Something Knew Japan

First published by The Japan Times （National news/2018/07/25） Nearly 150 years ago, Ezo, home of the indigenous Ainu people, was rechristened Hokkaido, formalizing the centuries-long process of the island’s assimilation into Japan. To mark this occasion, a number of companies, groups and municipalities have banded together to launch the Hokkaido 150th Anniversary Project. Hokkaido Prefecture has earmarked ¥ 268 million for the project in its budget for fiscal 2018. Coming 10 years after the government acknowledged the Ainu as northern Japan’s “indigenous people,” this should be a time to reflect on the consequences of the colonization of Ainu land and the near-decimation of the Ainu people and culture. But while raising awareness of Ainu culture is one of the stated goals of the 150th Anniversary Project, the Japanese word for “indigenous people” appears nowhere in the project’s publicity materials. On the Ainu front, the government is pouring much of its effort into promoting

First published by The Japan Times （News/2017/08/06） Legal team poring over logs that led to Inada's exit suspect redactions point to illegal activities On July 28, then-Defense Minister Tomomi Inada announced her intent to resign, caving in after months of pressure over the apparent cover-up of logs detailing the worsening situation faced by Japanese peacekeepers in South Sudan last year. But what is in those logs that might have made a top minister feel it was worth risking her career to keep them secret? A court case now taking place in Hokkaido may offer some answers. The Ground Self-Defense Force’s contentious five-year contribution to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan ended on May 27. The government denies that deteriorating security conditions in South Sudan were the reason for the withdrawal, and had no doubt hoped to draw a line under criticism of the mission with the return of the last 40 service members to Japan. But one woman is determined to keep the

First published by The Japan Times （Community/2015/12/09） Case shows how far Japan still has to go to safeguard women's rights in the workplace Bōnenkai season is upon us. For many workers, the end-of-year party season is a welcome chance to let their hair down and celebrate or commiserate over the highs and lows of the past 12 months. But for some women, it can be a troubling time, as the risk of sexual harassment increases, fueled by alcohol, the loosening of inhibitions and the presence of large numbers of inebriated men. At last year’s bōnenkai for the General Affairs Department of the Hokkaido Shimbun’s Hakodate branch on Dec. 8, a 40-year-old nurse who worked part-time at the paper was reportedly sexually harassed by a vice-chief of the department and his subordinate. Two months later, in the early morning of Feb. 21, the woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a fire at her home. A day before her death, she sent documents criticizing the paper’s inse