Boasting one of the worlds most extensive and modern railway systems, Japan is not frequently seen as a major air hub, but in fact the archipelago nation is host to around 100 airports. Hyogo JETs are fortunate to enjoy a wide range of convenient air travel options. Three domestic airports (Itami, Kobe, Tajima) are located…
With the gravity of the situation at Fukushima lessening, attention has begun to shift to larger questions surrounding the accident. What were the failures of the power company TEPCO and government oversight that lead to this incident occurring? Was the accident really preventable given the sheer scale of the tsunami? Discussion and investigation continues, but…
Living in Japan brings a whole new perspective of the country that living outside Japan does not usually afford. Yes, Japanese do drive cars; yes, there are Japanese who do not eat fish; and yes, there is crime in Japan. While still comparatively low, the feeling amongst most Japanese seems to be that the crime rate has been on the rise in recent years. Many foreigners are surprised to learn that Japan does have and enforce capital punishment…
There is an old proverb that “fences make good neighbors.†A fence plus a large body of water in between would seem to make even better neighbors, but in Japan’s experience this has not been the case. An archipelago nation consisting of literally thousands of islands, Japan is embroiled in three island ownership disputes with its neighbors: Korea, China/Taiwan, and Russia. The contested islands may be small in size – and in some cases devoid of human life – but control over the islands brings political and economic payoffs that are huge.
Japan’s arch nemesis, North Korea, was very busy in 2010. Two major engagements with South Korea produced numerous deaths and raised regional and world tensions to levels not seen in many years. Japan has a long and complicated history with both Koreas that affects everyone living here, so it is worthwhile to examine the “North Korea problem†closer.
On August 30th of last year, Yukio Hatoyama and his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) were swept into power in a landmark election that saw dissatisfied Japanese voters turn out in droves to expel the former ruling Liberal Democrats (LDP) in favor of Hatoyama and his reformist pledges.