Search - discrimination-in-japan

 
 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 22, 2013

Parliamentary democracy without a viable opposition

The lack of a viable opposition party is causing a serious crisis of democracy in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Oct 5, 2013

Downtown comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto leans from TV to film

The Downtown comedy duo — comprising Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada — are sitting on a train speeding towards Narita Airport outside Tokyo. It's not like they're going anywhere, or doing anything, even — they're just sitting there and waiting for something to happen. "Something" in this...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2013

Art of national self-appraisal

Legislative activity in Moscow has been on the rise of late as Russia's parliament issues one new law after another — many of them antidemocratic and anti-American.
Reader Mail
Aug 28, 2013

Something valuable to take away

I appreciate Chavez's article very much, as my hardships of being a foreigner in Japan were hardships I had never experienced in my home country, which then allowed me to put myself in the shoes of minorities elsewhere.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2013

Show a fashion statement on asylum seekers

Dismayed by Japan's low acceptance rate for asylum seekers, a student group organized a fashion show spotlighting ethnic clothes to raise awareness among their peers of the harsh reality facing the underprivileged worldwide.
Reader Mail
Apr 11, 2013

Targeting ethnic high schools

On March 31 about 6,000 people attended a meeting in Tokyo to demand that Korean high schools remain eligible for free tuition. In February, the Abe Cabinet revised the law to exclude ethnic Korean schools, chosen gakko, from the free-tuition provision for students, enacted in April 2010. Certain municipalities...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 24, 2013

Abortion controlled by the state

TV personalities, or tarento in the vernacular parlance, wage a never-ending battle against encroaching irrelevance. They impose on our consciousness, and one of the easiest ways to do that without offering a compelling skills set is to exploit personal circumstances that are none of our business. Last...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LABOR PAINS
Mar 19, 2013

Labor law reform raises rather than relieves workers' worries

A new specter hangs over Japan: the specter of insecure employment. The source of this insecurity is the August 2012 reform of the Labor Contract Act related to fixed-term employment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 17, 2013

Playing to the beat of the gods

TAIKO BOOM: Japanese Drumming in Place and Motion, by Shawn Bender. University of California Press, 2012, 259?pp., $29.95 (paperback)
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Mar 3, 2013

Japanese women strive to empower themselves

When it comes to gender equality, Japan has never failed to disappoint.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 22, 2013

Fixing the much-admired, reviled Constitution — by breaking it

With Shinzo Abe having called Japan's current Constitution "pathetic" (mittomonai) just a few days before taking charge of a government established under it, constitutional amendment seems likely to be on the agenda of his second go as prime minister. This should not surprise anyone, since "fixing" the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2013

Seoul may have female leader but Tokyo's is long way off: poll

South Korea recently elected its first female president, but it looks like it will still take some time before Japan follows suit and appoints a woman as prime minister, at least according to a recent survey by Tohoku University.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LIGHT GIST
Oct 30, 2012

The world according to Toru Hashimoto

Loved by his supporters for his fiery rhetoric — which often involves bashing the Tokyo-centric status quo, overpaid local bureaucrats, utility executives, teachers' unions or, indeed, anybody who disagrees with him — Hashimoto's critics charge that he's a dangerous rightwing demagogue seeking a...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 29, 2012

When being first class only gets you a seat in economy

Thanks to international media coverage, everybody in the world is now convinced that the Japan Olympic Committee is sexist. When two of Japan's national soccer teams recently flew to Europe prior to participating in the Olympics, the women's squad was placed in the premium economy section (¥470,000)...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 1, 2012

The land where sex fears to tread

No love, no sex, no marriage, no kids — such, in glum outline, is Japan today. It's too bleak a picture, it can't be true! But it can't be false either. If it were, people would be marrying, making babies and having love affairs. Instead, statistics reflecting everything from marriage and childbirth...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 10, 2012

Okinawa: a long history of hardship

THE OKINAWAN DIASPORA IN JAPAN: Crossing the Borders Within, by Steve Rabson. University of Hawai'i Press, 2012, 312 pp., $55.00 (hardcover) Okinawa, mainland Japan's subtropical playground, is no paradise to Okinawans. Ryukyu, the archipelago's original name, means "circle of jewels." Lush appearance...
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2012

Okinawans deserve better

Forty years have passed since Okinawa reverted to Japanese rule on May 15, 1972, after 27 years' of occupation by the United States following the end of World War II. Polls show that about 80 percent of Okinawans regard the restoration of Japanese rule as a positive development. The central government...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 24, 2012

Tokyo gets double dose of gay pride for 2012

For the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, gay pride parades are not only a great means to raise awareness of LGBT issues and spread the message of diversity and acceptance, but also a much-needed excuse to gather supporters together and party down. At such events in hundreds of cities...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 10, 2012

NNTT hopes Generation 2.0 hears 'Silence'

The late classical composer Teizo Matsumura, American film director Martin Scorsese, and playwright/director Keiko Miyata may seem an unlikely trio, but they share a reverence for "Silence," the 1966 novel by Shusaku Endo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / READERS' FUND
Dec 22, 2011

NPOs give needy hope for future

Many women and children in developing countries still have very few opportunities to receive an education and training, but Japanese nonprofit groups are working in nations such as Afghanistan and Cambodia to give them hope for the future.
Reader Mail
Oct 30, 2011

May Occupy Tokyo flourish

Regarding Occupy Tokyo, there are a host of issues plaguing not only the people of Japan but people all around the world. One, of course, is the correlation between the players in Wall Street or in Japan, the Tokyo Stock Exchange. One such example is the disaster in Fukushima. No one knows the extent...

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