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July 04, 2025
 

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THE FOREIGN ELEMENT

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 19, 2013
The world's a stage, but you don't have to play along
On the night of April 18, three days after the Boston Marathon bombing, a side-drama to that story unfolded between three men as they criss-crossed the city, a performance staged partly in the theater of culture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 12, 2013
Ainu fight for return of plundered ancestral remains
Shigeru Kayano, one of the most well-known and respected Ainu figures of modern times, writes in his autobiography "Our Land Was a Forest" about the loathing he felt as a young man for the shamo (Japanese) researchers who used to visit his village and family home.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 5, 2013
SOFA: an unequal treaty that trumps the Constitution?
The prime minister's dogged focus on amending the American-tainted Constitution might reflect an uncomfortable unspoken truth — that it may be easier to change the Constitution than revise another document of potentially greater importance: the Status of Forces Agreement between Japan and the United States, which governs the legal status of the U.S. military presence in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 29, 2013
Prove you're Japanese: when being bicultural can be a burden
Japanese are Japanese and foreigners are foreigners, and never the twain shall meet? In many aspects of daily life in this country, there is one way for the Japanese and another for the rest of us. Like it or not, that's just how it is. At least foreigners know where we stand.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 29, 2013
There is more to my son than the fact he's a 'half'
For foreign residents, having a child in Japan can be a daunting prospect. Going to the hospital and trying to figure out what the doctor is saying in complex Japanese medical terms is just one of myriad trials.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 22, 2013
Police stonewalling over death of U.S. teen in Shinjuku prolongs family's ordeal
The family of Scott Kang had hoped that the release the autopsy report would shed some light on the U.S. teenager's death in Shinjuku in 2010 and bring them nearer to obtaining closure. Instead, it has reopened old wounds and raised fresh questions about the original police investigation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 15, 2013
Trolls or media watchdogs?: Japan's foreign-born defenders
Have the foreign media got it in for Japan? Do they unduly focus on, and sensationalize, Fukushima radiation leaks, alleged racial intolerance and the self-aggrandizing policy pronouncements of the reborn Liberal Democratic Party?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 8, 2013
Driven by regret over neighbor's death, first-time filmmaker declares war on suicide
Rene Duignan is passionate about life — so much so that he made an award-winning film about it. Yet Duignan, 42, is not a professional filmmaker; he's an Irish economist working for the European Union delegation to Japan. The documentary, titled "Saving 10,000 — Winning a War on Suicide in Japan,"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 2, 2013
The LDP constitution, article by article: a preview of things to come?
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing for constitutional change. Yet he is playing the political huckster by proposing to first only fiddle with the amendment procedure in Article 96, lowering the threshold for the process to move forward from the approval of two-thirds of both houses of the Diet, as...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 25, 2013
Authors take polar-opposite tacks as they try to decipher Japanese women
It's an all-too-familiar story: On the romantic front, foreign ladies living in Japan have it bad while the guys do unbelievably well. For every woman who complains about Japanese men's aloofness and lack of communication skills, there is a man who boasts about all the local chicks he's had.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 25, 2013
'Yellow fever' and the fantasy of the Asian female
Here is a dumb thing you should never do: watch the 007 caper "You Only Live Twice" with your feminist American girlfriend — a woman of color to boot. In a series renowned for its sexism, the Japan entry takes the biscuit.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 25, 2013
Tweak the Constitution now, think later?
Whether it happens or not depends heavily on the results of the upcoming House of Councilors elections, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has clearly announced his intention to make amending the Constitution a campaign issue.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 18, 2013
Chatting about Japan with Snowden, the NSA whistle-blower
Edward Snowden, the fugitive former CIA employee and NSA contractor who leaked secrets about America's spying operations, often hung out online with foreigners in Japan who shared his interests in anime, video games, martial arts, the stock market and the expat lifestyle.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 18, 2013
Democracy, interrupted: How local voices were silenced in Tokyo's first referendum
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.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 11, 2013
Japan's Nigerians see symbol of change in masquerade
Anyone wandering the back streets near Omiya Station at 7:20 a.m. on Sunday, June 2, might have passed a particular office building, unremarkable except for two African men standing on a 2nd floor balcony, rope in hand, lowering a car-sized Ugo (eagle) costume down to the parking lot. One of them was...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 11, 2013
Hague Convention on child abduction may shape Japan's family law — or vice versa
Giant Hello Kitty-emblazoned kudos to Japan for finally signing the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. Now comes the hard part: actually making it work.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 4, 2013
'Okinawa bacteria' toxic legacy crosses continents, spans generations
Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City houses one of Vietnam's busiest maternity clinics, but hidden in a quiet corner, far from the wards of proud new mothers, is a room stacked floor to ceiling with every parent's nightmare.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 4, 2013
As evidence of Agent Orange in Okinawa stacks up, U.S. sticks with blanket denial
In April 2011, these Community pages published the first accounts of sick U.S. veterans who believe their illnesses were caused by exposure to Agent Orange on Okinawa during the Vietnam War era.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 28, 2013
As Japan reeled from disaster, three men went cycling
In 1977, British author and long-term Tokyo resident Alan Booth made a journey on foot from the northernmost point in Japan, Cape Soya, to Kyushu's southernmost tip, Cape Sata.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 28, 2013
Want more out of Japan but face doesn't fit? Be TOFITR
I recently served as a "private sector representative" in a panel discussion before an audience of foreign graduate students at the University of Tokyo. Many of the students will soon be seeking employment in Japan; because I have spent 25 years living in or traveling to Japan, the last 10 or so running...
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Onosato's yokozuna promotion causes rare quirk in new sumo rankings
Newly promoted yokozuna Onosato holds a copy of the latest banzuke ranking in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, on Monday.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Over 900 earthquakes strike Tokara islands in space of two weeks
A screenshot shows many quakes occurring in the Tokara islands over the past 30 days, in this image taken from the U.S. Geological Survey website.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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