Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Oct 10, 2018
Can five Little Japans defuse one big demographic time bomb?
by Mark Gottlieb
What about if Japan split into a confederation of five semi-autonomous "regions," each delineated roughly by geography and population?
NEWSWORTHY
Language | MORNING ENGLISH Sep 10, 2018
Bolivian-born Noemi Inoue felt it was necessary to naturalize to feel fully integrated in Japanese society and to become the first non-Japan-born person to serve as a city councilor in Tokyo's Sumida Ward.
Editorials Jun 17, 2017
Owing to depopulation, small towns across Japan need to find new ways to maintain representative government.
World / Social Issues Aug 29, 2016
U.K. plan to make social housing tenants 'pay to stay' won't meet aim: report
Britain's "pay to stay" rule requiring social housing tenants to pay higher rents may leave local councils worse off, cause stress for families and fail to generate expected revenues for the central government, according to a report published Monday. The plans will force higher rents ...
Language | BILINGUAL Mar 21, 2016
Lessons in history and bureaucracy lurk within Japan's geographical layer cake
by Colin P.A. Jones
Although in English we say Japan has 47 prefectures, Japanese uses four terms to express the same concept. And that's just for starters.
Issues | LAW OF THE LAND Nov 12, 2014
Mayor blazes trail with radical child-friendly vision for local government
by Colin P.A. Jones
Whether seeking to guarantee child visitation for divorced parents or challenging the family registry system, lawyer-mayor Fusaho Izumi pushes the envelope.
Our Lives | JAPAN LITE Oct 29, 2014
Town hall meetings: Abandon logic, all ye who enter here
by Amy Chavez
These get-togethers are all about discussion, so please feel free to speak your mind — just don't expect any decisions to be made
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jun 18, 2013
Democracy, interrupted: How local voices were silenced in Tokyo's first referendum
by Chris Burgess
On Sunday, May 26, something quite remarkable happened in Kodaira city, western Tokyo: Over 50,000 citizens voted in Tokyo's very first local referendum (jūmin tōhyō) on the issue of whether a 50-year-old plan to construct a road should be reviewed or not. Unfortunately, the ballot ...