Tag - view-from-osaka

 
Menu
Search
 
May 03, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

VIEW FROM OSAKA

Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Sep 17, 2016
There must be a sense of deja vu in Osaka after Yuriko Koike's election
Wasteful bureaucratic spending. Local politicians who smell money as they make Olympics-related plans. An assembly dominated by a clique of good ol' boys in the Liberal Democratic Party who run local government as their fiefdom. All challenged by a hawkish outsider of a governor who is media-savvy and enjoys the accolades of the local foreign business community, but is criticized as disloyal and untrustworthy by political opponents.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Aug 20, 2016
The content of culture: In Osaka, who should pay?
A report released by a Kansai business group earlier this month notes the amounts for the art and culture budgets of Osaka prefecture and Osaka city are well below national averages on a per person level, and has a lot of tongues wagging about Osaka being run by a bunch of philistines.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jul 16, 2016
Regional votes reveal cracks in political landscape
The overwhelming victory of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition in the July 10 Upper House election overshadowed regional results that suggest growing numbers of voters in certain parts of Japan aren't as dedicated to the LDP as it first appears.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jun 18, 2016
Hashimoto backs away from confronting Tokyo's fierce media pack
With Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe having resigned, who will replace him is a matter of interest not only in Tokyo, but a question likely to impact the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito's fortunes in next month's Upper House election.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
May 14, 2016
Obama's Hiroshima visit sparks 'what if' questions
U.S. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima later this month, the first ever by a sitting president, has rekindled the debate on both sides of the Pacific on what happened during the weeks leading up to the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of the city in the closing days of World War II.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Apr 16, 2016
Matsui far from alone in pushing nuclear debate
Out from the murky, quivering flames/ Of burning, festering Hiroshima/ You look so monstrous, but could not know/ How far removed you are now from mankind— Excerpted from Toge Sankichi's "Hibakusha" ("A-Bomb Survivor"), translated by N. Palchikoff
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Mar 19, 2016
A Japanese version of Trump isn't so far-fetched
"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."— H. L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Feb 20, 2016
Kansai is in need of some youthful innovation
In its latest report, released Feb. 12, the Kansai Economic Federation presented mixed news about the local economy. Looking at monthly sentiment in eight different areas ranging from industrial production to housing purchases to sentiment toward China, the report showed that, on the whole, 2015 was good for trade and employment (at least for firms using low-wage, part-time, nonunion employment) and not so good for public works, partially because pet projects Kansai wants Tokyo to help fund (an Osaka extension of the Hokuriku shinkansen, redevelopment of Osaka Bay) remain undecided.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jan 16, 2016
Osaka Ishin walks a tightrope under its big top
Does the fate of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts (at least in the Diet) to revise the Constitution lie in Osaka?
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 19, 2015
Curtain finally falls on the 'Toru Hashimoto Show'
"Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Nov 14, 2015
Will Tokyo become Hashimoto's Wonderland?
"It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Oct 17, 2015
Kyoto forum's leaders warm up to renewables
Each autumn, the world's most influential scientists, engineers, business leaders and science policy experts gather in Kyoto for the Science and Technology in Society Forum. The STS Forum is the brainchild of Koji Omi, a former finance minister and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry bureaucrat and one of Japan's most powerful behind-the-scenes politicians.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Sep 24, 2015
Hashimoto gets typically Trump on protests
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto is many things to many people, but nobody doubts his skill in the art of provocation.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Aug 15, 2015
Antinuclear activists need injection of fresh ideas
One of the basic jobs of any journalist is to cover public demonstrations. Not only do they make for great stories, they also provide the reporter with a chance to play amateur social anthropologist by observing how the individuals and groups involved interact with each other, and the public, before, during and after the protest itself.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jul 19, 2015
The cafes play jazz deep in the heart of Kyoto
Last month, it was announced the number of visitors to Kyoto in 2014 (including day trippers) topped 55 million people, a 7.8 percent increase over 2013. The total number of foreign visitors who spent at least one night was 1.83 million, a whopping 62 percent increase over 2013.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jun 20, 2015
Abe and Hashimoto's political dance will have to avoid stepping on any toes
One month after Osaka voters said no, just barely, to his pet project of fundamentally restructuring the municipal government, Mayor Toru Hashimoto finds himself courted by an increasingly anxious Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who hopes to borrow whatever is left of Hashimoto's influence in the Japan Innovation Party, and get new security bills passed by the end of the summer.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
May 16, 2015
Osaka's 'win-win' merger may leave the people lost
In a historic first, Osaka municipal voters go to the polls today to vote on a referendum that, if approved, will divide the city into five semi-autonomous wards.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Apr 18, 2015
Mind the gap: Nara election reveals voter values
In the wake of last Sunday's local elections, big city political reporters were quick to see the results as (1) a mandate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; and (2) a disaster for the Democratic Party of Japan.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Mar 14, 2015
Of birds and bugs: journalism in Tokyo and Osaka
One of the first things Tokyoites who relocate to Osaka notice is that, while their favorite mainstream media news source is available in both cities, the tone and often substance of the reporting is different.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Feb 14, 2015
Winter offers a wake-up call for local revitalization drive
Kansai's corporate titans gathered in Kyoto earlier this month for their annual retreat, formally known as the Kansai Economic Forum. While there was no shortage of the usual slightly daft old men with slightly daft ideas, this year saw two important, positive changes.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
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.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
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.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER