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November 22, 2024
 

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Jeff Kingston
Jeff Kingston lives in Tokyo, teaches history at Temple University Japan and has been contributing to The Japan Times since 1988. "Contemporary Japan" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) is his most recent book.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 1, 2009
Foundations take a new shape
THE CHANGING JAPANESE FAMILY, edited by Marcus Rebick and Ayumi Takenaka. Routledge, 2009, 224 pp., £20 (paperback) The notion of family in Japan conjures up images of stability that are increasingly out of step with emerging realities. Certainly, compared to most other advanced industrialized nations,...
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 13, 2009
Winning was the easy part for Hatoyama's DPJ
After generations of rule, the Liberal Democratic Party was trounced by the Democratic Party of Japan in last month's Lower House elections. Jeff Kingston weighs what went wrong, what went right — and what now for a nation whose voters are sick of 'politics as usual'?
CULTURE / Books
Aug 23, 2009
Making the time to find mono no aware
Detached and contemplative,"Oh!" draws the reader into a mesmerizing journey of discovery while also exploring contemporary Japanese pathologies along the way. This philosophical mystery gives us leads on understanding sadness, loss, family ties, identity and suicide. It is also a search for clues about...
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 9, 2009
Under a cloud: Lessons and legacies of the atomic bombings
Global fashion icon Issey Miyake recently made headlines by divulging in a New York Times article he penned on July 13 that he is a hibakusha, a survivor of the atomic bombings of Japan.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 28, 2009
When in war, why bomb the innocent?
How one feels about what one is reading can differ depending on where and when. Reading these essays while boarding a flight from Tokyo, transiting Hanoi and then arriving in Laos — all places that have been subjected to extensive U.S. bombing — is to feel the long arm of history tug at one's conscience....
LIFE / Travel
Jun 28, 2009
Kandy, Sri Lanka: Highland jewel in an enchanted isle
The war is over, peace-building is under way, and Sri Lanka is one of the most enchanting islands you could ever imagine.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 28, 2009
Luang Prabang, Laos: Mekong musings and much more
Watching sunset over the swirling Mekong River from one of Luang Prabang's riverside cafes while sipping a therapeutic Beer Lao is hard to beat.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 28, 2009
Succor for the soul
Yes, you do deserve some pampering and spiritual rejuvenation — and the sooner the better.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 28, 2009
Chiang Mai: Thailand's beguiling Rose of the North
It is a great time to visit Thailand. The political crisis has abated, the airport is open, everything is a bargain and tourists are few and far between. What more could a traveler ask for?
CULTURE / Books
May 31, 2009
The violence specialists of Japanese politics
Japanese voters are frustrated because even if they throw the bums out of office, they know the opposition is much the same. These days money is the root of political scandals and influence buying, but here we examine how violence became institutionalized in Japan's politics from the first parliamentary...
CULTURE / Books
May 10, 2009
Continuing controversy of 'comfort women'
C. Sarah Soh explains how the comfort women system emerged from the nexus of patriarchy, colonialism, capitalism and militarism, placing it in an ongoing continuum of women's subjugation and exploitation. Controversially, she asserts that it is inaccurate to depict the comfort women as sex slaves and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 3, 2009
Encore Matsuyama!
Nibbling a sweet mikan from Ehime, prime terroir for Japan's citrus, I decided to explore somewhere I had a vague feeling might be an interesting off-the-beaten ramble.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 19, 2009
Race, ethnicity and identity in Japan
Japan is a multiethnic society largely in denial about its diversity. Here we can examine the contradictions and consequences of this discourse. This second edition published a dozen years after the first is a welcome update with 10 chapters analyzing, inter alia, Japan's six principle minority groups...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 1, 2009
Memories of Manchuria
Reviewed by Jeff Kingston There is a powerful fascination in Japan about the lives and fates of the Japanese who migrated to Manchuria 1932-45. Some 320,000 rural Japanese were mobilized in this scheme to lessen population pressures in Japan, project Japanese power and promote food production in this...
JAPAN / Society
Feb 8, 2009
Burmese junta fuels influx
In 2008 there was a sharp spike in the number of people seeking asylum in Japan, and although only 6 percent of those processed were recognized by the government as refugees, they totalled 57 compared with 41 the year before.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 8, 2009
Anxiety haunts a Burmese family left in official limbo
"All my Burmese friends are getting humanitarian visas, but not me," laments Hla Aye Maung, who has lived in Japan for the past 12 years.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 8, 2009
Japan charts a new course on refugees
Beginning in 2010, Japan will inaugurate a three-year pilot program to accept 30 refugees a year from camps nestled along the remote border between Thailand and Burma.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 18, 2009
The strength of Japan's 'soft power'
SOFT POWER SUPERPOWERS: Cultural and National Assets of Japan and the U.S., edited by Yasushi Watanabe and David L. McConnell. New York: M.E. Sharpe. Armonk, 2008, 296 pp., $32.95 (paper)
CULTURE / Books
Jan 18, 2009
The strength of Japan's 'soft power'
BEYOND PACIFISM: Why Japan Must Become a "Normal" Nation, by William Middlebrooks. Praeger Security International: Westport, Conn., 2008, 155 pp., $75 (cloth) SOFT POWER SUPERPOWERS: Cultural and National Assets of Japan and the U.S., edited by Yasushi Watanabe and David L. McConnell. New York: M.E....
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 11, 2009
Asia University for Women: magic in the making
Perhaps it is only fitting in this time of dismal economic news that Bangladesh, a country known principally for natural disasters and human misery, provides an inspiring and uplifting story to relieve the gathering gloom.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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By Kathryn Wortley

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