With the U.S. presidential election less than half a year away, many eyes are on American college campuses, where students are protesting against Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
(July 2024)Dispatches from the Potomac
The general manager of the Marubeni America Corporation Washington D.C. Office writes about current affairs from a unique point of view, mainly on US politics and economy.
Please read on to hear live voices coming directly from the US.
The general manager of the Marubeni America Corporation Washington D.C. Office writes about current affairs from a unique point of view, mainly on US politics and economy.
Please read on to hear live voices coming directly from the US.
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#49|Will the Youth Voice Reach America’s Politicians?
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#48|An Economic Boom and a Popularity Bust for Biden: The (Un?)Importance of the Economy in the Upcoming U.S. Presidential Election
It has only been a month since I moved to Washington, DC, and the district is already deep into “election mode.”
(April 2024)
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#47|Less than One Year Out: Turning a Historical Lens on President Biden’s Prospects in the Upcoming U.S. Election
I took up my current post in Washington, D.C., six years ago—not even three full months into the Trump administration.
(January 2024) -
#46|Tipping Culture in the United States
Comparing daily life in Japan versus the United States, various differences are readily apparent, but one that comes to mind given recent trending topics is tipping.
(October 2023) -
#45|An Unexpected Member of the “No Paid Parental Leave” Club: The United States of America
The Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Tonga, and the United States of America—what do these eight countries have in common?
(July 2023) -
#44|Is the Full Economic Fallout from the COVID-19 Pandemic Yet to Come?
The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. was marked by a sense of uncertainty and anxiety as businesses closed and public events were canceled.
(April 2023) -
#43|A Nearly Forgotten U.S. Capitol Attack: Puerto Rico and the United States, Then and Now
I would like to discuss an attack on the U.S. Capitol in this column—not the one that occurred on January 6, 2021, but the shooting of U.S. congressmen by Puerto Rican nationalists in the House of Representatives chamber in 1954.
(January 2023) -
#42|Gen Z Bringing Changes to Company-Employee/Individual Relationships
There was a day my Pentagon-area neighborhood was filled with the sounds of drums and bells and shouts of joy.
(October 2022) -
#41|The Unpredictable Side Effects of Powerful Governmental Medicine
It is rare to walk the streets of Washington, D.C. today and see anyone wearing a mask.
(July 2022) -
#40|The Biden Administration, 15 Months On
There was a day my Pentagon-area neighborhood was filled with the sounds of drums and bells and shouts of joy.
(April 2022) -
#39|Critical Race Theory
At the beginning of November 2021, there was a governor’s election in the state of Virginia where I reside.
(January 2022) -
#38|A Glimpse of the Driving Force Behind America in Back to School Sales
If you go to any mass retailer in the U.S. around July or August, you will see a sign that says, "Back to School”.
(October 2021) -
#37|The Foster Care System: America Values the Individual
This past April, a 16-year-old girl, Ma’Khia Bryant, was shot and killed by police in Columbus, Ohio.
(July 2021) -
#36|Nature Calls
Just like the expression “yo wo tasu”* in Japanese, Americans also have many different euphemistic words and expressions for the bathroom itself and what one does there.
(April 2021) -
#35|Guns, Courts, and Partisan Conflict
As I write this article, it has been 3 weeks since November 3rd, and barring a few remaining congressional seats, the results of the 2020 U.S. Election have largely been decided.
(January 2021) -
#34|Never Straightforward: The American Presidential Race & Voting
The U.S. presidential election is a race to the Oval Office between, in most cases, one candidate from the Democratic Party and one candidate from the Republican Party.
(October 2020) -
#33|It Takes a Global Pandemic
COVID-19 reveals children’s food security issue in the world's largest economy
(May 2020) -
#32|Saul Alinsky:The Haves and the Have-Nots
A young Barack Obama contributed his article “Why organize?” to a book titled “Post Alinsky: Community Organizing in Illinois.”
(April 2020) -
#31|Prohibition: A Glimpse into American Political Dynamics
Prohibition – the legal banning of alcohol – is not a thing of the past. Of the 50 states that make up the United States of America,
(January 2020) -
#30|The American “Pledge of Allegiance”
For a brief period after first arriving in the United States, I participated in a regional corporate 5 km race. At the opening ceremony,
(October 2019) -
#29|The “Unrealistic” Green New Deal Not So Easily Dismissed
In February of this year, a group of young people marched on the San Francisco office of Senator Dianne Feinstein, who happens to be the oldest member of the Senate.
(July 2019) -
#28|The Federal Government in the Crosshairs of Citizen Militias
“The federal government and local citizen militia groups faced off over the use of federally owned lands, creating a precarious situation in which each side had the barrels of their guns fixed on the other.”
(April 2019) -
#27|John Brown and the Era of US Disunion in Which He Lived
John Brown, who I will be talking about here, is one of the most controversial American figures of the 19th century, in that he decided that the abolition of slavery could not be achieved through talks or negotiations, and instead attempted to incite an armed revolt.
