The Phantoms of Narita Airport: The Forgotten Warriors In Fading Green Fields

“It is much more than stress. Can you see the working conditions of these farmers? Can you see the iron fences surrounding their land? Is this human? Our combat is about the protection of our basic human rights to live and work and so much more.”
Koji Kitahara, 91, Secretary General and Leader of the League Against the Construction of Narita Airport.

Cutting Subsidies to Chongryun`s Schools Punishes Zainichi Koreans Not Pyongyang

  Nicholas A. R. Fraser Why is Japan punishing zainichi Korean schools for North Korea`s bad behaviour? In December of last year newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed Hakubun Shimomura, the incoming Minister of MEXT, (Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) to announce publicly a proposal to revise the Free High School Tuition policy [...]

Reconstructing 3/11: Survivors: Last man in the forbidden zone

Reconstructing 3/11 is a thoughtful examination by an impressive list of noted and knowledgeable authors, if I may say so as editor, of the state of Japanese society one year after the devastating natural and man-made disasters of March 11th, 2011. To mark the second anniversary of those events, and to serve as a reminder that the disastrous effects of 311 still linger, the Abiko Free Press is making Reconstructing 3/11 available to a wider audience by providing readers with both eBook and paperback editions. Reconstructing 3/11” will be available as a free Amazon.com download for a limited time until March 14th. To download your free copy click on one of the following links for either Amazon.com, .co.jp, or .co.uk. The print book will be available to order from Amazon within a week.

“Saving 10,000:Winning A War On Suicide” Screened at the National Diet, Publicly Released

“A complete sense of desperation about the apparent hopelessness of the suicide situation pushed me to buy a movie camera and ask a 22 year old former student of mine to operate it. It was a completely ridiculous thing to attempt. Most documentaries on this topic like to show corpses and feed on the tears of tragedy, I call them tragedy vampires.

World News This Week: Reported By Someone Who Wasn’t Paying Attention

North Korea launched a missile which saved the entire human race.

Japan & China: a couple that can’t get divorced, says former Ambassador

For thousands of years, China and Japan have been neighboring countries. Former Japanese ambassador to China, Uichiro Niwa, at a press conference held today, explained it is not possible for nations to simply move away from one another. “A married couple might be able to choose the path of divorce and decide to live far away from each other, but Japan and China have no choice but to move to a friendly way towards the future. Despite all the disagreement and disorder they must work very hard to maintain a friendly relationship to go forward with regard to sovereignty or territorial issues.”

“The name is Bond. Japan Bond.” Abe returns as Agent .007 in “Yenwrecker”

“The name is Bond. Japan Bond.” Shinzo Abe returns as the economic death-dealing agent .007 in a new action thriller that has all the economists shaking. Will he be able to defeat the Bank of Japan and save TEPCO? Which will come first: another fiscal meltdown or another nuclear meltdown? Start up the reactors, start the yen printing presses and hold on to your seat: Bond is back.

Kim Jong-Il’s Former Sushi Chef Reveals Former Supreme Leader’s Favorite Fish

Kim Jong-Il’s Former Sushi Chef Reveals Former Supreme Leader’s Favorite Fish

Japan’s Nuclear Industry Bludgeons Reporters Into Silence With The Gavel

Japan’s independent journalism on trial with Tanaka By Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky and Jake Adelstein (originally published on the Committee to Protect Journalists website) Journalist Minoru Tanaka is being sued over a piece on Japan’s nuclear industry. (Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky) It doesn’t take a baseball bat to silence a reporter in Japan–increasingly the blunt weapon being wielded by [...]

Japan’s Media, Mega-Ad Agencies, & Nuclear Industry: A Lethal Combination?

It is generally considered that the media is the Fourth Estate. Their primary function is to monitor and observe the activities of the other great powers in society, however some people have pointed out that in Japan, the Fourth Estate serves a different purpose, they do not monitor authorities, they monitor the citizens.

Ryu Honma, after his experience working for 18 years in an advertising agency in Japan, said that he believed that they were a “Fifth Estate,” a huge power that does not recognize how influential they are, “Their only concern is not to make a moral judgment but to create more money.” He concluded. Japan’s Fifth Estate keeps a check on the Fourth Estate.