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Why do Political "Scoops" Come from the Weekly Magazines—Role Distribution and Political Neutrality in the Media
- Yoshihiro Oto（Professor, Department of Journalism, Faculty of Humanities）Two big scandals that rocked Japan's political world last year had their origins in scoops by the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun. They were the resignation over bribery allegations of Akira Amari, the Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization…
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Perspectives on the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election: Re-Thinking Democracy and the Media
- Kazuhiro Maeshima（Professor, Faculty of Global Studies）The 2016 U.S. presidential election has finally reached its conclusion and the people of America have chosen Republican Donald Trump as their new president. This result has sent shockwaves around the world. It appears…
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Poverty and People with Disabilities—Two Incidents Involving Reporting about Socially Disadvantaged Individuals
- Hiroaki Mizushima（Professor, Department of Journalism, Faculty of Humanities）This August witnessed an incident that epitomized how difficult it is for the media to deal with the issue of poverty in Japan. A high school student who had been brave enough to be interviewed for an NHK news program…
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Posing Kafka’s Century-Old Questions to a Japanese Audience
- John Williams（Professor, Department of English Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies）Recently news of Britain's referendum on withdrawal from the EU swept the world and the issue polarized Britain, Personally, I despaired at the referendum result, and I felt that British people had been manipulated by…
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Taking the Lower Voter Age as an Opportunity to Change Japanese Education and Society
- Haruhiko Tanaka（Professor, Faculty of Human Sciences）Senior high school students and other young people meeting the new minimum voting age of 18 will participate in the voting process for the first time in the Upper House election (which may even become a double election) in July this year. As someone who has been calling for a lower minimum voting age for many years now, I have high…
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New Graduate School Addresses Spiritual Care and the Role Required of Religion in Contemporary Society
- Susumu Shimazono（Professor, Graduate School of Applied Religious Studies）This spring marked a full five years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and accompanying disasters of March 2011. The media invested extra resources in producing special feature articles and television programs that reminded us once again of the scale of the devastation. But the visible damage, including the many lives lost…
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Making Japan a Country Where Women Can Play Active Roles in Politics – Upsurge in Security Debate Provides a Springboard –
- Mari Miura (Professor, Faculty of Law)Early this year Taiwan gained its first woman leader when Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidential election (she takes office in May). The Republic of Korea is led by President Park Geun-hye, and Hilary Clinton is a strong contender for the US presidential election this fall. Japan is surrounded…
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Aung San Suu Kyi: Confronting the National Army Created by Her Father
- Kei Nemoto (Professor, Faculty of Global Studies)The landslide victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in the Myanmar (Burma) general election is a clear demonstration of the people's desire to completely eliminate the military that has continued to hold the control over politics, administration, and the judicial system following the establishment of the…
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Reaching the Portuguese–Speaking World through the Excitement of Football
- Atsushi Ichinose (Professor, Department of Luso–Brazilian Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies)Vahid Halilhodzic, the new head coach for Japan, is from the former Yugoslavia. I was a fan of the previous coach, Ivan Osim, who is also from that country; I have the impression that somehow Eastern European coaches suit the Japanese team. So I have high hopes for them right now, even though their performance in the EAFF East Asian Cup…
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Predicting Phreatic Explosions
- Yoshikazu Kikawada(Associate Professor, Department of Materials and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sophia University)Mt. Hakone is in the news today as people are concerned that a phreatic explosion may occur. The volcanic alert level for the Owakudani area was raised to level 2 at the beginning of May following a series of earthquake swarms on Mt. Hakone. I imagine that restricting entry is having…
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The Middle East and Japan Four Years after the "Arab Spring"—Reflections on the Shooting Incident in Tunisia
- Erina Iwasaki (Professor, Department of French Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies)The shooting incident, in which three Japanese tourists died along with other victims, took place at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis on March 18, 2015. Originally a palace, the museum stands next to the National Assembly, surrounded by a quiet residential district. I visited myself…
