Visible Minorities: Local Governments Classifying Japanese Citizens as Foreigners
The disturbing implications of yet another Japanese-language designation for foreign residents.
Japan’s Drug War: The Case of Ingrid Martinussen
On November 20, 2019, Tokyo police arrested a drug suspect. This time it was a 32-year-old Norwegian university student named Ingrid Martinussen, who is autistic. This case is a crystal clear example of Japan’s irrational approach to its war on drugs and of a legal system which has spun out of control.
Bread & Roses: Challenging Japan’s Rampant Housing Discrimination
Pets, music, foreigners. Do these words ring a bell? They might if you are a foreigner who has tried to rent an apartment in Japan. They’re known as the three big barriers in rental housing.
South Korea Folds Under US Pressure
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of November 2019.
Visible Minorities: The Xeno-Scapegoating of Japanese Halloween
After Halloween, you could be forgiven for thinking Shibuya was set aflame and Hachiko knocked off his plinth. But drop by sometime; everything is still there just fine.
Fighting Subaru’s Unethical Employment Practices
Auto designer David Cohen explains how he was unexpectedly laid off by Subaru after ten years, apparently because the firm wanted to escape new legal employment protections that he was soon to receive.
South Korea Pressured on Japan Military Information Pact
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of November 2019.
Bread & Roses: Tokyo Tribunal Turns Tables on Shane Language School
Tokyo General Union President Hifumi Okunuki outlines an important legal battle over paid leave and workers’ rights in Japan.
The Aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of October 2019.
Julio Le Parc: The Artist Who Anticipated Virtual Reality
Julio Le Parc is considered one the founders of kinetic art, and of op art. Today, at 90 years of age Le Parc has become a living legend. Fittingly, his home country, Argentina, celebrated his anniversary with a blockbuster retrospective at the prestigious Kirchner Cultural Centre in Buenos Aires. The exhibition is titled Julio Le Parc: A Visionary, and is running from July 19 until November 10, 2019.