Japan

Last week I wrote about Olympus firing its president and CEO, Michael Woodford, over reported “cultural differences.” Olympus Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikugawa blamed Woodford for ignoring the company’s organizational structure, circumventing the hierarchy that is typical in Japan. I thought this was a strange rationale for firing Woodford, since one reason a Japanese corporation might hire […]

Japanese camera and precision-technology maker, Olympus, announced the firing of its president and CEO, the Briton Michael Woodford, last Friday. Woodford, one of the few foreign CEOs in Japan, apparently ruffled some feathers in Olympus’s hierarchy, leading to culture clash. The firing of Woodford illustrates how Japanese values are sometimes at odds with Western, and […]

“Japan: The Strange Country” is a short, animated documentary by graphic designer Kenichi Tanaka. It illustrates a lot of things I’ve been talking about on this blog, and sums up Japan great in under 12 minutes. Tanaka explains that even though Japan is a relatively small country, it is significant for both its heritage and […]

The Japan Tourism Agency plans to offer free airfare to and from Japan to 10,000 foreigners in order to boost the tourism industry. Tourism dropped 50 percent in the months following the March 11 quake and tsunami, due largely to fears of radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The tourism agency, part of […]

Over the past week, Japan has made it a priority to salvage its economy, as might be expected from a prime minister who was the former finance minister. Japan will raise taxes, sell its stakes in Japan Tobacco, and take drastic measures to halt the rising strength of the yen. Japan’s long-stagnant economy was further […]

President Barack Obama met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this week. This was Noda’s first meeting with Obama since his ascendancy to the office of prime minister earlier this month. He is the sixth prime minister in five years. The two leaders predictably discussed the relocation […]

I recently got an e-mail from one Patrick McPike, the father of two American-born sons who were abducted in Japan by their Japanese mother in March. He has since been fighting an uphill battle against Japan’s backwards and incompetent legal system in order to gain access to his sons. He chronicles his story on his […]

South Korea plans to propose talks with Japan over women coerced by the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy to serve as sex slaves during World War II. This comes after a ruling from South Korea’s constitutional court ruled that the government had violated the women’s rights by making no effort to take on Japan over […]

The Japanese government is giving temporary shelter to nine North Korean defectors who were picked up by the Japanese coast guard Tuesday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Tokyo is in the process of granting permits for the North Koreans to stay in Japan for up to six months. The nine North Koreans–three men, three […]

Trade Minister Yoshio Hachiro resigned after just eight days in office over a remark he made about radiation contamination at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. While touring the plant and its vicinity nearly six months after the disaster struck Thursday, Hachiro said: “Unfortunately, there was not a soul in sight in the streets of […]

Japan was alerted to Russian military air drills being conducted “unusually close” to its airspace near the disputed Kuril Islands, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Thursday. Fujimura said the Russian military had designated an area within Russian airspace as dangerous for aviation northeast of Japan’s Hokkaido island as it continued drills above the Sea […]

Yoshihiko Noda delivered his first press Friday since becoming Japan’s newest prime minister. He announced the four top priorities of his cabinet, which was sworn in Friday. Noda’s top priority is recovery of the disaster-hit areas of the March 11 quake and tsunami. The government aims to pass a third supplementary budget for reconstruction, expected […]