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COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Mar 3, 2009

Of toadies, vultures and zombie debates

If there's one thing execrable in the marketplace of ideas, it's "zombie debates" — discussions long dead, exhumed by Dr. Frankensteins posing as serious debaters.
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...
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2008

Uphold disabled people's rights

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities took effect May 3 — 30 days after it received its 20th ratification (April 3). So far, 27 countries have ratified the convention, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and promotes their social participation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Oct 22, 2016

Welcome home, Okinawa

Under the slogan "Let the whole world move to the Uchina beat," Okinawa will host the prefecture's largest international event, the sixth Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival from Thursday, Oct. 27, to Sunday, Oct. 30. (Uchina means Okinawa in the island's language, while Uchinanchu means an Okinawan person)....
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2009

Recalling a saint's legacy to leprosy victims

In early October, "Father Damien" was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. This religious and spiritual ceremony is an opportunity to reflect on Father Damien's life and the lives of those with whom he was most closely associated — people affected by leprosy.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2008

Women's group aims to narrow wage gap

Inspired by the basic principle of equal pay for equal work, a group of working women in Osaka is gearing up to pressure the government to narrow the gap in wages between male and female employees.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 2, 2006

How to kill a bill

On Oct. 12, 2005, the Tottori Prefectural Assembly approved Japan's first human rights ordinance, a local law forbidding and punishing racial discrimination.
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2019

Relief on the way for kin of Hansen's disease patients

Only when a correct understanding of the disease has been established through various efforts will the dignity and human rights of the former Hansen's disease patients and their relatives be fully restored.
EDITORIALS
May 21, 2016

LDP's questionable LGBT policy

The Liberal Democratic Party issues a report on LGBT people that fails to take a strong stand on protecting them from discrimination.
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 2006

Unfinished business for women

Twenty years after the much heralded gender-equality law went into effect in Japan, women still face discrimination in the workplace -- in ways less apparent but just as effective in limiting their promotional opportunities and so also widening the wage gap with male colleagues.
EDITORIALS
Mar 2, 2002

Launching a human rights board

The Justice Ministry is preparing legislation to create a powerful human rights commission that would recommend corrective measures, assist in lawsuits and take other steps to help victims of discrimination, abuse and other human rights violations. The government, which plans to send a related bill to...
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2001

Otaru racism controversy lingers on

OTARU, Hokkaido -- The controversy over some "onsen" (hot spring) bathhouses banning foreigners from their facilities in this northern port town, which is frequented by Russian ships, lingers on more than a year after the issue was first raised.
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2008

Common sense versus PC

Presumably the recent remarks of former infrastructure minister Nariaki Nakayama about Japan being ethnically homogeneous were correctly reported. If so his remarks were tactless, in view of Japan's Ainu population, but also showed an ignorance of history. The Japanese are generally considered to be...
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2006

Osaka activist's arrest lays bare yakuza ties with 'burakumin'

On the night of Jan. 26, 1985, four hit men from the Ichiwa-kai crime syndicate drove up to an apartment complex in Suita, Osaka Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / 60 YEARS AND ONWARD
Aug 5, 2005

Postwar labor scene still grim for working women

Choice has been a long time coming for Japan's working women.
COMMUNITY
Jan 4, 2011

Arudou's Alien Almanac: 2000-2010

No. 5: The Otaru onsen case ('99-2005)
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 15, 2010

Ladies' plans

Dear Alice,
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 22, 2006

Something 'beautiful' that leaders may not see from on high

Sometimes a very significant event in the life of a country passes largely unnoticed, particularly if it occurs away from the center of power. Just such a thing happened on the 11th of this month.
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2003

Women's rights vs. complacency

Japan's efforts to improve women's human rights will come up for a U.N. review this month at the Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW, the implementing body of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The review will be based on...
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2020

Coming to terms with what's behind the Sagamihara killings

To help prevent a recurrence of abhorrent crimes against the disabled, society as a whole needs to come to grips with the widespread prejudice and discrimination against such people, and take steps to amend the situation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 14, 2015

Wagyu: More at stake than craftsmanship for marginalized slaughterhouse workers

When it comes to cuts of meat, there are few sights that raise expectations like the marbling of a prime cut of wagyu beef. Brands like Kobe and Matsuzaka are already household names in Japan, and increasingly consumers and chefs the world over are buying into the luxury meat, with import bans lifted...
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2006

Equal Employment law toughened

The Diet enacted a revision Thursday to the Equal Employment Opportunities Law for Men and Women that includes steps to curb sexual discrimination in the workplace.
JAPAN
May 18, 2006

Racism rapporteur repeats criticism

OSAKA -- The U.N. rapporteur on racism repeated Wednesday his strong criticism of the Japanese government's attitude toward combating the problem, saying the country needs an antidiscrimination law.
JAPAN / History / 70 YEARS AFTER THE WAR'S END
Aug 10, 2015

A legacy of WWII, Korean residents test nation's ability to accommodate non-Japanese

World War II had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the Korean community in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 12, 2012

Cancer survivors tell of workplace prejudice

Seven years ago, Naomi Sakurai was diagnosed with breast cancer and told she had only a 60 percent chance of surviving another five years.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2010

U.N. rights rep has bone to pick

Jorge Bustamante, U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of immigrants, has concluded his Japan visit and takes with him a sense that the government lacks a system to curb discrimination and better protect the human rights of foreigners.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2009
Aug 27, 2009

Political shift gives hope to gays

The possible power shift in Sunday's general election signals change for many, and one minority interest group is daring to hope it will bring about the biggest change yet.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?