Japan has a race problem. As I’ve catalogued for a quarter century, there are “Japanese Only” signs and rules on businesses nationwide. Refusing entry and service to all “foreigners” on sight, they exclude people who don’t “look Japanese.”
Globalization has encouraged a shift in language towards the acceptance of diversity and inclusion, but some terms in the Japanese language are still missing the mark.
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz is being revered as the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist, but it has only been two years since she found her name “red-tagged,” or blacklisted, by the Duterte regime.
Taiwan’s pandemic success is faltering, but the Health Ministry’s spokesdog can do no wrong.
Debito.org turned 25 years old last week. What, if anything, has it contributed to help make conditions for Non-Japanese residents and Visible Minorities better?
The Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau opened its Facebook page with a cute koala mascot at the same time that its refusal to provide medical treatment to a Sri Lankan detainee cost her life.
Like many of her fellow Indonesians in Taiwan, Etik Nurhalimah works for a family caring for an elderly relative. During her time as a migrant worker, she has also managed to fulfil a lifelong dream: gain a degree in English literature, while also winning a literature prize and having her story made into a film along the way.
Among Japanese corporate leaders there are a handful who openly and proudly espouse racist views with little or no penalty from the government or business partners.
The English teacher in Japan subculture has gained a chronicler, as a murder mystery novel has been published set within their world.
Shane Corporation management, which earlier this year attempted to force its language teachers to repay the furlough allowance they had received during the coronavirus emergency shutdown in the spring, has followed up with yet more egregious action.
