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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 20, 2009

Breaking the silence on burakumin

For those who don't know — and you would be forgiven considering the lack of coverage the issue receives — a buraku is the term used to describe an area where some, but not all, of the residents have ancestral ties to the people placed at the bottom of feudal society in the Edo Period. These people...
COMMENTARY
Jan 6, 2009

2009 could fool the pessimists

LONDON — Deep gloom is predicted for 2009, with talk of deflation, shrinking economies and rising unemployment. Economists point to the huge drop in Japanese output, zero growth in Europe, dwindling world trade, collapsing financial institutions and the threat of worse to come.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 6, 2009

Otaru ruling beats 'mob rule'

Paul de Vries' treatise on group accountability in Japanese society ("Back to the baths: Otaru revisited," Zeit Gist, Dec. 2) offered a new take on the now familiar story of the court case between Japan's naturalized enfant terrible, Debito Arudou, and the managers of the Yunohana public bath in Otaru,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2009

Small parties play up 'big' role in national politics

Political parties with fewer than 20 Diet seats face an identity crisis as the legislature moves closer to a two-party system following the huge gains made by the Democratic Party of Japan in the July 2007 Upper House election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE MANY FACES OF CITIZENSHIP
Jan 1, 2009

Debate on multiple nationalities to heat up

First in a series
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 24, 2008

Overseas aid benefits whom?

PHNOM PENH CAMBODIA — Despite widespread awareness and censure of human rights violations, Japan, the United States and member nations of the European Union continue to give aid to governments that use the money to enrich themselves while ravaging ecosystems and brutalizing their own citizens. China...
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2008

Nail a North Korea deal by going to the top

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — In a few months a former U.S. president — Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton — may be asked to travel to North Korea in pursuit of military denuclearization. Or it will be new President Barack Obama.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WEEK 3
Dec 21, 2008

Mums team up to make Holland a happy home far away from home

AMSTERDAM — No friends or acquaintances, cold winters, a hard-to-learn language and the depression that comes with all that.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2008

EU members must coordinate China policies

PARIS — China's cancellation of the annual EU-China summit four days before it was to be held in Lyon is explained by French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to meet the Dalai Lama in Poland a few days later. But what looks like a diplomatic spat shows European leaders that they need to face up...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2008

Sweden shows how to sell anti-protectionism

STOCKHOLM — The looming global recession has brought government intervention to save failing companies to the forefront of economic policy. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently warned U.S. President-elect Barack Obama against bailing out America's automakers, arguing that global competition...
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2008

DNA center of nationality debate

With concern growing among lawmakers that amending the Nationality Law will engender false cases of paternal recognition, debate is focusing on whether DNA tests should be applied to the process of granting nationality.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2008

Nationality Law tweak lacks DNA test: critics

With the revised Nationality Law expected to clear the Diet soon, some ruling party lawmakers are at the last minute claiming the amendment may spark problems, such as possibly creating a "black market" in false paternal recognition.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2008

Japan lags U.S. in using Net to mobilize voters

When Tadamasa Kimura says he is envious of Barack Obama's victorious campaign to become president of the United States, it's not because he's an unsuccessful aspirant to political office.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2008

Room for Asian influence in G20 structure

SINGAPORE — Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies have been meeting regularly for nearly a decade. But the decision to convene a summit of the G20 heads of government in Washington the weekend of Nov. 15 marked an important turning point in...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 17, 2008

LDP split on when to fight

A serious schism has developed within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Taro Aso between those who demand an early general election and those who favor waiting for the political and economic situation to improve so that the party has a better chance of winning.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2008

Ruling bloc OKs ¥2 trillion boost

The government and Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc officially adopted a ¥2 trillion cash handout program Wednesday, but officials said they don't know yet if foreign residents will get a piece of the pie.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 4, 2008

Nikkyoso: A 'cancer' of teachers?

Nariaki Nakayama of the Liberal Democratic Party resigned because of gaffes he made in front of the press only five days after being appointed transport minister in the Cabinet Prime Minister Taro Aso formed in late September.
EDITORIALS
Nov 2, 2008

Handling info in the MSDF

The Yokohama District Court on Oct. 28 gave a suspended 2 1/2-year prison term to a lieutenant commander of the Maritime Self-Defense Force for passing information on the U.S.-developed Aegis weapons system to another lieutenant commander, an instructor at an MSDF school in Etajima, Hiroshima Prefecture....

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan