Since Shinzo Abe stormed back into power in December 2012, he and his Liberal Democratic Party have been able to count upon Japanese millennials as a steady and reliable support base. But the Liberal Democratic Party espouses stances on a variety of issues which run directly counter to millennials’ interests, hopes and beliefs.
I look forward to writing for a Shingetsu News Agency that challenges the stale conventions and speaks truth to power. The point is to increase the visibility of minorities, and to assist Japanese of goodwill in dismantling the systems that keep them disenfranchised.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of August 2019.
A new art movement in Tokyo seeks to help Japanese young people find their individuality.
Japan’s anti-smoking movement has been gaining strength in its effort to protect the rights of non-smokers and to save lives, but Japan Tobacco’s political muscle remains undiminished.
The Third Way Forum was launched in 2018 with the participation of fifty people. They are dedicated to shaping a new corporate culture for Japan which will be inclusive of international employees.
The Indonesian coal mining conglomerate Adaro Energy, which is allied with the Japanese companies J-Power, Itochu, as well as a number of public and private Japanese banks, has been avoiding local taxes for more than a decade, depriving the Indonesian government of about US$125 million in income from 2009 to 2017, and has even been accused of provoking human rights abuses in the country.
After almost three-quarters of a century it appears unlikely that Japan will ever receive an apology from the United States for its horrific atomic bombings.
Between 2012 and 2018, I wrote a monthly column called “Labor Pains” for the Japan Times. I have left Japan Times. I am so delighted to begin a new column this month called “Bread and Roses” for the Shingetsu News Agency.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the second half of July 2019.