(January 2019) -
#26|The West Virginia Coal Wars
Last year, under the direction of the Trump administration, the US Department of Energy issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking designed to sustain and continue the use of coal and nuclear power.
(October 2018) -
#25|US Household Waste
The amount of household waste generated in the US in 2014 was 260 million tons;, more than five times the 46 million tons generated in Japan.
(July 2018) -
#24|#MeToo and US Politics
Time magazine’s Person of the Year 2017 was “The Silence Breakers.” This represents the people who have come forward to report harassment and abuse they have experienced in the past as part of the #MeToo Movement that started last year.
(April 2018) -
#23|President Trump and American North/South History
Starting with this edition, essays will be from Yoichi Mineo Washington D.C. Office General Manager, Marubeni America Corporation.
(January 2018) -
#22|Change is Necessary, but Hard - The United States in Transition
This is the 48th edition of this column, which first appeared in the March 2009 issue of the Marubeni Group newsletter "M- SPIRIT."
(November 2017) -
#21|Bleak Prospects for the Trump Regime are Unavoidable
Although continuing struggles were predicted, the results so far are worse than expected. Moreover, there are no signs that things will improve.
(August 2017) -
#20|Three Suggestions for Understanding President Trump
The world today is paying attention to the pronouncements of President Trump of the United States; or rather, is on the alert.
(June 2017) -
#19|Real Events Caused by Fake News in the US
In the US, “fake news” frequently becomes widely shared on the internet. Recently, a shooting incident occurred as a result of this spreading of fake news. The location was Washington D.C.
(January 2017) -
#18|Long-term Stagnation and Drastic Change in the US Economy
It appears that President Obama will be able to complete his term without experiencing a recession.
(November 2016) -
#17|The Need to Face an Increasingly Protectionist US
In February 2016, the governments of 12 countries, including Japan and the US, signed the Trans-Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP).
(August 2016) -
#16|Direct Investment in the US – An Opportunity for Japan
Japan is continuing to aggressively make direct investments in the US This time, I would like to consider the important impact that this US investment has on Japan and the Marubeni Group.
(May 2016) -
#15|Conflict within the Republican Party Surrounding the Presidential Candidate Nomination
The primaries of both the Democratic and Republican parties will soon begin, in preparation for the US presidential elections to be held in November this year.
(January 2016) -
#14|Republican Party in Disarray a Year before the Presidential Election
In late September, the Republican Party was plunged into confusion.
(November 2015) -
#13|US and Cuba Normalize Diplomatic Relations after 54 Years
On July 1, President Obama officially announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba.
(August 2015) -
#12|The Breakthrough of Fast-Casual
This time, I would like to introduce some of the big structural changes that are occurring in the restaurant industry in the US
(May 2015) -
#11|The Value of a College Education
Is it worth going to college? Recently there are many in the US asking this question. The university education in the US is regarded as being among the best in the world, so what is going on?
(March 2015) -
#10|A Second Boom in Japanese Investment in US Business
Happy New Year. I will continue to report on the notable issues and trends from Washington, D.C., the capital of the US, an important market for the Marubeni Group.
(January 2015) -
#09|A Shaky Secret Service
In this edition, we will look at the crisis being faced by the Secret Service, the organization responsible for the personal protection of US government officials.
(November 2014) -
#08|“Humanitarian and Border Crisis” Facing the US
The US is facing a new crisis. Recently, there has been a drastic increase in the number of unaccompanied children attempting to enter the country illegally via the border with Mexico, creating a “Humanitarian and Border Crisis”.
(September 2014) -
#07|Junk Food Fights Back
In the last installment I concluded that the obesity problem in the US seemed to be improving; but, this may have been overly optimistic. In this edition we will examine the “counterattack” of junk food.
(July 2014) -
#06|US Society's Fight Against Obesity
This time, I'd like to consider obesity, one of the social issues being faced in the United States.
(May 2014) -
#05|Income Inequality Reaching Unsustainable Levels
For this issue, I would like to take up the worsening of the income inequality, which has been an ongoing problem in the US
(March 2014) -
#04|Weakness in the Second Term Obama Administration — Is Recovery Possible?
The start of the actual implementation of the health care reform, which should be a historic achievement for the Obama administration, has met some unexpected snags.
(January 2014) -
#03|The First Government Shutdown in 18 Years — What's Going on with US Politics?
Government offices were shut down for the first time in 18 years, and the US came very close to defaulting on the federal debt. The worst situation was avoided, but what was happening in the US political system to cause this mess?
(November 2013) -
#02|The World is Watching: Who will be the next Fed Chair?
By the time this article is published, I assume there will be even more heated speculation about who will be the next Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System of the US (Fed Chair).
(September 2013) -
#01|The End of the War on Terror and the Unending Battle Against Terrorist Organizations
On May 23, President Obama announced a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy for the second term of his administration.
(July 2013)