For nikkei immigrants in Japan, it doesn’t have to be a bug’s life
As Beto awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his futon into a gigantic cockroach. “What’s happened to me?” he thought. In his native land down south, he had been a...
View ArticleToot your own horn — don’t let the modesty scam keep you down
As per this column’s title, this month’s topic was chosen, well, “just because” it’s been on my mind. Some weeks ago I was asked to give a speech at my current research institute. When I offered...
View ArticleRevisionists marching Japan back to a dangerous place
No doubt you’ve seen the news about the Takeshima and Senkaku disputes: Japan is sparring with China, South Korea and Taiwan over some specks in the ocean. Why is this happening? Theories include...
View ArticleIf bully Ishihara wants one last stand, bring it on
On Oct. 25, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara announced his resignation from office. He now plans to stand for election to the Diet as head of a new conservative party. He suggested political alliances with...
View ArticleDo Japan a favor: Don’t stop being a critic
Remember grade school, when the most demanding question put to you was something as simple as “What color do you like?” Choose any color, for there is no wrong answer. This is the power of “like,”...
View ArticleThe year for non-Japanese in ’12: a top 10
Back by popular demand, here is JBC’s roundup of the top 10 human rights events that most affected non-Japanese (NJ) residents of Japan in 2012, in ascending order. Bubbling under • China’s anti-Japan...
View ArticleKeep Abe’s hawks in check or Japan and Asia will suffer
On Jan. 1, The Japan Times’ lead story was “Summer poll to keep Abe in check.” It made the argument that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party alliance falls short of a majority in the...
View ArticleChild’s quibble with U.S. ‘poverty superpower’ propaganda unravels a sobering...
Last November, a reader in Hokkaido named Stephanie sent me an article read in Japan’s elementary schools. Featured in a sixth-grader magazine called Chagurin (from “child agricultural green”) dated...
View ArticleTweak the immigration debate and demand an upgrade to denizen class
Crucial to any public discussion is defining the terms of debate. However, often those terms must be redefined later because they don’t reflect reality. One example is Japan’s concept of “foreigner,”...
View ArticlePolice, media must consider plight of those caught in linguistic dragnet
A national media exerts a powerful influence over the lives of members of its society. For example, rumors or untruths disseminated through print or broadcast can destroy livelihoods and leave...
View ArticleNaturalized Japanese: foreigners no more
In Dec. 28′s Japan Times, Charles Lewis wrote a respectful Zeit Gist column asking three fellow wise men (sumo wrestler Konishiki, musicologist Peter Barakan and Diet member Marutei Tsurunen) about...
View ArticleCharisma Men, unite against the identity enforcers
English teachers in Japan get a bum rap. Not always taken seriously as professionals, and often denied advancement opportunities in the workplace, they are seen as people over here on a lark. They get...
View ArticleLetting radiation leak, but never information
March 2011 has shaken Japan to the core. The earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident in Fukushima have given the world cause to pause and reflect on the fragility and hubris of human existence. My...
View ArticleBetter to be branded a ‘flyjin’ than a man of the ‘sheeple’
The past two months have been uncomfortable for Japan, and for the country’s foreign residents. Non-Japanese (NJ) have been bashed in the media, unreservedly and undeservedly, as deserters in the face...
View Article‘English-speaking diaspora’ should unite, not backbite
There has been an ill wind blowing around Japan, and I don’t just mean the fallout after Fukushima. I’m talking about the nasty attitude non-Japanese (NJ) residents have towards each other, even in...
View ArticleLives such as Daniel’s deserve to be honored in these pages
I had a shock in May with the death of a close friend, Daniel, a long-term Japan resident in his sixties who had been in bad health. We were close and I’ll miss him. But my shock was less due to...
View ArticleThe loneliness of the long-distance foreigner
A few months ago I had beers with several old Japan-hand guys (combined we have more than a century of Japan experiences), and one of them asked an interesting question: “After all our years here, how...
View Article‘Sexlessness’ wrecks marriages, threatens nation’s future
In its cover story last month, The Economist newsmagazine looked at the issue of “Asia’s lonely hearts: Why Asian women are rejecting marriage and what that means.” It offered many reasons — including...
View ArticleJapan needs less ganbatte, more genuine action
Ganbatte kudasai! You hear this expression every day in Japan. “Do your best!” “Try harder!” “Stick to it!” “Don’t give up!” are but a few of the positive messages conveyed. It offered succor 25 years...
View ArticleThe costly fallout of tatemae and Japan’s culture of deceit
There is an axiom in Japanese: uso mo hōben — “lying is also a means to an end.” It sums up the general attitude in Japan of tolerance of — even justification for — not telling the truth. First —...
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