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Asahi Shimbun
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Miscarriages of justice leave a stain that can never be erased
Shoji Maekawa appears in Kanazawa on July 18, holding a hat belonging to Iwao Hakamata and wearing a tie given to him by Keiko Aoki, who were both acquitted of murder in retrials. (Shinnosuke Ito) Why do wrongful convictions occur? Why don't they ever go away? A petition written in the early Meiji Era (1868-1912) is preserved at the National Archives. Its author, Yoshinobu Hattori, was a former retainer of the feudal Matsuyama-han clan in Iyo Province, present-day Ehime Prefecture. In the document, Hattori analyzed the causes of wrongful convictions and appealed to the government to prevent them. He asserted that the miscarriages of justice were 'due to evil bureaucratic practices,' and harshly denounced the systemic nature of corruption among government officials. And pointing out how some bureaucrats who, out of self-preservation or greed for promotion, deliberately 'framed' innocent individuals in the absence of sufficient evidence for conviction, Hattori concluded, 'This is the root cause of rampant wrongful convictions.' Shoji Maekawa, 60, who was convicted of murdering a junior high school girl in the city of Fukui 39 years ago, was acquitted in a retrial on July 18. 'Finally, my innocence has been proven,' he said to his supporters. 'To be frank, my heart feels sort of empty.' His guilt was based on the testimony of an acquaintance. But the TV program, which this 'witness' said was being shown on the night of the murder, did not air that particular evening. This discrepancy was more than serious enough to blow the prosecution's case out of the water. And yet, the prosecutors chose to keep it under wraps. What if I had happened to be in Maekawa's shoes? The very thought horrifies me. How could such a grossly incompetent investigation ever be allowed, not to mention the guilty verdict it led to? How long must we keep seeing the same injustice being repeated ad nauseum? And how many more victims must gnash their teeth in despair? Hattori, the author of the above-mentioned plea, had experienced being convicted falsely of murder and imprisonment, and then being exonerated when evidence of his innocence miraculously came to light. Written with a brush and ink, his heartfelt plea--that the agony of being falsely accused be eliminated forever from the world--transcends time and speaks to us as we look to the future. --The Asahi Shimbun, July 19 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Asahi Shimbun
2 days ago
- General
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Steeped in time, umeboshi offer delicious gifts to the future
Ume plums dry in the sun under a blue sky on the morning of Aug. 7, 2019, in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) When Japanese writer Tsutomu Mizukami (1919–2004) was 9, he entered a Zen temple in Kyoto as a 'kozo'—a novice monk who had taken the first step into a monastic life but was not yet fully ordained. There, he learned how to heat water, build a fire, use a broom and prepare tea. Morning and evening, in the midst of these daily routines, he was taught the spirit of 'gyojitsu'—a Zen approach to practice that sees every moment of daily life, not just seated meditation (zazen), as part of spiritual training. Through mindful, deliberate action, this way of living cultivates inner discipline and can lead to sudden, spontaneous moments of 'satori,' or awakening. In 'Tsuchi wo Kurau Hibi' (Days of eating earth), Mizukami wrote that he also learned how to make umeboshi—pickled and salted ume plums—at the temple. After being bathed in the rains of the rainy season, the ume were carefully washed and then pickled in salt. When the summer 'doyo' period arrived—a transitional stretch of about 20 days before the start of autumn—they were laid out to dry under the summer sun. At night, they were left outside. 'Ume like the night dew,' the 'osho'—a trained and accomplished monk—who served as his mentor used to say. Many years passed, and by the time Mizukami was approaching 60, the monk had passed away. One day, Mizukami had the opportunity to reunite with the monk's daughter. As they reminisced about the past, she offered him some umeboshi, saying they were from a batch that had been in her family for decades. In fact, the fruits had been pickled the year her parents were married—53 years earlier. 'I silently and respectfully accepted them, overcome with emotion,' he wrote. Late that night, at home, he placed one in his mouth. At first, the taste was bitter and sharp. But gradually, it softened—spreading gently across his tongue and transforming into a sweetness like nectar. He shed tears for that umeboshi, which had endured for 53 years. Umeboshi endure. Their long life gives rise to memories—and perhaps even stir thoughts of a distant future. One day, someone will taste ume pickled this year and wince at the sharp sourness. The thought alone brings a quiet sense of joy. July 19 marks 'Doyo no Ushi no Hi,' the midsummer Day of the Ox during the doyo period. With the return of the summer heat, we may once again see the familiar sight of ume drying under the sun. Haiku poet Teijo Nakamura (1900–1988) captured the essence of this season in a single verse: 'Ume drying in the sun/ while people hide in the shade.' With the blazing sunlight arrives the season of umeboshi making. —The Asahi Shimbun, July 18 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Asahi Shimbun
5 days ago
- General
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Living abroad was miserable, but one thing made it bearable
