Chris Salzberg · May, 2007

Latest posts by Chris Salzberg from May, 2007

Japan: “Thought Check” Screening for Citizen Judges

While news in Japan this week has been understandably fixated on the sensational suicide of Agriculture Minister Matsuoka Toshikatsu, another story revealed in a blog entry by Diet member Hosaka Nobuto slipped by with little fanfare last weekend. In the post, Hosaka outlines the latest step in moves by the government to implement a "citizen judge system" in Japan. This step, he claims, would allow the prosecution to effectively disqualify, through a "thought check" screening process, all citizens judge candidates who express doubt about the trustworthiness of police investigations.

30 May 2007

Japan: Love Hotels Find a Way

With great photos and a lot of background information, Ampontan explains how, despite many obstacles, love manages to “find a way” in Japan: “Love will find a way […] and...

28 May 2007

Lotto Fever strikes BIG in Japan

People across Japan turned out in large numbers last week to line up and get their hands on tickets for “BIG”, a variation on the soccer lottery “toto” operated by...

26 May 2007

Japan: The Hair Police

Debito writes about the experience of a Brazilian high-school student in Japan's Shizuoka prefecture, apparently “forced by her school to dye her hair weekly because it was not as dark...

23 May 2007

Japan: Bridging the Generation Gap

What with all the news last week of beheadings, shoot-outs and baby dumping — and subsequent soul-searching on the part of Japanese bloggers, at a loss for what to make...

22 May 2007

Japan: Strange Confession Note

More on the story of the boy who sawed off his mother's head and brought it to the police, courtesy of Mutant Frog Travelogue: “After the crime, he went into...

20 May 2007

Japan: Who's the real nationalist?

Graham Webster at Transpacific Triangle, picking up on earlier entries by Ampontan and Observing Japan, asks the question: “Who's the Bigger Nationalist: Abe or Koizumi?” The verdict: “People like Abe...

20 May 2007

Japan: A Report from the Henoko Protest

Jeff at his Okinawa Blog reports on his experience “Living Dangerously on Okinawa's Coral Sea”, protesting environmental surveys for a new base at Henoko Bay. Jeff writes: ” It's a...

14 May 2007

Japan: Forced Confessions

Debito comments on a New York Times article describing the case of 13 men and women “acquitted this year in a local district court, which found that their confessions had...

12 May 2007

Japan: Summary of Tojo Yasukuni Debate

Ampontan summarized a segment of a South Korean TV program that appeared on August 13, 2006 with Japanese subtitles. The show featured Tojo Yuko, granddaughter of former Prime Minister Tojo...

11 May 2007

Japan: Lithographs of Tokyo in Ruins

Pink Tentacle has posted an incredible series of pictures of a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, “where familiar streets lie deserted, the buildings are crumbling and weeds grow from the broken pavement”. The...

10 May 2007