Koizumi and his cronies decided to send troops to Iraq today. I can't see how this is constitutional. Japanese public opinion is pretty uncomfortable with it too. Maybe this is the sort of volatile issue that will kick-start a new...
I recently attended the <a href="http://joi.ito.com/archives/2003/11/15/off_to_izu_to_join_the_izu_conference.html">22nd annual Izu Conference</a> where 50 people from academia, business, the bureaucracy and politics come together each year to talk about an issue for two days. I <a href="http://joi.ito.com/archives/2003/11/16/opening_speech_by_koji_murata.html">posted the notes</a> from kickoff lecture on my blog. Here are some random and rough notes from the discussion. We ended up talking about as much about Japan as the US.
Walking through Shibuya yesterday, Tanabata night, I hear the sound of chanting and police whistles. Turning to look, I see a parade, a matsuri . . . no, an anti-Iraq-occupation peace protest! As I fumble for my camera phone, several...
An opinion piece in the New York Times offers Japanese public drunkenness as a model to consider for the defense in a New York case involving the racially-motivated stabbing of a Jewish man by a young black man. In "A...
Who says Japanese don't protest? All over the world the anti-war movements have been heating up, and Tokyo is no exception. This sort of passionate, almost ebullient public demonstration reminds me of some of the amazing millenarian protests in...
It was a holiday yesterday, but I lose track of Japanese holidays so easily. I suppose that's natural when you are always moving in and out of countries, losing track of days of the week. This morning over coffee I...
Zen Buddhism is an aspect of Japanese culture foreigners frequently romanticize and seldom understand. There are the ideals of Zen - consciousness, compassion, detachment - epitomized by the likes of Ikkyu, translated by D.T. Suzuki, evangelized by Kerouac and the...
A piece in the New York Times Op-Ed section about racial hatred in the US. The article compares some of the organizations with extreme Islamic organizations. You need an account on the NYT web site to read it, but it's...
From the New York Times, a Tokyo correspondent's visit to the emporer left him seemingly a bit shocked at the decorum required for a visit to the Japanese royal family. Is this standard procedure with imperials or unique to the...
There is a lawsuit pending to force some Hokkaido onsen to allow foreigners to steep in their hot waters. Currently some onsen in the town of Otaru post signs banning non-Japanese bathers. The plantiffs contend this is illegal according to...
