Moomins Ascendant in Asia: Interview with Moomin Characters Ltd. Managing Director Roleff Kråkström
Memo #370 Featuring Roleff Kråkström – Roleff.Krakstrom [at] moomin.fi The Moomins, a family of trolls living in a valley with other colourful characters, have been beloved in their home country of Finland since the famed artist Tove Jansson published her first book featuring these characters in 1945. The stories have been translated into 50 different languages, […]
The Invitation-Only Zone: The True Story of North Korea’s Abduction Project (A “Behind the Book” Interview with Prof. Robert Boynton)
Memo #360 By Robert S. Boynton – robert.boynton [at] nyu.edu At the September 2002 Pyonygyang Summit between the heads of Japan and North Korea, Kim Jong-Il apologized to Koziumi Junichiro for some “rogue” North Korean agents that had abducted Japanese nationals during the 1970s and 1980s. This sparked saturation media coverage and amplified the voices […]
Investigating Evidence: Japan’s War Responsibility in Southeast Asia (A Video Memo with Dr. Nobuyoshi Takashima)
Memo #350 Featuring Nobuyoshi Takashima [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyKGbIXU2OM[/youtube] A few weeks ago the Asia Pacific Memo sat down with Dr. Nobuyoshi Takashima, Professor Emertius at the University of the Ryukyus. He is a noted scholar in the areas of history education, textbook issues, war responsibilities and war memory, including those of Okinawa. Professor Takashima has been leading study tours to Malaysia and Singapore […]
Human rights for human resources – Japan debates and expands the controversial Technical Internship Training Program, once more
Memo #343 By: Daniel Kremers – kremers [at] dijtokyo.org Intense debate currently surrounds the Technical Internship Training Program (TITP), Japan’s major source for lesser skilled temporary migrant workers, just five years after the last major revision of immigration laws in 2010. The program consists of three years of employment in manual jobs in mostly small and medium […]
Regional Vitalization: Japan at the Crossroads
The Heisei mergers are long done and Japan has turned to vitalizing its rural economy. The question is whether such a policy will work. Memo #331 By Anthony Rausch – asrausch [at] cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp The current focus on regional vitalization by the Abe Cabinet reflects Japanese concern with its dropping rural population and Tokyo-centered economy. The […]
Japan’s Economy & Trade (A Video Interview with Watanabe Yorizumi)
Memo #280 Featuring Watanabe Yorizumi Last month the Asia Pacific Memo sat down with Watanabe Yorizumi, since 2005 a member of the Faculty of Policy Management at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University. Professor Watanabe came to his academic career with a distinguished diplomatic background, having served several appointments in Japan’s foreign service, […]
Reforming “Regular” Employment in Japan: A Target of Abenomics’ “Third Arrow”
Memo #273 By Scott North – north [at] hus.osaka-u.ac.jp “Regular” employment in Japan connotes unlimited samurai-style devotion by employees, with employers responsible for worker well-being and employment stability. Japan’s courts cite this relationship ideal to restrict employers’ legal right to dismiss workers. Therefore, to cut costs, employers have turned to increasing non-regular employees, which now […]
Resolving the Senkaku/Diaoyu Island Dispute: The Limitations of International Law
Memo #272 By Keshav Kelkar – keshav.kelkar [at] alumni.ubc.ca Among the many issues causing friction in Sino-Japanese relations, none has as great a potential for generating armed conflict as the dispute over the Senkaku, or Diaoyu Islands. And in attempts to resolve the impasse, international law has if anything proven to be a problem rather […]
Against Abe: Listening for Oppositional Voices within Japan
Memo #268 By Hyung-Gu Lynn – hlynn [at] mail.ubc.ca The poster beside the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Tokyo features a photograph of Prime Minister Abe Shinzō, adorned with the slogan “Take back Japan!” Most English-language media accounts and op-eds create the impression that all of Japan is enthusiastic in its […]
Japan-China Relations: Issues and Prospects (Video Interview with Akio Takahara) – Part 2 of 2
Memo #254 Featuring Akio Takahara In part two of his interview with the Asia Pacific Memo (see part one here), Dr. Akio Takahara , a professor in the Graduate School of Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo and a recognized authority on contemporary Chinese politics and Japan-China relations, talks about bridging the divides in Japan-China […]