As the tumultuous and controversial Tokyo Olympics came to an end, the world set its eyes on Beijing, where the Winter Olympics is to be held in just six months. The 2022 Games could become even more contentious than the event which just closed.
The Toyota Motor Company recently found itself in the political hot seat after it emerged that it was the No. 1 financial donor to US Republican politicians who had refused to certify the 2020 election victory of Joe Biden.
New Diplomacy Initiative (NDI), Japan’s only progressive think tank, has issued its latest report on Japanese foreign and domestic affairs, and the challenges the world faces in the coming decades.
For most of the world, the Olympic Games serve as a point for celebration and national unity. This time, however, many Japanese are gripped by worries about how the Games may serve to intensify the pandemic, and the fact that some of these athletes are promoting anti-vaccination ideology only deepens these concerns.
Even during the Trump administration, when the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions, Japan has maintained cordial relations with the Persian Gulf nation. Should the nuclear agreement be reestablished in the coming weeks or months, Japanese firms are particularly well-positioned for investments and other economic links in the new era.
On July 1, the US State Department cited Attorney Shoichi Ibuski as one of seven heroes in its 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report for his long years of work fighting for the rights of foreign workers caught up in Japan’s technical intern program.
Japan is increasingly struggling with income inequality and poverty, but the burden is not shared equally between the genders; impoverished women suffer the most.
The European Union (EU) is preparing to launch its own vaccination passport system on July 1, while many other nations are considering similar initiatives.
Violations of the privacy rights of Japan’s foreign residents are routine, and the new Gaijin Card reader app could make things much worse.
The Shingetsu News Agency presents our own provisional handbook on nomenclature for the Covid variants which have been confirmed to have reached Japan.
