The Year in Japanese Politics 2012
The Shingetsu News Agency has been keeping a running log of the major developments in Japanese politics since January 2012. The following is our contemporary account of the entire year 2012.
Tag Archives: Tokyo
Ibaraki Becomes First Prefecture in Japan to Recognize Same-Sex Couples
In a case of marked progress for Japan’s LGBT community, Ibaraki has become the first prefectural government to recognize same-sex couples through its issuance of “partnership declaration certificates.”
Osaka G20 Summit Produces Few Results
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the second half of June 2019.
Irish Ambassador Promotes Educational Exchange with Japan
Irish Ambassador Paul Kavanagh visits Kojimachi Gakuen Girl’s Junior and Senior High School in Tokyo to promote educational and cultural exchanges.
“The Bananas Have the Blood of the Workers!”
The company Sumifru, affiliated with Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, has found itself in hot water over its alleged human rights violations against banana plantation workers in the Philippines.
Little Recourse for Victims of Crime in Japan
Given that Japan is likely to host more foreign residents and tourists in the future, it is necessary for such residents and visitors to the country to remain respectful and mindful of the fact that they are not under the jurisdiction of their home country’s more familiar legal system.
Abe: Inflation Target Never “Real Objective” of Abenomics
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the second week of June 2019.
Lesbian Bar in Tokyo Hit By Transgender Controversy
Bar Gold Finger in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Nichome has stood as a notable hub for Japan’s LGBT community for decades, but a late April incident has subjected the bar and its owner, Chiga Ogawa, to accusations that it discriminates against transgender people.
Silent Autumns: Pesticides Push Japan’s Iconic Red Dragonfly to Extinction
The mesmerizing sight of the aki-akane, meaning ‘autumn red’ dragonfly, is a traditional symbol of autumn in Japan’s rice farming landscape. However, the species has been rapidly disappearing in recent years and has now nearly vanished over most of Japan. The reason, according to scientists, is the increased use in rice farming of a class of broad-spectrum insecticides that have been the subject of bans in the European Union and China.
Rape and Coverup at an International School in Tokyo
Nishimachi International School in the Moto-Azabu district of Tokyo is finally coming clean after a decades-long coverup of sexual misconduct, including a now well-documented allegation of the rape of a 13-year-old female student by the former vice-principal who effectively ran the school in the late 1970s.
