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November 22, 2024
 

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Colin P.A. Jones
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 1, 2011
Solving parental child abduction problem no piece of cake
The Way of Cake is mysterious and paradoxical. A master of the Way can make his neighbors feel they have filled themselves with tasty cake without ever cutting off a piece. The Way allows its disciple to step outside the boundaries of rational thought by partaking of cake while continuing to possess...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 29, 2010
No need to know the law, but you must obey it
A few months ago I met with some Western diplomats who were looking for information about Japanese law — in particular, an answer to the question, "Is parental child abduction a crime?" As international child abduction has become an increasingly sore point between Japan and other countries, foreign...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 20, 2010
Not showing at a family court near you
I have seen the secret Japanese video. No, not the one where you die within a week of watching it, the other one — the one about how traumatic divorce and parental separation are for children.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 2, 2010
Children's rights, judicial wrongs
Last in a two-part series
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 26, 2010
Judges fill the gaps in Japan's family law
First in a two-part series
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 24, 2009
Every husband a potential 'abuser'
Before the Christopher Savoie case hit the news, Japanese commentators on the Hague Convention on international parental child abduction had already begun fretting over the completely unsubstantiated assertion that "almost all" instances of children being brought to Japan involve a Japanese mother fleeing...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 24, 2009
Every husband a potential 'abuser'
Before the Christopher Savoie case hit the news, Japanese commentators on the Hague Convention on international parental child abduction had already begun fretting over the completely unsubstantiated assertion that "almost all" instances of children being brought to Japan involve a Japanese mother fleeing...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 17, 2009
Changes must go beyond Hague abduction treaty
First in a two-part series
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 20, 2009
Signing Hague treaty no cure-all for parental abduction scourge
The recent arrest of Christopher Savoie for attempting to "kidnap" his two children in Fukuoka has brought much-needed international media attention to one of Japan's dirty secrets — its status as the developed world's leading destination for international parental child abduction.
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2009
Foreign parents face travel curbs?
I think it is safe to say that the countdown has begun — the countdown to it becoming more difficult for you to leave Japan with your children. Difficult, that is, if you are non-Japanese and traveling without their other parent (or his or her written consent).
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 26, 2009
How bureaucrats spell logic in Romanized Japanese
Tomorrow I will go to Sinzyuku to meet my old friends Mr. Tutida and Ms. Oisi. We will get some susi and then end up in Kabuki-tyo, drinking syoutyū until the syūden.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 21, 2009
Japan's many roads to ruin
While there are many roads to democracy and prosperity, in Japan it is roads that may take the country in a different direction. In their latest book on construction in Japan, "Doro o do suru ka" ("What to do about the roads?"), lawyer Takayoshi Igarashi and journalist Akio Ogawa paint a bleak picture...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 10, 2009
Big winners in 'jury' system may be judges, bureaucrats
With notices having already gone out to the randomly selected citizens who may have to serve as lay judges (saibanin) in serious criminal trials starting later this year, authorities are concerned that yakuza gangsters may end up being chosen. Oh well, at least they made sure to exclude law professors....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 13, 2009
Bloated bureaucracy exposed
A common joke among some foreigners here is that everything makes sense once you realize Japan is a communist country. However, the role of privileged ruling Communist Party (or, if you have a literary bent, the pigs in George Orwell's socialist parable "Animal Farm") is played not by the perpetual opposition...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 15, 2008
Human rights — strictly personal, strictly Japanese?
Go figure. Just a few weeks after I wrote about how Japanese courts try to avoid doing anything dramatic, on June 4 the Supreme Court ruled that a section of the Nationality Law was unconstitutional. Such rulings being so rare, I steeled myself for a big helping of highfalutin' Japanese legalese and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 3, 2008
Hard work begins once Japan signs child-abduction treaty
If my own mailbox is any indicator, the Internet is buzzing as international family lawyers, family rights activists and others share an exciting piece of news: Japan is reportedly planning to join the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction! Perhaps Japan's days as a haven...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 29, 2008
Judiciary's 'snake legs' exposed
On April 17 the Nagoya High Court ruled that the dispatch of Air Self-Defense Force personnel to Iraq was unconstitutional. While the ruling made news, it will probably not make much difference to Japan's foreign policy. Its significance may be nothing more than academic — after all, despite the headlines...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 29, 2008
Law schools come under friendly fire
With its first crop of graduates just entering the legal profession, Japan's new law school system is in trouble. The schools, most of which opened their doors in 2004, are already struggling with the mismatch between the number of law students, which is unregulated, and the number of people who are...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 5, 2006
Grim bar system may hurt legal reforms
Sept. 21 is awaited with a mixture of anticipation and dread in campuses across Japan. It is the date on which results of the country's first new bar examination are announced. How well a school's students do on this test, which is projected to have a pass rate of about 40 percent, may have a serious...
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.

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