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April 28, 2024
 

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THE ZEIT GIST

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 20, 2012
Reflections on 3/11: reporters' dispatches
Initial hopes turn to frustration In the immediate aftermath of 3/11 I penned several optimistic pieces for European newspapers predicting that the disaster might jolt Japan out of its long period of economic torpor and social ennui. I wouldn't write the same today.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 13, 2012
New Zealander loses legal fight over crippling med addiction
When Wayne Douglas arrived home in New Zealand from Japan in early 2001, his own mother didn't recognize him at the airport.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 6, 2012
Rebuilding lives in shattered Tohoku, one image at a time
As the minibus winds through the foothills of northern Fukushima, the Geiger counter flashes blue and buzzes loud alerts — but it doesn't distract Brian Peterson. The 35-year-old American holds up a boxy Konika Instant Press — what he calls his "magic camera" — then explains how to load it, set the aperture and remove jammed film without ruining the entire stock.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 6, 2012
Berlitz court ruling unequivocal on basic right to strike
After hearing more than three years of testimony, the judge took only a minute to read the court's verdict rejecting Berlitz Japan's ¥110 million lawsuit against striking teachers and their union and reaffirming organized labor's right to take industrial action.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 28, 2012
Teacher outfoxes board, exposes bid to fleece JETs
English teachers on the JET program are often faced with the bittersweet moment when they realize their contract is ending and they will soon be returning to their home country.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 28, 2012
Threatened Goldman Japan workers unionize
The past year has been anything but business as usual for the financial industry. Faced with a frosty economic climate, financial service companies have been busy chopping dead wood. Last year, 200,000 financial service jobs ended up on the cutting block worldwide.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 21, 2012
Expectations low as Hague signing approaches
Several months ago I made a bet with a friend about how the Hague Convention on international child abduction will be applied after Japan finishes implementing it through domestic legislation. My bet was this: If a Japanese court ever does order the return of a child wrongfully brought or retained here, the first case will be one in which both parents are non-Japanese. Needless to say, I hope to lose.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 14, 2012
Vets win payouts over Agent Orange use on Okinawa
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded two more former service members compensation for exposure to Agent Orange while serving on Okinawa during the 1960s and '70s.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 31, 2012
A winter's tale: cold homes, poor lives in wealthy Japan
Question: What am I doing outside my home at 6 a.m. with a gas can, a pump, and stalactites under my nose?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 24, 2012
American claims Tokyo cop assaulted son, 8
Elementary school student Jian Macdonald had always thought policemen were cool — especially ones that rode fast motorcycles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 17, 2012
And then there was one?: Japan's right royal crisis
According to the Japanese Constitution, the Emperor is the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people. You could thus say it is symbolic that the Imperial household is now facing an unprecedented demographic crisis, one that may ultimately lead to a succession dilemma and possibly even a constitutional quandary. While the recent hospitalization of 78-year-old Emperor Akihito due to illness has probably made more people think about succession, a more urgent cause of official concern may lie elsewhere: marriage.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 10, 2012
International education a triple-A investment in your child's — and Japan's — future
Bicultural families are on the rise in Japan. In 1970, less than 6,000 "international marriages" — where one partner is non-Japanese — were registered, or 0.5 percent of the total. In 2000, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare reported that one in 22, or 4.5 percent, of all marriages that year were between a Japanese and a foreigner. In Tokyo, it's now one in 10.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 10, 2012
Local Japanese school is the obvious choice if you want your child to fit in
The first day of elementary school, a milestone in a child's life, brings a mix of emotions for parents. The pride and joy of seeing their child taking his first steps into the world are tempered with feelings of anxiety in moms and dads everywhere.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 3, 2012
Japanese must tap their 'inner Israeli'
Aimless, Japan has been struggling to find a suitable vision, or model, for its future. Should it strive to be like Finland, small but prosperous? Should it de-emphasize economic growth and focus on sustainability and lifestyle? Should it look to the go-go '80s for inspiration? Or should it withdraw from active engagement with the world and into its own cultural comfort zone (neo-isolationism, or shinsakokushugi)?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 20, 2011
Four years after 'Nova shock,' eikaiwa is down but not out
Ask any ordinary person what significance Oct. 26 holds and you might find them struggling for an answer, but for many involved in Japan's beleaguered English teaching industry, it was the day the nation's premier operator fell into administration and took much of the rest of the industry with it.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 20, 2011
Gaba 'contractor' status under fire from staff, courts
As an 8-year-old in Indiana, William first became curious about Japan when he made friends with a Japanese guy called Hideki who introduced him to Super Mario and the magical world of Japanese video games.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 13, 2011
Corporate governance in the shadow of Olympus
According to the "third-party committee" of outside experts appointed by Olympus to investigate the accounting scandal recently exposed by its sacked CEO, Michael Woodford, at least some of the company's directors, auditors and employees failed to stop or were even complicit in an ongoing effort to hide massive investment losses dating back to the early 1990s.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 6, 2011
Comic anthologies offer visions of hope after 3/11
In the wake of March 11, artists, writers, letterers and colorists based in Japan and across the globe have been hard at work crafting stories and images of solidarity, concern and, above all, hope for two fundraising books: "Spirit of Hope" and "Aftershock: Artists Respond to Disaster in Japan."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 29, 2011
Thanksgiving: food, family, but hold the 'chong chew' turkey
We are flying what seems like dangerously low over Boston Harbor. From my window seat, I see waves crash into rocks, spraying foam, and colorful boats with flapping sails. After touching down safely in the city, the pilot wishes us all a happy Thanksgiving.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 22, 2011
MacArthur, identity theory and Japan's lingering eigo woes
Some years ago I was teaching an advanced English class in San Francisco that featured a hodgepodge of students from all over the world. Just as the range of cultures and accents extended from Europe to the Middle East to Asia and South America, so did the array of communication styles. Yet while the Egyptians, Koreans, Colombians and French all commented on a host of themes with varying degrees of passion and volubility, it was often the same segment that monosyllabically toiled through the topics: the students from Japan.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Air China to buy 100 locally made C919 jets in $11 billion deal
A Comac C919 during an aerial display at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore in February
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Top U.S. and China diplomats talk tough amid warnings of new ‘downward spiral’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.

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

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

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