Exporting Fukushima Food as Foreign Aid
Japanese activists petition their government to abandon plan to export Fukushima food as Overseas Development Assistance.
All posts by Michael Penn
Taro Yamamoto on the Anti-Nuclear Movement
Actor Taro Yamamoto explains why he has become active in the anti-nuclear movement and what happened when a group of anti-nuclear activists stormed the Saga prefectural headquarters.
The Wrong Man for the Job
We still don’t know exactly why Prime Minister Naoto Kan tapped Ryu Matsumoto for the high-profile post of Minister in Charge of Reconstructing Areas Ravaged by the March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami, but we did discover today that he is certainly the wrong man for the job.
Time to Give Okinawa Its Due
It was 39 years ago today that the people of Okinawa finally escaped from the Pacific War, but they still await a more genuine era of self-determination. The 82-day-long Battle of Okinawa in 1945 was a horror. Something like a quarter of the civilian population ― more than 100,000 by most accounts ― were slaughtered in the crossfire between an alien army determined to conquer them and an Imperial Army that had no intention of protecting them.
Naoto Kan Misses His Moment
Times of tragedy are not something to be welcomed, but they are occasions within which able political leaders can thrive and fulfill their destiny. In ordinary times, of course, it is beneficial to have the coherence and sense of direction that strong leadership can bring, but during a severe national crisis ― when the public is confused and afraid ― these dynamic qualities become little short of necessary. How miserable it is, therefore, that Prime Minister Naoto Kan has signally failed to measure up to the challenge.
March 11 in Tokyo
Footage of the March 11, 2011, earthquake as experienced in the Akasaka district of central Tokyo.
Anti-Base Activists Arrested in Tokyo
Protesters against Okinawa military base treated roughly by police outside US Embassy in Tokyo, including one man pulled across the road by his hair.
