NEWSWORTHY
Heisei Era hindsight gives new meaning to established terms
The ubiquitous word "productivity" last summer acquired a new meaning — or at least a new twist. Members of the LGBT community, wrote Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Mio Sugita, "do not reproduce. In other words, they are unproductive. I wonder if it is appropriate ...
Finance Minister Taro Aso's apparent justification of sexual harassment committed by a former prominent bureaucrat topped a list of the most egregious sexist and discriminatory remarks made by Japanese politicians in 2018, according to a recent online survey. The survey, released Wednesday, was launched late ...
Social media and online outlets led charge for change in 2018
A reflection of how the internet functioned in Japan in 2018 can be seen in a recent incident at Shinjuku Station. On Dec. 18, Twitter user @Diablo_Lucifero warned women using the transportation hub to be on the alert for multiple men who were apparently going ...
Monthly mag Shincho 45 suspended over discriminatory speech targeting LGBT
Shinchosha Publishing Co. has decided to suspend publication of monthly magazine Shincho 45 in response to criticism it has received for using discriminatory language toward the LGBTQ community.
Shinchosha Publishing announced its Shincho 45 magazine will effectively fold after carrying articles that its president said contained “outrageous prejudice” against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
The president of a publishing company has confirmed there were troublesome opinions expressed in articles that ran in a monthly magazine that supported a national lawmaker who called LGBT couples unproductive. Shinchosha Publishing Co. President Takanobu Sato said in a statement Friday that he found ...
Politicians and civil rights leaders from sexual minority communities on Wednesday demanded a Liberal Democratic Party Diet member thoroughly explain what she meant by saying LGBT couples are "unproductive," and thus unworthy of government assistance. Taiga Ishikawa, an openly gay lawmaker in the Toshima Ward ...
LGBT people seek apology from Sugita after LDP lawmaker called them 'unproductive'
Members of sexual minority groups on Friday demanded an apology from a ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who claimed in a magazine article that the government should not support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people because they cannot bear offspring and thus are "unproductive." LGBT ...
People unable to bear children blast lawmaker's article calling LGBT couples 'unproductive'
A group of people who can't have children due to disability or illness protested Tuesday over a recent article written by a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who said gay and lesbian couples are unproductive because they don't reproduce. Speaking at a news conference at the ...
Japan's rigid koseki system keeps it all in the family
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Mio Sugita is being criticized for comments she made about how LGBT individuals should not receive government “support” because, biologically speaking, they can’t have children and are thus “unproductive” as members of society. Although the media have covered her remarks ...
The controversy triggered by an LDP lawmaker's article on LGBT people should be turned into a broad public discussion on what policy steps to take to eliminate discrimination against sexual minorities.
Thousands rally to protest LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita's remark calling LGBT people 'unproductive'
Thousands of angry protesters rallied on Friday night in front of the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, calling for the resignation of junior lawmaker Mio Sugita, who had earlier branded the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community "unproductive." Sugita is facing ...
