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August 15, 2024
 

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THE ZEIT GIST

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 / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 29, 2009
Gaijin health coverage: an appeal for choice
Unless you've just made it to this corner of the world in the last couple of weeks, you're probably well aware of the new visa guideline that's scheduled to go into effect in April 2010. Because of this guideline, foreigners who wish to renew their visa and who are required to be enrolled in social health...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 22, 2009
'The last flies of summer'
Three years ago, I was lying on the beach of a package hotel, watching a pair of jet skis churn the sea to muddy silt. J-pop blared from the shore-side Tannoy, and two lifeguards were pinning down a hysterical toddler, while a third doused vinegar over a scarlet welt of jellyfish sting.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 15, 2009
Did technology kill the KTO star?
In 1977, nine years after Tony Elliott started the then-alternative media London Time Out magazine, Kansai Time Out printed its first issue, an eight-pager with local listings and a smattering of Japan-related articles. Dominic Al-Badri, chief editor from 1997 to 2004, recalls that the info-packed pages...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 8, 2009
Half a room, without a view
If you live or travel on a budget and are looking for the cheapest digs in Tokyo, why not try staying in the closet?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 18, 2009
TOEIC: Where does the money go?
In a country of test-takers, the Test of English for International Communication has become one of Japan's most recognized exams. In 2008, people in Japan paid ¥4,040 — or slightly less if their company or school paid a ¥100,000 membership fee — to take the TOEIC Institutional Program (IP) at their...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 11, 2009
TOEIC no turkey at 30
The Test of English for International Communication turns 30 this year. In three decades it has risen from humble beginnings to become one of the best-known tests in Japan. In December 1979, 3,000 people sat the first TOEIC. In 2008, people in Japan took it 1.7 million times. Many were repeat customers;...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 4, 2009
Party offers a third way: happiness
As a historic general election looms on Aug. 30, Japan's long-suffering electorate faces a clear choice: vote for the conservative party that has virtually monopolized power since 1955, or opt for its more liberal but untested rival, which promises long-awaited reform. For those with a taste for the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 28, 2009
New law: no dues, no visa
In your wallet or somewhere at home, do you have a blue or pink card showing that you are enrolled in one of Japan's national health and pension programs? If not, and if you are thinking of extending your stay here, you may want to think about a recent revision to visa requirements for foreign residents....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 14, 2009
WWII labor redress efforts gain traction
APOWs at Aso Mining during World War II have captured most of the headlines since Taro Aso became prime minister last fall, but other forced labor redress efforts are gaining momentum that will continue regardless of who becomes Japan's next leader.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 30, 2009
The slippery slope of shogakko
Although July's stickiness unglues most minds from study, it is at this time of year that mothers in Japan turn their thoughts toward school. Enrolling children in summer cram programs, visiting potential private schools, researching every possible option — all are occupations to fill the barefoot...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 23, 2009
My nursery nightmares
One thing that sets the Japanese labor force apart from practically all others in the developed world is the lack of women in permanent salaried positions. Unlike their Western counterparts, Japanese women seem resistant to the "you can have it all" mantra that has prevailed since the 1980s, and often...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 16, 2009
'Discontinuous minds' block progress on discrimination
On the final day of the Golden Week holiday this year, I found myself face to face with a young Japanese man who had let himself into my apartment, presumably with the intention of robbing the place. The intruder, who was standing in my living room looking around, fled when disturbed. A chase ensued,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 9, 2009
Rumpus on campus
Illegal arrests, forced expulsions, "kidnappings" by security police and beatings by hired thugs. No, it's not another dispatch from a violent banana republic. Those accusations come from the leafy back-streets of Ichigaya, Tokyo, home to a branch campus of the prestigious Hosei University.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 2, 2009
Something to sing about?
Last year, I attended my daughter's elementary school graduation and the opening ceremony of her new middle school. Sitting through the rituals gave rise to a number of musings.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 26, 2009
Expat life in Japan: the good, the bad and the meaningful
I am a 46-year-old Caucasian male. I have lived in Japan for 17 years with an attitude toward assimilation that would not be looked upon favorably in my native Australia. I would feel worse about this were it not for an undeniable fact: Compared to the average Westerner in Japan, the moderate level of...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 19, 2009
IC you: bugging the alien
When the Japanese government first issued alien registration cards (aka gaijin cards) in 1952, it had one basic aim in mind: to track "foreigners" (at that time, mostly Korean and Taiwanese stripped of Japanese colonial citizenship) who decided to stay in postwar Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 12, 2009
Meeting the charity challenge
Can you imagine yourself completing a 100-km mountain trail in 48 hours and — if this is not enough of a challenge — begging your family, friends and colleagues to part with some hard-earned cash and sponsor you? What's more, could you do all this voluntarily for the sake of a good cause? If so,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 5, 2009
Mean streets feared under Tokyo's new safety law
Last month a group of activists called Dystopia Tokyo called a protest against what they described as a "Draconian" new city ordinance by conservative Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 28, 2009
Berlitz blitz against union bogs down
After the second court hearing on April 20 in Berlitz Japan's lawsuit against unionized teachers, the legal fight seems bogged down in a form of trench warfare.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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