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July 19, 2024
 

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COUNTERPOINT

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 20, 2011
Remember Takuboku: A model to rouse today's thwarted youth
Social change is a volcanic phenomenon. The first rumblings may not be widely seen or heard; then there is an eruption that takes society unawares. All of a sudden — or so it seems — a new generation with new needs and demands is born. Until that happens, society often outwardly appears placid,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 13, 2011
Japan's cull of once-loved pets cries out for German-style controls
An early riser, I am generally on one of the first trains out of my local station and walking across the sprawling university campus by 6 a.m.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 6, 2011
Ailing Japan Inc. must combine tradition with a new world view
One of the clearest memories I have of my Los Angeles childhood revolves around a car. By the early 1950s, my parents had managed to eke their way into the middle class; and for Los Angelenos, nothing signified that social status more than the automobile. For my dad, the symbol of this par excellence...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 30, 2011
Voters have their apathy to blame for Japan's dire farce at the top
Here's a fable about Japanese politics circa 2011.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 23, 2011
Is 'Galapagos-thinking' Japan back at its evolutionary dead end?
There are expressions that buzz like busy little bees and ones that don't buzz anymore. One of the dead-bee buzzwords in Japan is shimaguni konjo, meaning "island mentality." As for a buzzword for 2011, you'd be hard put to find one more busily doing the rounds than garapagosu, which references the Galapagos...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 9, 2011
Let's hope China doesn't fall into the same traps that Japan once did
The overriding question that should be on everyone's mind in this new, second decade of the 21st century is: What is going to happen in China?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 26, 2010
Who are the oldies to fault young people's various social skills?
Haragei is a word you don't hear very much anymore. Literally "belly art," haragei refers to the variety of persuasive communication that is done not with words but with the silent force of personality. Think of being stared down by a man sitting like a pot-bellied stove in front of you. But to be a...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 19, 2010
To students of English, the Spanish Armada has a lot to answer for
Second of two parts
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 12, 2010
Half the world's people are bilingual — but how many Japanese?
First of two parts
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 5, 2010
Rape: A crime for which hush-up society ought to stand trial, too
Mika Kobayashi is a brave woman.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 28, 2010
It's time Japan shook off its past and stopped toadying to the U.S.
Allow me to introduce a Japanese word to those unfamiliar with it. It is the verb kobiru, which means "to flatter"; "to curry favor with"; "to play up to"; "to toady to." In more up-to-date parlance, it may be rendered as "to suck up to."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 21, 2010
Icon's advice on Japan's plight may not be everyone's cup of tea
One of the immutable principles of cosmology states that wherever you are in the universe, everything appears to be streaming away from you. This certainly seems to be the case with Japan.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 14, 2010
When a natural selection can appear to some an offensive choice
One morning in the summer of 1967 I made what was, for me, a momentous decision.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 7, 2010
Color me upbeat despite the pessimism now sweeping this land
As the year 2010 approaches its end, if I were to express the mood of today's Japanese nation in color it would be gray bordering on charcoal.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 17, 2010
New Russia's political maneuvering harkens back to the U.S.S.R.
If I had to choose the event in my adult lifetime with the greatest historical import it would be, hands down, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2005, then president of Russia Vladimir Putin was not exaggerating when he called it "the greatest political catastrophe of the 20th century."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 10, 2010
Polls highlight dark times perchance prior to Japan's new dawn
Second of two parts
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 3, 2010
Japanese opinion polls now reflect reality far better than of yore
First of two parts
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 19, 2010
Summer's heat is spent, the leaves are about to turn, an equinox nears
"The turning of the leaves in the American autumn is, in its own way, wonderful, but it lacks a poignancy and an elegance suggestive of the passing of time."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 12, 2010
Late P.E.N. Club president sets tone of Tokyo global writers' meet
This month, The Japan P.E.N. Club hosts the annual International PEN Congress, whose wide variety of lectures, readings and symposia will feature guests from Japan and overseas.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 5, 2010
What Japan must do now to survive the coming U.S. conflagration
It is no secret that the tectonic plates of the American empire are slipping dramatically, though the vast majority of Americans are blissfully unaware or in denial of what may soon occur.
Triple whammy takes Japan bankruptcies to decade high
More Japanese firms have gone bankrupt in the first half of this year due to soaring costs, labor shortages and the end of pandemic-related support.
With eye on China, Japan deepens ties with Pacific islands at Tokyo summit
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the Cook Islands' Prime Minister Mark Brown shake hands during 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting on Thursday in Tokyo.
Say cheese: Japanese scientists make robot face 'smile' with living skin
A researcher at the University of Tokyo shows a face mold covered in human skin tissue at its lab.
Rainy season ends in Tokai and Kanto regions
The streets of Tokyo's Ginza district on Thursday. The rainy season appears to have ended in the regions of Tokai and Kanto, including Tokyo, on Thursday, according to the Meteorological Agency.
India’s envoy in Japan calls for boosted supply chain and defense cooperation
Indian Ambassador Sibi George says one of his main tasks in his post is to boost Japanese public and private investments the South Asian powerhouse.
After Tokyo Olympic disappointment, Nadeshiko Japan look for redemption
Japan's Hikaru Kitagawa dribbles past a defender during an Olympic qualifying match against North Korea at National Stadium in Tokyo in February.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

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

Longform

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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