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Category Archives: Society

Little Recourse for Victims of Crime in Japan

Given that Japan is likely to host more foreign residents and tourists in the future, it is necessary for such residents and visitors to the country to remain respectful and mindful of the fact that they are not under the jurisdiction of their home country’s more familiar legal system.

Lesbian Bar in Tokyo Hit By Transgender Controversy

Bar Gold Finger in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Nichome has stood as a notable hub for Japan’s LGBT community for decades, but a late April incident has subjected the bar and its owner, Chiga Ogawa, to accusations that it discriminates against transgender people.

Rape and Coverup at an International School in Tokyo

Nishimachi International School in the Moto-Azabu district of Tokyo is finally coming clean after a decades-long coverup of sexual misconduct, including a now well-documented allegation of the rape of a 13-year-old female student by the former vice-principal who effectively ran the school in the late 1970s.

The Perons and the Japanese

Historian Roberto Baschetti describes the links between Argentine leaders Juan and Eva Peron with Japan and the Japanese, especially with one of their admirers, Makiko Yamamoto.

My Pathless Woods

More than thirty years of woodworking and I still feel like an intern. The lessons I have learned, however, show a depth and intimacy that make me wonder how it is we today call ourselves the “material world.”

Do Not “Human Rights” Also Include Women’s Rights?

Ryuichi Hirokawa has covered war, AIDS from contaminated blood products, nuclear power plant accidents, and other societal problems on the front lines for half a century as a photojournalist advocating human rights. The weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun published an article in its issue that went on sale on December 26 (January 3-10, 2019 issue) revealing that Hirokawa abused his superior position to engage in non-consensual sexual activities with, take nude photographs of, and otherwise sexually exploit aspiring female photojournalists under his tutelage.

Belly Dancers in Tokyo

Belly dancers may not be something that most people associate with Tokyo, but some young Japanese women are ardent students of the art.