Dive into the archives.
- The Japanese character
The following quote really struck home with regards to my own personal observations about Japanese culture. It is from the prominent anthropologist NAKANE Chie, famous for her work on Japanese societal structure and her theory on the unchanging Japanese character:
The Japanese way of thinking depends on the situation rather than the principle — while with [...]
- 7 years in the making
A historical step in defense relations between China and Japan happened today with the arrival of the Shenzen — a Luhai-class warship — in Tokyo Bay. This is the first time a Chinese warship has made a port of call in Japan since the establishment of the People’s Liberation Army. The ship will be open [...]
- Traditional Japan, or just traditional politics?
Robert C. Angel gave a great rundown on how Japanese political scandals are traditionally played out on his Japan Considered Podcast.
He is speaking in reference to the Moriya scandal that is going on right now. Listen to the excerpt below. Text transcript here
I can here the collective derisive snort of a million raging gaijin.
- You can call a cat a duck, but it will not fly
Managing once again to grab defeat from the jaws of victory, Japan’s main opposition party the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has suffered complete chaos over the past several days. After considering alliances with either smaller opposition parties or a grand alliance with the long-time ruling Liberal Democrats, DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa resigned after [...]
- Filtered or straight
We have expounded on the benefits of living abroad and the importance of language and expertise, but does one really have to constantly experience the day-to-day to know a country?
I knew that I would be destined to be a Japan/NE Asia regional specialist. No matter how hard I tried to expand my experience to other [...]
- Canada stirring it up in Japan
Remember that confusing security debate happening in Japan?
Well, things are looking to get a little more complicated as more international voices join in. Next week eleven envoys will be speaking up to Japanese lawmakers in support of the refueling mission. So far only three countries — United States, Britain, Pakistan — have been named, but [...]
- Maturing Japanese foriegn policy analysis
It is interesting how soon nuance enters the analysis of IR theorists. After the cold war many analysts had dire outlooks on Asia. Predictions of Japanese rearmament and war were abound with such book and article titles as The Coming War with Japan and The Coming Confrontation between China and Japan. Yet nearly two [...]
- Confused yet?
The current state of the national security debate in Japan:
Government: Japan must be a part of the War on Terror! We must extend our refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. Remember ‘911?
Opposition: No! We are American lapdogs! The mission is a violation of the pacifist constitution. Troops home now (erm… after Nov 1)!
Gov: No! Let’s [...]
- Ramen… from another Galaxy
On a recent bike tour of northern Tokyo with Darin, we stopped for lunch at a peculiar ramen store for a late lunch. The blackboard menu out front instantly caught our eye because the way the servings were portioned up:
Translation:
Small: 1 serving
Medium: 1.5 servings
Large: 2 servings
Earth: 3 servings
Galaxy: 4 servings
Universe: 5 servings
Big Bang: 7 [...]
- End of “beautiful Japan”
At 14:00 this afternoon Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo announced his intention to resign. This comes as a shock since he was so dogged about staying on after a drubbing in the upper house elections last month, not to mention the countless scandals, firings and suicides. Furthermore, Mr Abe recently stated that he would stake [...]
