Masami Ito - The Japan Times

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Masami Ito

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Masami Ito

Masami is a staff writer for the Life and Culture Division at The Japan Times. She is in charge of the weekly Sunday Timeout, covering various issues related to Japan, from alcohol/drug addiction and juvenile crime to female sushi chefs and kendama. Over her 15-year career, she has written extensively on Japanese politics, foreign policy and social issues.

JAPAN

May 26, 2007

Diet lowers incarceration age to 'about 12'

The Diet enacted a package of new juvenile crime laws on Friday that lowers the minimum age at which a child can be sent to a reformatory to "about 12."

JAPAN

May 24, 2007

Matsuoka tells Diet he won't talk about office expenses

in attendance. KYODO PHOTO

JAPAN

May 15, 2007

Diet clears path to referendum on Constitution

law will in reality destroy the Constitution," Fukushima told reporters in the Diet following the bill's passage. Fukushima also expressed anger over the short deliberation period in the Upper House — barely one month since the bill passed the Lower House on April 13.

JAPAN / Q&A

May 15, 2007

What follows from passage of Constitution referendum bill?

The Diet on Monday passed a bill to establish procedures for a national referendum to revise the Constitution. The bill was a key agenda item for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a conservative who has repeatedly stressed his intention to revise the Constitution, which was drafted in 1947 under the Allied...

JAPAN

May 12, 2007

Constitution referendum bill clears key committee

has been asked to cooperate (in the international community) and we ourselves need to protect the lives and assets of the people, and it is natural that we discuss what is (a suitable) new Constitution." The Constitution stipulates that any changes to the charter must be approved by a two-thirds majority...

JAPAN

May 4, 2007

Nakasone: Constitution defective, preamble needs 'love of nation' clause

A nonpartisan group of politicians headed by former Prime Minister Nakasone marked the 60th anniversary of the Constitution with a meeting on Thursday to tell the public why Japan needs a new charter.

Japan Times

JAPAN

May 2, 2007

Doctor fights for health of foreigners in detention

In summer 2005, a man from Myanmar seeking asylum in Japan was found dead in his Tokyo apartment. But because he had no family here, the results of the autopsy were not released and the cause of death remains unknown to this day.

Japan Times

LIFE / WEEK 3

Apr 15, 2007

Stroll the streets of vending-machine heaven

Fancy some fresh eggs and veggies to go with your can of coffee in the morning? Or how about some sake with a steaming bowl of oden (soy-sauce based stew) for an evening enkai (party)? Who needs restaurants and supermarkets when you can get all you need from vending machines?

JAPAN

Mar 30, 2007

Victim participation in trials risky, experts say

A bill that would allow people victimized by crime to participate in court proceedings could be detrimental to the criminal trial system and needs further debate, a group of lawyers, scholars and Diet members said Thursday.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 27, 2007

Budget victory moves Abe a step closer to real goal

Reeling from scandals and falling public approval ratings, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet cleared a key hurdle in the Diet Monday by winning passage of the fiscal 2007 budget.

JAPAN

Mar 27, 2007

Upper House authorizes 83 trillion yen 2007 budget

The House of Councilors on Monday evening approved the 82.91 trillion yen fiscal 2007 budget following its endorsement by the chamber's budget committee earlier in the day.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Mar 22, 2007

Local elections to test depth of voter despondence

Held every four years, the polls will produce a new mix of governors, prefectural assembly members, mayors and other heads of towns, villages and wards.The official campaign period for the gubernatorial elections, including Tokyo's, kicks off Thursday.Along with the mayors for four ordinance-designated...

JAPAN

Mar 17, 2007

Nakai resubmits funds report; utility expenditures now zero

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Hiroshi Nakai said his 2005 political funds report, which was filed with a huge amount in the utility expenses column for an office that had no utility bills, has been corrected and resubmitted to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

JAPAN

Mar 17, 2007

Abe pressed again on sex slavery

Saying that true friendship between their countries depended on it, visiting South Korean lawmaker Yoo Ki Hong on Friday urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to officially recognize and apologize for the wartime sexual enslavement of women and girls in Japanese-occupied Asia.

Japan Times

JAPAN / EXPLAINER

Mar 13, 2007

Japan is obliged to accept refugees, so why so few?

In 1981, Japan signed the U.N. 1951 Conventions Relating to the Status of Refugees and in 1982, it inked the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and enacted the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law. Signatories are obliged to give refugees due recognition and protect their basic...

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 23, 2007

Mag on foreigner crimes not racist: editor

"Now!! Bad foreigners are devouring Japan," screams the warning, surrounded by gruesome caricatures of foreigners who look like savages, with blood red eyes and evil faces.

JAPAN

Feb 22, 2007

Recognize us and apologize, ex-wartime sex slave tells Tokyo

Tokyo should officially recognize the women Japan forced into sexual slavery for the Imperial army in the 1930s and '40s and formally apologize, a South Korean former "comfort woman" demanded Wednesday.

JAPAN

Feb 21, 2007

Ozawa says big office expenses were for real estate

Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa on Tuesday released details of how his political management body spent the large amounts of money listed as "office expenses" on his political funding reports from 2003 to 2005.

JAPAN

Feb 20, 2007

Two years down the road, Nepali cyclist wheels solo through Japan

country and to the public," Chhetri said. "I have no academic skills, but I was confident in my physical strength. . . . So I did what I could do -- ride my bicycle to tell the world about Nepal, and to learn about the world from other countries." Why a bicycle? Chhetri said he couldn't afford a car...

JAPAN

Feb 6, 2007

Yanagisawa ouster calls linger

will continue to talk about his remark until the Upper House election" in July, said Ikuo Kabashima, a University of Tokyo professor who studies voting behavior. "The negative image will probably continue to follow (the LDP) in every election that takes place." Yanagisawa made the remark during a Jan....

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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