Tag - counterpoint

 
Menu
Search
 
May 05, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

COUNTERPOINT

Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 5, 2016
Japan's counterterrorism efforts falling short
The Foreign Ministry invited ridicule toward the end of 2015 after it advertised job openings for part-time counterterrorism analysts. While the expansion of the exploited precariat of non-regular workers to nearly 40 percent of the workforce is lamentable in itself, who would have thought some of them would be responsible for safeguarding the public from terrorism?!
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 27, 2016
Does Tohoku's disaster tourism exploit or educate?
Disaster tourism can be an unsettling descent into voyeurism as visitors ghoulishly gawk at, and photograph, those caught up in catastrophe as if they're at a petting zoo. The concept has prompted widespread condemnation of insensitive tourists and travel companies exploiting disasters as marketing opportunities.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 20, 2016
1936 coup failed, but rebels killed Japan's 'Keynes'
This Friday marks the 80th anniversary of the February 26th Incident, a coup staged by young military officers who hoped to spark a general uprising, but whose revolt was quashed on the orders of Emperor Hirohito.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 13, 2016
Onagawa is on the rebound from devastation
On March 11, 2011, the magnitude-9 Great East Japan Earthquake propelled a powerful tsunami through the port of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, claiming 827 lives — nearly 10 percent of the town's population — and destroying 70 percent of all of its buildings. It was the most severely damaged town in the Tohoku region. The horrifying video of this cataclysm depicts how the port's fish processing factories, offices, entire houses, cars, ships and trucks were uprooted and pushed inland through a low-lying area tucked between sea and mountain that served as a funnel for a sledgehammer of debris. It battered everything in its path, toppling four-story buildings as it carved a swath of destruction.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 6, 2016
A Tohoku father seeks accountability for his daughter's death
As the fifth anniversary of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami approaches, the tragic story of 74 schoolchildren and 10 teachers who drowned near Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, continues to resonate painfully.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 30, 2016
Work-life balance in Japan leans in one direction
The concept of work-life balance is intrinsically appealing. People are so busy with work nowadays that they can't escape, tethered as they are to their jobs by smartphones. This situation generates stress and encroaches on private time with family and friends. Weekends? What weekends?!
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 23, 2016
Hiroko Kuniya's ouster deals another blow to quality journalism in Japan
Hiroko Kuniya, the widely respected anchor for NHK's stellar "Close-up Gendai" news analysis program, has been ousted from her position after 23 years with the show. She now joins a growing list of prominent news presenters and commentators who have discovered the apparent perils of not kowtowing to the government. She will remain on air in her 7:30 p.m. slot until April, so enjoy this journalistic giant among pygmies while you can.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 16, 2016
Asia is imperiled by COP21's climate cop-out
The nations of the world gathered at the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) last month to come to an agreement on the urgent mission of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, all they produced was an attractive vision statement that is more sham than solution.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 9, 2016
'Comfort women' problem requires a grand gesture
Due to his unassailable nationalist credentials, Prime Minister Abe is uniquely positioned to make a powerfully symbolic gesture of contrition.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 2, 2016
In Abe's Japan, a woman's place is on the margins
On Dec. 16, Japan's Supreme Court struck a blow for patriarchy by refusing to strike down the law requiring married couples to adopt one surname, a regulation that weighs disproportionately on women since in almost all cases they adopt their husband's family name. For career women, this requirement burdens them in a way men are not, while for all couples the freedom to choose between a single surname, or maintain existing surnames, is denied for no compelling reason.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 26, 2015
Asia's person of the year and the death of a giant
It took two elections spaced over a quarter of a century, but Myanmar's military junta has finally got the message and is obeying the will of the citizens as expressed in the 2015 elections. In November, the ruling Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) woke up to find out just how reviled it really is, winning just 6.8 percent of seats in the House of Representatives.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 19, 2015
Recommended reading for the holidays and beyond
'Black Dragon River' stands out among the nonfiction books that caught the eye of columnist Jeff Kingston over the past year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 12, 2015
Gerald Curtis, the ultimate insider in Japanese politics, retires
Gerald Curtis will retire this month from Columbia University, where he has been teaching since 1968.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 5, 2015
Done right, moral education could be a good thing
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is enacting another one of the conservatives' long-standing policy desires by reintroducing moral education in secondary schools from 2018.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 28, 2015
Asia mostly backsliding on democratic values
In Japan, lawyers are fortunately not arrested by the state for doing their job, as they are in China. Nor are academics faced with indictment for challenging mainstream history narratives, as in South Korea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 21, 2015
Resumption of Antarctic whaling flouts rule of law
The rule of law has been Japan's trump card in its ongoing rhubarb with China over competing territorial claims in the East China Sea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 14, 2015
Chinese media crucial in public diplomacy effort
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently had a cameo in the animated adult cartoon "South Park." In the episode, Xi (not the real Xi) revealed that Japan decides "who is gay or not" in Asia. The character also said the Japanese "are dogs who refuse not apologize to the Chinese Republic" and then kissed his Korean-speaking secretary, an apparent reference to South Korean President Park Geun-hye. That's a lot to unravel from less than half a minute of provocative airtime, but the satire has been censored only in China, where tolerance for mockery is still pretty low.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 7, 2015
South Korea's new state textbook 'corrects' history
South Korea recently announced plans for a revisionist textbook that will whitewash that country's history and has the academic community outraged over political meddling. At least the move gives South Korean President Park Geun-hye something in common with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 31, 2015
'Japan Lobby' takes the gloves off in PR battle
The Sankei Shimbun advocates a more aggressive diplomatic stance on history issues and this dovetails with the mission of Japan Conference, a reactionary organization that includes numerous lawmakers. From their perspective, Japan has been too reticent and polite on the world stage and the gloves need to come off.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 24, 2015
Assessing Japan's rightward shift at the top
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is Japan's most ideological postwar prime minister, pushing right-wing policies on numerous fronts that trample on postwar norms and values. He has been able to do so because he has the Diet in his back pocket, but how did this tectonic shift in Japanese politics happen?
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
G7 eyes plan on U.S.-led $50 billion aid package for Ukraine
A local resident visits the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday. The U.S. is in talks with close partners to lead a group of allies that would give as much as $50 billion in aid to Ukraine.
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
Japan drops to 70th in press freedom rankings
A businessman reads a newspaper outside a train station in Tokyo.
'Monster' Inoue ready to tear down Luis Nery in title defense at Tokyo Dome
Naoya Inoue (left) and Luis Nery following a pre-fight news conference in Yokohama on Saturday, two days ahead of their super bantamweight title fight.
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
Sapporo court ruling on Ainu fishing rights presents tough questions
A traditional Ainu preserved food called <i>satchep</i> (dried fish) being made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, on Dec. 25. The Sapporo District Court ruled last month that the Raporo Ainu Nation's rights as an Indigenous people did not extend to having an inherent right to fish for commercial reasons.
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Spotlighting a Niigata castle town through sushi
Spotlighting a Niigata castle town through sushi

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER