Search - discrimination-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.
Reader Mail
Mar 12, 2009

Illegal under the Constitution

Regarding Debito Arudou's March 3 article, " Of toadies, vultures and zombie debates": In his latest bout of calling anyone who disagrees with him everything but an "Uncle Tom," Arudou once again shows how he does not let facts get in the way of a good tirade. He writes: "Racial discrimination should...
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 / EXPLAINER
Dec 23, 2008

Gay scene: Tolerance, legal limbo

Some countries see homosexuality as a crime punishable by death, while others are open to diversity and make no judgment on the basis of one's sexual orientation.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jan 27, 2009

Burakumin, 'musical jobs': readers respond

Koseki at root of problem I wish to thank you for the excellent article "Breaking the silence on burakumin" on Jan. 20. I work for the Buraku Liberation Center in Osaka and was featured in the Aug. 2, 2008, issue (search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080802a1.html). One point I would add is that it is...
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Nov 4, 2008

Truth: a delicate matter of give and take

Every activist and essayist must deal with a singular phenomenon when addressing the public: just how "truthful" one should be.
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2007

Dignity for disabled people

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 13. The convention, which covers rights to education, health, work, cultural activities, etc., is the first human-rights treaty of the 21st century....
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 12, 2006

Women's voices

This story is part of a package on women in Japan. The introduction is here.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2001

NGOs lament Okinawans' plight

Three Japanese nongovernmental organizations have submitted a report to the United Nations detailing human rights abuses by the Japanese government and U.S. military forces against the people of Okinawa.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2020

What lies behind Shiori Ito's lonely #MeToo struggle

In Japan, feminist voices have been raised for #MeToo, but they are often barely heard.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY AVENUE
Apr 22, 2016

Paying homage to a champion of equality

Indian nationals in Japan celebrated the 125th anniversary of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s birth on April 14 at the country’s embassy in Tokyo.
Reader Mail
Jun 3, 2012

The tattoo nonsense must stop

All this tattoo discrimination nonsense is driving me crazy. Why is this being allowed to happen? Discrimination at hot springs was bad enough, but now it's in public offices (Osaka), my public gym and concert halls. A former employee of Nakano Zero Hall told me that they got a letter from the police...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jan 18, 2011

Mind the gap, get over it: readers' views

Following are are a selection of readers' responses to "Mind the gap, get over it" by Charles Lewis (Zeit Gist, Dec. 28):
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 15, 2008

Human rights — strictly personal, strictly Japanese?

Go figure. Just a few weeks after I wrote about how Japanese courts try to avoid doing anything dramatic, on June 4 the Supreme Court ruled that a section of the Nationality Law was unconstitutional. Such rulings being so rare, I steeled myself for a big helping of highfalutin' Japanese legalese and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2003

Women lose Kanematsu wage-bias suit

The Tokyo District Court rejected a damages suit Wednesday against Kanematsu Corp. by six women who said they suffered gender-based wage discrimination at the trading house.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 23, 2003

Lawyers: they're not all out for themselves

HUMAN RIGHTS IN JAPAN, South Korea and Taiwan, by Ian Neary. London, Routledge, 2002, 297 pp., $95 (cloth) It's not easy being a lawyer these days -- putting up with nasty jokes, scant respect and widespread suspicions that the public interest is way down on the list of priorities. Ian Neary reminds...
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2006

Kawasaki foreign residents' panel has significant impact on city policy

In the nearly 10 years since its establishment, the Kawasaki City Representatives Assembly for Foreign Residents, an advisory body to the mayor made up of non-Japanese residents, has been largely successful.
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Jul 20, 2002

Foreigners find public housing off-limits

OSAKA -- Human rights groups have welcomed Shiga Gov. Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu's promise to review the prefecture's policy of barring foreign residents from living in public housing if they are unable to speak Japanese.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 30, 2020

The language of Black Lives Matter in Japanese

Young Japanese are taking an interest in the Black Lives Matter protests overseas and are trying to adapt the language of the movement in this country.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 15, 2019

Wakayama curry killings revisited: Kin of convicted killer Masumi Hayashi break silence after 21 years

On a recent summer evening, tranquility reigned in this small neighborhood in Wakayama, where nothing but the occasional barking of dogs and chirring of grasshoppers broke the peaceful silence.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Sep 25, 2016

Sagamihara massacre begs question: Do we want a society that only values usefulness?

The twisted thinking behind Japan's worst postwar massacre may have its roots in the way the modern world teaches us to judge the worth of others.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 14, 2016

True colors: Seeking equality in the way we see the world

Steps are being taken to assist people with color vision deficiency navigate life more easily. As we find out, however, not everyone agrees with the approach.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 19, 2016

Diet debates hate-speech bill that activists call narrow and toothless

An Upper House Diet committee on Tuesday began deliberating a bill that seeks to eliminate hate speech, labeling it as "unforgivable."
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 15, 2015

Osaka's assault on ethnic invective stalls

With last week's decision by the Osaka Municipal Assembly to delay a decision on what would have been Japan's first city ordinance to combat hate speech and to issue a nonbinding statement instead, local legal efforts to crack down on racist rhetoric have slowed.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.