Word: japanized
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...further, that the asker knows the true ''way'' and Israel does not. The question suggests that Israel, in making its way through history, may have obliviously or foolishly blundered into swamps or deserts off the true path. Would anyone ask if France had lost its way? If Japan had lost its way? And yet: Israel, although an ancient people, is a new country, unlike France or Japan. Moreover, Israel, like the U.S., is essentially an idea, a vision, a mission, a created entity. Like the U.S., Israel has claimed a certain exceptionalism, a special nature that derives in part from...
...Joseph Biden has some company - it turns out serious political gaffes aren't just for bumbling American presidential candidates. On Jan. 27 Japan's Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa gave a speech on the country's shrinking population in which he referred to Japanese women of childbearing age as "baby-making machines." He went onto explain that arresting population decline was difficult "because the number of baby-making machines and devices is fixed [in the population]; all we can do is ask them to do their best per head." The 71-year-old Yanagisawa did add, however, "that...
...kidding. Even in Japan, where chauvinism is often an accepted part of public life, Yanagisawa's comments touched a nerve among Japanese women. The country's fertility rate is just 1.29, one of the lowest in the world, which puts Japan on a course for depopulation over the next several decades. Japanese women are regularly harangued by mostly male politicians to help slow the population decline by bearing more children - even though getting married and having a baby often means sacrificing their career and their independence, even...
...Diet legislature. "We cannot accept that the ministry that deals with grave social issues like decreasing population is headed by someone who has demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the people," says Yoshiaki Takaki, head of the Diet policy committee for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan...
...Prime Minister's weakness. Last month Abe had to rein in his defense minister twice after Fumio Kyuma first called the American invasion of Iraq a mistake, then later told Japanese reporters that Washington should not be so "bossy" over a planned relocation of a U.S. military base on Japan's Okinawa island. Kyuma's remarks were not welcome in Washington, which has grown accustomed to Tokyo's uncritical alliance, nor were Foreign Minister Taro Aso's comments on Feb. 3 that the American plan for Iraq had been "very immature." Both Kyuma and Aso were echoing what a majority...