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April 05, 2025
 

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Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 27, 2019
Cherry blossom-viewing party: Breaking down Abe's latest cronyism scandal
Every year since 1952, the prime minister, via taxpayer funds, has hosted one of the nation's largest cherry blossom-viewing parties.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 25, 2019
Local focus delivers win in Kochi for ruling bloc's gubernatorial pick as voters ignore Abe scandals
The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito won a local victory Sunday night in a gubernatorial poll in Kochi Prefecture, as voters chose to ignore national political scandals engulfing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and support the hand-picked successor of the current governor over a...
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 20, 2019
Kochi gubernatorial race seen as barometer on voter attitudes toward Abe
Kochi Prefecture's gubernatorial election Sunday pitting a ruling coalition-backed candidate against an opponent supported by the main opposition parties is being seen as an important gauge of voter sentiment amid recent scandals that have engulfed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and on opposition camp unity....
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 17, 2019
Outsourcing of English tests stirs up storm in education
When speaking last month about a plan to introduce private-sector English testing for university entrance exams, education minister Koichi Hagiuda created an outcry when he said students should compete for entry "in accordance with their (financial) standing," implying they should compete financially....
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Nov 16, 2019
Kepco's gift scandal casts shadow over Kansai and 2025 Expo
Earlier this fall, it was revealed that 20 Kansai Electric Power Co. officials, including the chairman and president, received nearly ¥320 million in cash and presents between 2006 and 2018 from a powerful, and now deceased, former deputy mayor and political fixer in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2019
Abe clears decks for debate on amending Japan's Constitution
When the extraordinary Diet session convenes on Friday, 15 government-sponsored bills are expected to be submitted — one of the lowest totals since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's second stint started — reflecting his administration's determination to focus its energy on revising the Constitution.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2019
Japan expected to repeat little more than past promises at U.N. Climate Action Summit
Japan may not bring much more than past promises to U.N. Climate Action Summit.
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2019
FactCheck Initiative Japan NPO uncovers dodgy claims from Abe and others ahead of July vote
FactCheck Initiative Japan, a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization that analyzes information provided by politicians, has found issues with a number of claims that were made in relation to the July 21 Upper House election.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2019
Osaka mayor Ichiro Matsui offers to take in tainted Fukushima water and dump it into Osaka Bay
Ichiro Matsui, the mayor of Osaka and head of Nippon Ishin no Kai, said Tuesday that water tainted by radioactive tritium from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant could — if proven environmentally safe — be sent to Osaka and dumped into Osaka Bay.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Sep 14, 2019
Sizzling summer threatens Tokyo 2020, Osaka Expo
The summer of 2019 brought record-breaking heat. Early to mid-September, until last week, felt like late July in Kansai, Tokyo, Nagoya and parts of Kyushu and Shikoku. Only in a few areas of Hokkaido, where temperatures dropped into the low teens at night, were there clear signs autumn was arriving....
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2019
From paternity leave to the environment, Koizumi's words and actions now under more intense spotlight
Newly appointed Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the third-youngest Cabinet minister in the postwar era, has been tapped by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his youth and popularity with the media and the public.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2019
Cabinet reshuffles provide a window into Japan's policy priorities
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to reshuffle his Cabinet on Wednesday. When this action, combined with the reshuffle of Liberal Democratic Party executives, takes place, there is always huge media coverage on who will be appointed to what post and what it means for the administration.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2019
At meeting in Kyoto, global body debates how to define and protect museums
What is a museum and how can its exhibits, which often include the world's most important cultural properties, be protected from natural disasters, including earthquakes?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 1, 2019
All eyes on LDP factions as Abe plots Cabinet shake-up for final term
With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expected to reshuffle his Cabinet later this month, attention is turning to who might get what posts, and from which Liberal Democratic Party factions any new ministers might be from.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 26, 2019
Inventor Boyan Slat's mission: Shrink Great Pacific Garbage patch 90% by 2040
Boyan Slat, 25, is an ambitious social entrepreneur. His goal: Reduce 90 percent of an estimated 80 million kg of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean, covering an area more than three times the size of France, by 2040. And do it with a technology he likens to raking leaves.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2019
Japan's UNESCO sites struggle to cultivate cultural cachet while keeping urban bustle at bay
An observation deck on the 21st floor of Osaka's Sakai City Hall provides visitors with a bird's-eye view of the surrounding area. In the midst of the urban jungle a few kilometers away, a large patch of greenery in the distance looks out of place amid the sea of modern buildings, like a public park...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2019
Japan and G7 peers brace for fractious summit in France
Japanese media outlets had reported that this year's G7 was unlikely to issue a joint statement for the first time in its history.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Aug 17, 2019
For Kyoto, international meeting of museum directors and creators is an opportunity to learn
From Sept. 1 to 7, Kyoto will host thousands of museum directors, curators and art historians from Japan and around the world for the general assembly meeting of the Paris-based International Council of Museums (ICOM).
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2019
Casino resort frontrunner MGM says winning and building Osaka facility by 2025 is tough but doable
Over the next few months, the government is expected to debate the structure of a new regulatory committee that will oversee so-called integrated resort complexes containing casinos and draft a basic policy specifying the selection criteria for such facilities.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2019
Shizuoka throws wrench in the works of Tokyo-Nagoya maglev shinkansen route
The current plan for the Tokyo-Nagoya maglev route, currently under construction, calls for Central Japan Railway Co. to begin operations by around 2027. The route will slash a trip between Nagoya and Shinagawa, which takes about 90 minutes on the fastest bullet trains today, to just 40 minutes.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
Tottori takes a bold leap forward in the arts
The city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture celebrated the opening of its public art museum with festivities such as a parade that drew 1,000 revelers.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.

Podcast

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

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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