Key points The “voice” function of labor unions in negotiations is important The cost of organization is increasing with the shift to a service economy Increasing the organization of non-regular workers to approach that of regular employees   Umezaki Osamu, Professor, Hosei University   Among the economic entities in Japan today, labor unions are markedly hard to understand. Historically, labor unions boasted a high unionization ratio and had clear goals, such as raising wages in the spring labor offensive (shunto) and eliminating status differences for workers and employees. Moreover, Japanese society accepted that they had the power to do so. There are few labor issues nowadays, so the presence of labor unions seems to be diminishing. However, with stagnant wage increases and the emergence of new labor problems, labor unions are arguably as important as ever. The environment surrounding labor unions is harsh. ... ... [Read more]

  Hamada Mari, Representative of Stand by Women The big problem that came to light Candidates are suddenly hugged while giving a speech on the street, are bombarded with slanderous messages, are yelled at by fellow assembly members, and rumors are spread they don’t know about themselves. These types of damages are cases that I often hear about when conducting harassment interviews with female assembly members. There are various factors behind the low number of female assembly members, one of which is harassment. In recent years, this issue has finally begun to receive attention in the media. The trigger is thought to be largely influenced by the report issued by the Cabinet Office (CAO) in 2021, which included a harassment investigation of assembly members, and the “Revised Act on Promotion of Gender Equality in the Political Field” enacted in the same year. This law ... ... [Read more]

  Matsumoto Hajimu, nonfiction writer Taiwan Railway is under pressure to reform due to a series of accidents Taipei Main Station is Taiwan’s largest terminal station, served by conventional lines, Taiwan High Speed Rail (bullet train), Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) (Metro Taipei), and used by 450,000 people a day. The current 4th generation station building has 6 floors above ground and 4 floors underground. It boasts a palace-like grandeur, with a large crimson roof modeled after the traditional architecture of Southern Fujian Province, China, known as the “Minnan (Southern Fujian) region.” The center of the ground floor is a vast open space, surrounded by a food court and various shops. The third floor and above are used as offices for the Headquarters of the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) and other offices, and are not open to the general public. (TRA, commonly known as ... ... [Read more]

  Why is the Hollywood blockbuster about the “father of the atomic bomb” not scheduled for release in Japan? Azuma Hiroki, critic and author   This August 2023, I spent eight days in Washington, D.C. for some coverage. I took time out of my schedule to watch Oppenheimer, the most talked-about movie of the summer. Unfortunately, it has not yet been released in Japan, and some people seem to think it is a controversial work. As someone who has seen almost all of director Christopher Nolan’s films, I’m very curious about this. I would like to share with you a little bit about what I thought after actually watching this film. Oppenheimer, a movie depicting the life of American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–67), known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” was released in the United States on July 21, 2023. The ... ... [Read more]

  In August of each year, reporting on war and peace abounds. Half jokingly called “August journalism,” the c ontent of this reporting has long been said to be stylized. Through an analysis of the vast number of articles and television programs in this genre, media researcher Yonekura Ritsu sees it as a mirror of society. What kind of role should August journalism play as a postwar Japan approaches a time when those who have experienced war have all passed away? The dominant type of reporting on war and peace —— The term “August journalism” is used as irony or criticism towards the media, which reports intensively on war related material at this time each year as if it were a yearly event. It has also been pointed out that the content has been stuck in a rut for a while. Yonekura Ritsu: There ... ... [Read more]

  Furuichi Masako, Associate Professor, Peking University Her Books Become Book of the Year Sociologist and feminist Ueno Chizuko (Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo) is currently enjoying charismatic popularity in China. Ofuku shokan: Genkai kara hajimaru (Correspondences: Starting at the Edge), which was co-authored with author Suzuki Suzumi and translated into Chinese in September 2022, was not only selected as book of the year on Douban, the largest book review social networking service in China, but ranked third in the weekly ranking in the middle of May as of the writing of this article. Topping the best seller list in 2022 at a Peking University campus bookshop was Ueno’s Onnagirai (Misogyny) published in 2015. Feminism sections have been established at bookstores in the city and Ueno’s books line the shelves. In September 2022, the Japanese language and culture of the School of Foreign Language at ... ... [Read more]

  Tonami Aki, Associate Professor, Tsukuba University Recently, argumentative and cynical influencers have been enjoying increasing popularity in Japan. “Argumentative” generally refers to arguing and seeking to defeat an opponent in an argument. In this context, it refers to a manner of speech used by influencers active on social media. It is considered a debate technique[1] that finds fault and seeks to corner an opponent through the manipulation of information. “Cynical” refers to mocking something, and in social media, it is the act of making fun of someone by looking down on them.[2] Being “cynical” is characterized by the intersection of relationships of power between the online and the real world, whereby so-called “weak” people in the real world treat men and women who are “strong” in the real world with contempt online. So why has support for these argumentative and cynical styles come ... ... [Read more]

  Honda Yuki, Professor, Graduate school of Education, University of Tokyo What is condensed into the University of Tokyo? The University of Tokyo. Needless to say, it is the oldest university in Japan and one of the top universities in Japanese higher education with a clear hierarchical structure such as difficulty of admission and prestige. Tokyo University is often held up as the embodiment of the so-called “meritocracy” (often translated as “merit-based system” or “abilityism” in Japanese) through various means such as television talk shows, quiz programs, and its track record of students having advanced to high schools and preparatory schools. However, reconsideration of the meritocracy itself is also progressing. In April 2019, Ueno Chizuko [Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, chief director of the NPO Women’s Action Network (WAN)] drew attention with her words at the matriculation ceremony of the University of ... ... [Read more]

  Shimizu Yuichiro, Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University   We have finally emerged from a very long tunnel. For effectively three years, people’s mobility between Japan and the rest of the world was severely restricted. The fact that goods and information suffered few disruptions is fortunate, but the field of research exchanges, which places an importance on building in-person relationships, was forced into stagnation. Of course, it was not a complete blackout. Various international conferences were held in online formats thanks to the dedicated efforts of those involved. But while those approaches maintained existing connections, they made it difficult to forge new ones for the future. We were reminded of the complex perceptions that face-to-face interactions produce, and of how having extra time during these interactions is important in the way it expands possibilities. The desire for connections seems to have increased ... ... [Read more]

Yamaguchi Ryutaro, Associate Professor, Ohtsuki City College   How do young people living in rural areas make a living? We think about how to best formulate policies to encourage young people to migrate to and settle in rural areas based on interviews with young people who know the reality of this way of life, including daily life, work, and connections with the local community. Introduction One of the goals of the reshuffled second Abe Cabinet, established in 2014, was to overcome population decline and vitalize local economies in the so-called regional revitalization project, seeking to rectify the unbalanced population concentration in the Tokyo metropolitan area as well as to revitalize and curb population decline in rural areas with a decreasing birthrate and aging population. This has been promoted through regional revitalization promotion grants, the transfer of government organizations to rural areas, the creation of ... ... [Read more]