Cash Incentives for Covid Tests
The government of Victoria, Australia, is offering a cash incentive of A$450 (US$348) for workers who undergo Covid testing. With my health and the money in mind, I went to get tested under this program.
Working Timeline of the Moritomo Gakuen Scandal
The Moritomo Gakuen school affair was the first of the major scandals that shook the government of Shinzo Abe beginning in February 2017. This a working timeline which the Shingetsu News Agency intends to fill out and update in the weeks and months ahead.
Bread & Roses: Overhaul Japan’s Immigration System
During a May 30 demonstration in front of central Tokyo’s JR Takadanobaba Station, my labor union, Tozen Union, called upon the Japanese government to overhaul its immigration system and to protect the human rights of foreigners.
Mythbusting Japan’s Low Poverty Rate
Although Japan is commonly thought to have one of the lowest poverty rates among G7 nations, the actual figures tell a different story, puncturing a myth that remains dear to some Japanese conservatives and other observers.
Human Rights Watch Slams “Abusive” Japan Transgender Law
Human Rights Watch has released a 43-page report that urges the Japanese government to revise what activists and experts call an “outdated” and “abusive” transgender recognition law.
Debating Marijuana Laws in Japan
While some voices are calling on Japan to consider the legalization of marijuana use, the government is currently weighing legislation to tighten the criminalization approach, even as it contemplates the possibility of more complex policies.
SNA Covid Variant Handbook
The Shingetsu News Agency presents our own provisional handbook on nomenclature for the Covid variants which have been confirmed to have reached Japan.
Visible Minorities: Interrogating the Discriminatory Quarantine Scandal
The government’s new Covid self-quarantine policies are providing yet another opportunity to demonstrate that the lives, livelihoods, and investments of foreigners don’t really count in Japan.
Japan Offers Reputation Laundering to Rahm Emanuel
The list of moral and political reasons why Rahm Emanuel should not be appointed ambassador to Japan are more than a few, but at the very top of the list is that serving in Tokyo could offer him an excellent opportunity to rehabilitate his reputation, ensuring that this bad actor will return to more influential offices in the future.
Scrap the Immigration Crackdown Plan
Tozen Union joined other labor unions and rights groups in a sit-in Wednesday outside Japan’s Diet Building, as the House of Councillors deliberated a bill to get tough on refugees, migrants, and other foreigners.