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The government is considering special legislative measures to send Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to waters off the coast of Somalia in order to guard commercial freighters against pirates. The MSDF’s antipiracy operations would be limited to offshore areas near the Somalia coast. The MSDF would guard not only Japanese commercial ships [...]
The Japan Times reports that Liberal Democratic Party member Taro Kono said Thursday he has submitted a proposal to an LDP panel he heads calling for the Nationality Law to be revised to allow offspring of mixed couples, one of whom being Japanese, to have more than one nationality. The panel will scrutinize the proposal, but there is no [...]
Experts concerned about bill amending Child Pornography Prevention Law, fearing restrictions on manga, anime, investigating authorities’ view reflected in judgment, freedom of expression undermined
The ruling coalition has submitted a bill amending the Child Pornography Prevention Law to the current Diet session. The bill prohibits the individual possession of child pornography and indecent videos. Manga (comics) [...]
Japanese women from collapsed international marriages who bring their children to Japan without their partner’s consent are facing charges of abduction — an issue that has highlighted a convention covering international child abduction.
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction has been signed by about 80 countries, including in Europe and the [...]
I learned two new terms today, “Japinos and Japayuki.” Thank goodness that I will never use them! Here is a follow-up to a few stories that I previously blogged on abandoned families in Japan…
Some 70,000 Filipinos live in Japan, most working as entertainers. An estimated 50,000 (some groups put the number as high as 100,000) Japanese-Filipino [...]
Under Japan’s new drink-driving laws which permit the police to fine passengers, not just the driver, the first passenger to be so charged was sentenced to a JPY250,000 in Sendai District Court.
The passenger was fined on the basis that he asked his drunk friend to drive him home while knowing that the driver was drunk. As a result, the driver slammed [...]
Rackii (that’s Lucky, for you non Japanese speakers) me, Chicago has an pretty great public transportation system that just so happens to be color coded. When I need to get home, I take the Red Line southbound train to, let’s say, the Harrison stop and bam! I’m at my dorm. It’s sort of the same [...]
