Visible Minorities: MAGA’s Roots in Japan
How Japan treats its non-citizen residents and diverse communities is a bellwether for how future neofascist demagogues in other countries will treat their minority voices and views.
Tag Archives: Japan Times
Visible Minorities: “Overtourism” As Racism
Some Japanese need to stop blaming the tourists for doing what they asked them to do—come here and enjoy themselves.
Visible Minorities: Memory-Holing the “Japanese Only” Signs
Exclusionary businesses have a long history in Japan, and people seem to be forgetting it. Here’s a reminder from somebody who has studied them more than anybody.
Visible Minorities: Remilitarization is a Bad Idea
Pushing Japan to remilitarize was never, and still is not, a good idea. This is not just because an arms race in Asia is the last thing the region needs. But also because Japan, consistently unable to face up to its own history, is simply not the country to represent the world’s liberal democracies in Asia, especially as a military power.
Karen Hill Anton: Hope, Strength, Grace
Breast Pocket Mountain by Karen Hill Anton tells a story of self-discovery in rural Japan, which fills the reader with hope. Karen, a New Yorker, ends up raising a bicultural family, becomes a writer for the Japan Times, a teacher of modern dance, and a Shodo calligraphy practitioner of merit.
Visible Minorities: Never Forget Japan’s Racist Covid Policies
This month Japan finally lifted its Covid restrictions and reopened its borders to tourists. Well, whoop-de-doo.
Visible Minorities: Abe’s Assassination and the Revenge of History
The assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has occasioned a lot of valuable, eye-opening discussions in the media, but few if any have focused upon how Abe’s death could be seen as a form of karmic payback–what happens when you ignore the lessons of history in the pursuit of raw political power.
Visible Minorities: On Naomi Osaka Heckling
At a recent tournament in Indian Wells, California, Japan tennis champion Naomi Osaka was heckled by some troll in the audience who shouted out “you suck!” while she was playing on court.
Visible Minorities: US Military Should Combat Japan’s Xenophobia
US Forces Japan has the duty to recognize that what they do affects Visible Minorities in Japan, whether it be inspiring bigots to slam shop doors in their faces, or giving more ammunition to reactionaries who seek to seal off Japan’s borders.
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.