Philosopher Tomonobu Imamichi (1922-2012), a graduate of the University of Tokyo, was around 30 years old when he became a university lecturer in France in the 1950s. Japan was still poor then and so were the Japanese people. With his low pay, Imamichi struggled to make ends meet in the European country. There was a bistro he frequented for supper. Before payday, he always ordered only an omelette because it was the cheapest item on the menu. But he would 'explain' to the waitress that he was 'not really hungry' or 'just tired.' One day, the waitress wordlessly placed on his table enough bread for two people. When he tried to pay for the double portion, the waitress refused to charge the extra: She put her finger to her mouth, signaling him to say nothing. 'That's all there was to it, but recalling it still brings tears to my eyes,' Imamichi wrote in a book he authored late in his life, titled 'Imamichi Tomonobu Waga Tetsugaku wo Kataru' ("Tomonobu Imamichi: Discussing my philosophy"). On an especially cold day, he also recalled, the waitress brought him onion gratin, saying she got his order wrong. How warming the dish was, and how delicious. He was brought to tears. Life in France was miserable and he went through many unpleasant experiences. But because of those memories mentioned above, he 'just could not hate France.' An act of human kindness is all the more touching when one encounters it in a foreign country. How does present-day Japan treat foreigners? Am I hearing too many hate-filled words being hurled at non-Japanese people, essentially telling them to just go away? I am deeply troubled by this present reality of humans, living their ordinary lives in this country despite their diverse nationalities, turning against one another with malice and fanning mutual fear. Imamichi had this to say in his book: 'Act with a beautiful heart. The world will become all the more beautiful for that, and the beauty will be passed on to posterity.' —The Asahi Shimbun, July 15 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Asahi Shimbun
10-07-2025
- General
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Soichi Yamashita knew the value farmers provided even decades ago
What should rice farming be like in Japan? The perfect time to face this crucial question head-on would have been when rice disappeared from practically all stores from last year through this year—a phenomenon that came to be dubbed 'Reiwa no Kome Sodo' or 'Reiwa rice shortage.' The crisis seems to have been somewhat allayed since the government began releasing stockpiled rice, but that's nothing more than a temporary fix, really. Unfortunately, the timeless and universal adage of 'the danger past and God forgotten' is apparently firmly ingrained in human nature. Once rice prices began coming down, it appears that people lost interest. I wonder what farmer-writer Soichi Yamashita would have said about this situation, were he alive today. He died on July 10, 2022. He was 86. I can almost hear him lament, 'Don't you get it yet? In times of emergency, you people are the ones who are going to starve.' Yamashita consistently asserted that Japan's agricultural issues are not the problems of farmers, but the problems of consumers who have no means of production. Born a farmer's son in Saga Prefecture in 1936, Yamashita inherited his family's terraced rice paddies and farmland. He was in his 30s when the government's rice production curtailment policy came into effect. This forced him to switch to mikan farming, but the mikan market tanked due to the import liberalization of oranges. Still, Yamashita resolved to remain a farmer. 'The land I'm working on has been entrusted to me by my ancestors,' he said. 'It's mine, but it's also not mine.' I believe that is how many farmers feel. But they obviously have their limits. In the last five years, the population of rice farmers decreased by as much as 30 percent and the average age of rice paddy owners reached 70. The 'Koe' (letters to the editor) section of The Asahi Shimbun recently ran a comment by a man who sold his paddies when a person he had relied on for years to manage the paddies told him bluntly: 'Rice farming doesn't pay.' This could hardly be an isolated case. Yamashita once wrote that farmers keep people alive by growing farm produce. And he continued, 'It's really unbearable that in our era, those who are working to keep people alive are themselves unable to survive.' Those words were written more than 30 years ago. —The Asahi Shimbun, July 10 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
NDTV
03-07-2025
- Business
- NDTV
Soham Parekh After Moonlighting Accusations: "Have I Completely Sabotaged My Career?"
Suhail Doshi, co-founder of Mixpanel and Playground AI, revealed in his X post that Soham Parekh, the Indian tech professional accused of moonlighting at multiple US-based startups, reached out to him, asking for "genuine advice". The controversy surrounding Parekh, a software engineer, has raised serious questions about remote hiring practices, background checks and the issue of moonlighting in the tech industry. Soham has reached out. His primary question: 'Asking this as genuine advice since I do really love what I do, have I completely sabotaged my career? What can I do to improve my situation? I am also happy to come clean' Vox Populi, Vox Dei — Suhail (@Suhail) July 3, 2025 Parekh hasn't made a public statement yet, but privately messaged Doshi, expressing regret and seeking advice on how to improve his situation. "Soham has reached out," Doshi wrote, revealing what exactly Parekh said. "Asking this as genuine advice since I do really love what I do, have I completely sabotaged my career? What can I do to improve my situation? I am also happy to come clean," Parekh said as per the post. Parekh holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai and a Master's degree in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. He claims to have worked at top tech companies like Dynamo AI, Union AI, Synthesia and Alan AI, mostly in engineering and technical roles. Doshi accused Parekh of scamming startups by working multiple jobs at one time and faking his resume. Doshi fired Parekh within a week of hiring him and warned others about his behaviour, but Parekh allegedly continued working for other startups. "PSA: there's a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He's been preying on YC companies and more. Beware," Doshi had said. "He hasn't stopped a year later. No more excuses."
