Pandemic Exacerbates Japan’s Runaway Worker Crisis
The Covid pandemic has led many foreign workers to desert their places of employment in Japan, and some of them have become runaway workers and even illegal overstayers.
Japanese Ambassador Deepens Ties with Mashhad
A delegation led by Ambassador of Japan to Iran Kazutoshi Ikawa traveled to Mashhad, the second-largest Iranian city, at the end of December, looking to deepen bilateral links in the region.
Bread & Roses: Same Work, Same Pay, Same Scam
The Supreme Court ruled in three separate cases that Japan Post illegally discriminated against its contingent employees in comparison with its regular staff. At first glance, this seems a victory for workers that will raise all boats, but a closer look suggests it’s part of a design to sink all boats.
The Decline of the Soft Power Nation
The Covid pandemic has gradually unleashed political and social forces in Japan that have lifted its underlying xenophobia to the surface, and thus transformed its culture from one of attraction into one of repulsion for many of its previous admirers.
Anti-Chinese Techno-Racism in Japan
In what may prove to be an escalating problem in Japan, young Chinese looking for employment in small startups and technology-related firms appear to be facing a wall of suspicion and sometimes outright racism.
Visible Minorities: Human Rights Top Ten for 2021
Since 2008, I have always devoted my end-year columns to counting down the Top Ten human rights issues as they pertain to Non-Japanese residents of Japan. This year I’m moving this feature to the Shingetsu News Agency.
Speakeasy: US Military and Gender-Based Violence in Japan
In this SNA Speakeasy, Catherine Jane Fisher, award winning grassroots human rights activist, and Betsy Kawamura, founder of Women4Nonviolence in Peace+Conflict Zones speak about “US Military and Gender-Based Violence in Japan.”
Cannabis is the Medicine Japan Needs
Since California first legalized medical cannabis in 1996, and Colorado and Washington followed with adult-use cannabis legalization in 2012, there has been an increasing global movement towards medical legalization, relaxing cannabis laws in general, and in some cases full legalization of adult-use cannabis. Even Japan may now be taking notice.
Urban Renaissance (UR): Japan’s Public Housing Success Story
Public housing is problematic in many cities where the private housing market cannot serve low-income communities properly, but Japan has done much better than many others with its Urban Renaissance Agency.
Ghost of Fukushima Haunts Taiwan’s Nuclear Debate
Although more than ten years have passed, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster still haunts Taiwan’s debate on activating nuclear power plants.