Kuchikomi
Fish, for so long a part of the Japanese diet, hangs in the balance
Japan without fish is like Japan without Zen – less Japanese, somehow. Zen, for centuries scarcely separable from the Japanese mind, survives attenuated if at all. Fish, for millennia scarcely separable from the Japanese diet, hangs in the balance. “Within five years fish will vanish from the Japanese table,” fears Josei… Read
Weekly dives into 'deep Ueno' to track the activities of foreigner-operated businesses
When people think of Ueno, such attractions as its famous park, with the zoo, national museums and historic temples come to mind. Then for shopping bargains, there's Ameyoko, a colorful street running between JR Ueno and JR Okachimachi stations, whose roots hark back to the black market founded by Japanese… Read
Apps help people living alone who fear lonely death
“You okay?” “Okay.” End of dialogue. Until next time. Every two or three days “Shota Terazono” (a pseudonym) receives and responds to this check on his wellbeing. He’s 28, living alone in a one-room apartment in Saitama Prefecture, healthy so far as he knows and, though certainly depressed, not suicidal;… Read
Theft motivates crime victim into becoming crime fighter
While on a visit to Bologna, Italy in 2014, Mami Kajita fell victim to a pickpocket. "It was around 1 p.m. on a Sunday and I realized my wallet had been stolen," she relates. "Reporting it to the police, I was told, 'Around that time of day most local people… Read
Lawyers increasingly in the front lines of fraud suppression
Who can you trust these days? No one. Yet we are more trusting than ever. Trust breeds fraud. Fraud breeds more fraud. From primary fraud springs secondary fraud. Spa (Aug 13-20) introduces in that connection “Ms S.” An online investor, she was bilked, she says, of 20 million yen. What… Read
Disorder in the court: Cash-strapped lawyers running afoul of the law
Due in part to an imbalance in supply and demand, many attorneys in Japan are hurting financially. This pinch has led to a growing number of cases of their being prosecuted or subject to disciplinary measures for activities not permitted under the Lawyers Act or the Basic Rules of Professional… Read
Summer is especially hard on poor households
War and poverty, the two ancient scourges of humankind, predate civilization and may survive it – may vanquish it, in fact. With civilization came refinement and progress, wealth and ease. Darkness became light to which war and poverty should have succumbed long ago. Maybe that’s too much to expect. Anyway… Read
The inevitability of death and taxes: Chinese capital buying up Tokyo's crematories
In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in 1789, American statesman Benjamin Franklin wrote, "Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." The second half of Franklin's astute remark is frequently quoted in all kinds… Read
We'll die in any case, so why live? – Part 2
Second of two parts “What I like, when I like, as I like – that’s how I’ve lived,” writes economist Takuro Morinaga in President (Aug 16). “If I think it’s right I do it, whatever others may think.” His smile in the photo accompanying his article is triumphant, challenging. “Just… Read
Japanese yakuza recounts his 'hellish' ordeal as an inmate in a Chinese prison
On July 17, 2010, Chinese police in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, raided a hotel and confiscated 3 kilograms of amphetamines. Seven arrests were made. In a two-part article in Asahi Geino (Aug 1/Aug 8), 50-year-old Tomio Matsuda (a pseudonym), a member of a Kanagawa-based yakuza gang, recounts his arrest, conviction… Read
