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July 19, 2024
 

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COUNTERPOINT

Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 5, 2016
Japan's counterterrorism efforts falling short
The Foreign Ministry invited ridicule toward the end of 2015 after it advertised job openings for part-time counterterrorism analysts. While the expansion of the exploited precariat of non-regular workers to nearly 40 percent of the workforce is lamentable in itself, who would have thought some of them...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 27, 2016
Does Tohoku's disaster tourism exploit or educate?
...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 20, 2016
1936 coup failed, but rebels killed Japan's 'Keynes'
This Friday marks the 80th anniversary of the February 26th Incident, a coup staged by young military officers who hoped to spark a general uprising, but whose revolt was quashed on the orders of Emperor Hirohito.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 13, 2016
Onagawa is on the rebound from devastation
On March 11, 2011, the magnitude-9 Great East Japan Earthquake propelled a powerful tsunami through the port of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, claiming 827 lives — nearly 10 percent of the town's population — and destroying 70 percent of all of its buildings. It was the most severely damaged...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 6, 2016
A Tohoku father seeks accountability for his daughter's death
As the fifth anniversary of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami approaches, the tragic story of 74 schoolchildren and 10 teachers who drowned near Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, continues to resonate painfully.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 30, 2016
Work-life balance in Japan leans in one direction
The concept of work-life balance is intrinsically appealing. People are so busy with work nowadays that they can't escape, tethered as they are to their jobs by smartphones. This situation generates stress and encroaches on private time with family and friends. Weekends? What weekends?!
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 23, 2016
Hiroko Kuniya's ouster deals another blow to quality journalism in Japan
Hiroko Kuniya, the widely respected anchor for NHK's stellar "Close-up Gendai" news analysis program, has been ousted from her position after 23 years with the show. She now joins a growing list of prominent news presenters and commentators who have discovered the apparent perils of not kowtowing to...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 16, 2016
Asia is imperiled by COP21's climate cop-out
The nations of the world gathered at the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) last month to come to an agreement on the urgent mission of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, all they produced was an attractive vision statement that is more sham than solution.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 9, 2016
'Comfort women' problem requires a grand gesture
Due to his unassailable nationalist credentials, Prime Minister Abe is uniquely positioned to make a powerfully symbolic gesture of contrition.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 2, 2016
In Abe's Japan, a woman's place is on the margins
On Dec. 16, Japan's Supreme Court struck a blow for patriarchy by refusing to strike down the law requiring married couples to adopt one surname, a regulation that weighs disproportionately on women since in almost all cases they adopt their husband's family name. For career women, this requirement burdens...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 26, 2015
Asia's person of the year and the death of a giant
It took two elections spaced over a quarter of a century, but Myanmar's military junta has finally got the message and is obeying the will of the citizens as expressed in the 2015 elections. In November, the ruling Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) woke up to find out just how reviled it really...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 19, 2015
Recommended reading for the holidays and beyond
'Black Dragon River' stands out among the nonfiction books that caught the eye of columnist Jeff Kingston over the past year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 12, 2015
Gerald Curtis, the ultimate insider in Japanese politics, retires
Gerald Curtis will retire this month from Columbia University, where he has been teaching since 1968.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 5, 2015
Done right, moral education could be a good thing
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is enacting another one of the conservatives' long-standing policy desires by reintroducing moral education in secondary schools from 2018.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 28, 2015
Asia mostly backsliding on democratic values
In Japan, lawyers are fortunately not arrested by the state for doing their job, as they are in China. Nor are academics faced with indictment for challenging mainstream history narratives, as in South Korea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 21, 2015
Resumption of Antarctic whaling flouts rule of law
The rule of law has been Japan's trump card in its ongoing rhubarb with China over competing territorial claims in the East China Sea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 14, 2015
Chinese media crucial in public diplomacy effort
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently had a cameo in the animated adult cartoon "South Park." In the episode, Xi (not the real Xi) revealed that Japan decides "who is gay or not" in Asia. The character also said the Japanese "are dogs who refuse not apologize to the Chinese Republic" and then kissed...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 7, 2015
South Korea's new state textbook 'corrects' history
South Korea recently announced plans for a revisionist textbook that will whitewash that country's history and has the academic community outraged over political meddling. At least the move gives South Korean President Park Geun-hye something in common with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 31, 2015
'Japan Lobby' takes the gloves off in PR battle
The Sankei Shimbun advocates a more aggressive diplomatic stance on history issues and this dovetails with the mission of Japan Conference, a reactionary organization that includes numerous lawmakers. From their perspective, Japan has been too reticent and polite on the world stage and the gloves need...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 24, 2015
Assessing Japan's rightward shift at the top
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is Japan's most ideological postwar prime minister, pushing right-wing policies on numerous fronts that trample on postwar norms and values. He has been able to do so because he has the Diet in his back pocket, but how did this tectonic shift in Japanese politics happen?
Yen rally shakes markets, sending dollar to weakest level since May
The yen rose to the ¥155 range against the dollar, the highest in almost two months, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Cutting ties with JCP not easy for CDP despite Renho's defeat
When Renho (center) announced her candidacy for the Tokyo gubernatorial election on May 27, the head of the Japanese Communist Party's secretariat, Akira Koike (far left), was also in attendance.
Trump's VP pick signals stronger focus on China
Former U.S. President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to his vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance, during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
Japan’s minimum wage might not budge much if corporate fears prevail
Unionists hold a rally in Tokyo in April. Households' real cash earnings have been falling year on year for more than two years, with the weakening of the yen making the situation only more difficult as prices of imported goods increase rapidly.
New uniforms to help protect athletes against secret photography
Members of Japan's women's Tokyo 2020 Olympic volleyball team. Along with table tennis and hockey, volleyball is set to be one of the sports at the 2024 Paris Games in which Japan's female players will don new uniforms that help protect them against secret photography while they compete.
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.

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