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December 04, 2024
 

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Colin P.A. Jones
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 16, 2013
Mad court rush could brake or bless Abe's vision
As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet rush to diminish the Bank of Japan's bothersome independence, join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations (sort of . . .), start pouring lovely, popular concrete before the summer House of Councilors elections and (sotto voce) maybe even amend the Constitution,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 12, 2013
Do dire predictions for Japan factor in a rush for the exits?
Within two hours of the massive earthquake that jolted Japan at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, the Japanese government received notice that an “Article 15 event” had occurred at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 28, 2013
Blame it on the hara: harassment vocabulary makes us all victims
Japan has a new hara. No, the nice couple down the hall didn't just have a baby; according to recent news, yet another form of harassment is supposedly becoming a social problem.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 22, 2013
Fixing the much-admired, reviled Constitution — by breaking it
With Shinzo Abe having called Japan's current Constitution "pathetic" (mittomonai) just a few days before taking charge of a government established under it, constitutional amendment seems likely to be on the agenda of his second go as prime minister. This should not surprise anyone, since "fixing" the...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 18, 2012
Stop thinking — the test is about to start
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 9, 2012
A guide to navigating Japan's exotic legal-eagle menagerie
A common mistake made by foreigners trying to accomplish things in Japan is to go to a lawyer (bengoshi) with their problems. It is not a mistake because of a bunch of hooey about Japanese people not looking to the law for solutions, but because a lawyer may not be the best man or woman for the job....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 18, 2012
It's past midnight but child-abduction treaty promise is not yet a pumpkin
Despite much promise and a flurry of activity, it didn't happen: Japan failed to ratify the Hague Convention on international child abduction and pass the extensive piece of accompanying domestic legislation the government felt was necessary in order for it to do so. Both items on the Diet agenda were...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 4, 2012
Our mixed-race children deserve better than this, so why bother with Japan?
When it comes to parceling out rights, Japanese law makes a very clear distinction: What you get depends upon whether you are a Japanese citizen or not. Sort of.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 19, 2012
Mishmash jumble of systems is recipe for a do-little Diet
Given the momentous fiscal and social problems Japan was facing even before Fukushima, even foreign residents — who can't vote — may be wondering what on Earth Japan's elected officials are doing to solve the nation's many ills.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 5, 2012
Much ado, but micro-important
A few weeks ago, as a panelist at a symposium on Japan's accession to the Hague Convention on international child abduction, I found it hard to disguise my ire. One of the speakers was a lawyer opposed to Japan joining the convention, and who refused to even use "abduction" to discuss what she called...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LIGHT GIST
Apr 24, 2012
Poetic, but maybe not justice: Japan demystified in haiku
One of my goals in writing for The Japan Times over the years has been to try to render the seemingly arcane functioning of the Japanese legal system a bit more comprehensible to non-Japanese, non-legal types. This involves a big assumption that I understand it myself, but I have at least tried to offer...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 3, 2012
These are a few of my favorite things — about the Japanese
Debito Arudou's Feb. 7 Just Be Cause column describing the 10 things he likes about Japan both inspired and depressed me. As a frequent critic of the country's legal system (among other things), his piece made me stop and think of some of the things I like about Japan that are all too easy to take for...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 21, 2012
Expectations low as Hague signing approaches
Several months ago I made a bet with a friend about how the Hague Convention on international child abduction will be applied after Japan finishes implementing it through domestic legislation. My bet was this: If a Japanese court ever does order the return of a child wrongfully brought or retained here,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 17, 2012
And then there was one?: Japan's right royal crisis
According to the Japanese Constitution, the Emperor is the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people. You could thus say it is symbolic that the Imperial household is now facing an unprecedented demographic crisis, one that may ultimately lead to a succession dilemma and possibly...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 13, 2011
Corporate governance in the shadow of Olympus
According to the "third-party committee" of outside experts appointed by Olympus to investigate the accounting scandal recently exposed by its sacked CEO, Michael Woodford, at least some of the company's directors, auditors and employees failed to stop or were even complicit in an ongoing effort to hide...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 15, 2011
Tokyo ordinance a potential contract-killer
A prediction: if Japan ever becomes a police state, it will come about not by national law but municipal ordinances. And the war on organized crime could be the engine that drives the process.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 1, 2011
Schizophrenic Constitution leaves foreigners' rights mired in confusion
Pop quiz: Who live in palatial homes in fashionable Tokyo neighborhoods but are subject to various forms of discrimination, have no family registry, can't vote and have limited constitutional rights?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LIGHT GIST
Aug 30, 2011
Mascots on a mission to explain the mundane
It is often said that the Japanese have a unique attitude towards law. Many explanations have been offered for why this is so, and in what circumstances:
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 9, 2011
Upcoming legal reforms: a plus for children or plus ca change?
Those focused on the government's stumbling efforts to protect the children of Fukushima from radioactive contamination may find this hard to believe, but Japanese family law just got more child-friendly — maybe. If Japan finally signs the Hague Convention on child abduction, as it appears it will,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 8, 2011
Byzantine temp rules need permanent fix
Back in the days when I was a corporate drone in Tokyo, I had a wonderful secretary who had the good fortune to get pregnant. Bad news for me, though, since I had to endure a series of temps, some good, some bad, and one who marinated herself in enough perfume to make everyone ill. But what I found most...
Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
Princess Aiko, only child of emperor, turns 23
Princess Aiko on Nov. 22 ahead of her 23rd birthday on Sunday at the Imperial Palace
Ishiba questioned on political reform, social issues and the economy
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.
Nearly 90% in Japan and China have negative views of other
Chinese people's sentiment toward Japan is believed to be impacted by their use of social media platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, as well as whether they have visited Japan.
Bear that attacked Akita supermarket employee captured
A brown bear in Hokkaido. In the city of Akita, a bear that attacked a supermarket employee over the weekend was captured in a box trap on Monday morning.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Europe eyes 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine as possible peace deal option
A serviceman with the Ukrainian Army's 24th mechanized brigade fires a machine gun during an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the country's Donetsk region on Friday.
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service. 
Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.
The Geisha bean is the leading lady of Tokyo's coffee scene
Discovered in the 1930s, the Geisha coffee plant came to worldwide fame in the early 2000s and now represents some of the best coffee on the planet — Tokyo's top cafes included.

Podcast

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

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
By Tomoko Otake

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SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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