa communities battle a rise in missing elderly with dementia

In the prefecture, 118 such cases were reported to the police last year.
David Inoue, the executive director of the Japanese American Citizens League, in Farragut Square, near the building that used to house the War Relocation Authority, in Washington. Inoue says his group has been more divided than it has been in decades on how it should respond to the Israel-Hamas war.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 20, 2024

War in the Gaza Strip causes surprising rift within Japanese American group

A new generation is pushing one of the largest Asian American civil rights groups to sever ties with prominent Jewish American organizations.
Yasuhiro Otomo and Miku Narisawa during one of Odyssey Nature Japan's educational fishing programs.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 22, 2024

A young 3/11 survivor and her vow to protect the ocean

At 12, Miku Narisawa experienced a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed her home. Now she is working to protect it.
A banner at the entrance to Shibuya’s Center Street makes it clear this is no place for a party.
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 26, 2023

The specter of Itaewon has Shibuya spooked

One year on, Elizabeth Beattie joins us to discuss where Itaewon stands after its Halloween disaster, and what its legacy means for celebrations in Japan.
Cars drive past a damaged road, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jan 18, 2024

Japan rings in 2024 with an unwelcome disaster

Join us for the first episode of 2024 as we recap the massive New Year’s Day earthquake and its impact on the people of Ishikawa Prefecture.
The Tomakomai carbon, capture and storage test site in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, in March 2018. The true benefits of carbon removal won’t be realized until we get close to net zero emissions.
COMMENTARY
Oct 10, 2024

Geoengineering can save the planet — if we demystify it

The percentage of Americans who say they trust scientists on the environment has declined to 67% this year from 75% in 2020.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji