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P/CLOUDY
The consumption tax increase next April will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people's financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the impact of the hike, experts say.
Every parent is all too familiar with The Tantrum. The screaming, the flailing arms, the angry head butting — and the timing (normally in the most inconvenient public place possible).
International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.
Tucked away behind the main museums in Ueno, the Tokyo University Art Museum may not be on most people’s radar, but it is definitely one of the city’s top museums in terms of curatorial quality. Whenever I go there, I am always delighted by ...
Francisco Liriano showed up at PNC Park on Tuesday afternoon in a suit with his suitcase packed for a trip St. Louis. The message reverberated through the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse. After 21 years away from the playoffs, it was time for the best story ...
Regarding Noriko Fujita’s Sept. 29 letter, “When cartoons don’t go our way“: Fujita seems to have absolutely no idea what satire is. This is not surprising in a country whose media habitually treat politicians with deference and where any kind of political satire is ...
As for Mike Wyckoff’s Sept. 26 letter, “The men that lack ‘life skills,’ ” from The Japan Times Online, let me tell you about my husband, who used to work for a general trading company. Since our married life began, he has helped me ...
In his Sept. 23 article, “The communication skills for vying in the world,” Sadaaki Numata expressed concern about Japan’s ability to hold its own in international forums and negotiations. I believe he identified the problem incorrectly. His focus on language study and language proficiency ...
In the Sept. 26 Kyodo article “Abe tries to counter militant image in U.S.,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says that under the current interpretation of Japan’s Constitution, Japan’s warships cannot “come to the aid of U.S. warships operating around Japan in international waters if ...
I usually enjoy Ted Rall’s opinion essays, but I didn’t fancy his Sept. 27 article “Mandatory organ donation.” Even though he writes as he usually does, provocatively and tongue in cheek, there are serious people among us who seriously propose this dystopian stupidity. While ...
Regarding Tom Plate’s Sept. 23 article “The good side of Singapore icon Lee Kuan Yew“: Plate seems obsessed with men like Lee, who has been described elsewhere as autocratic, arrogant, vindictive, vicious and just plain mean and nasty. Plate consistently seems to overlook Lee’s ...
It was with great distress that I read the Sept. 19 Kyodo article “Cesium-tainted wood chips found near (Lake) Biwa.” My family and I spent much time around this area swimming and camping and enjoying beautiful Lake Biwa. However, the loss of a favored ...
Regarding the Sept. 18 front-page AP story, “Motive for deadly rampage at (Washington D.C.) U.S. Navy Yard unknown”: As an American, I feel it’s a sad commentary that gun violence in America is the norm rather than the exception. I was having morning coffee ...
Regarding Kevin Rafferty’s Sept. 25 article, “The limits of multitasking“: There was a time when I used to regret that I am pretty inept at multitasking. I tried to get with it, but not without sometimes hilarious and usually failed results. I grew out ...
The Sept. 17 Bloomberg article by Dmitri Trenin, “Why the West misread Russia,” provides deep insights into the thinking behind Russia’s proposed arrangement to disarm Syria of its chemical weapons — without the use of force. If Trenin’s analysis is accurate and truly indicative ...
The tale of local communities losing energy and activities, told by Amy Chavez in her Sept. 21 article, “The ancient pilgrimage routes and the local community,” is disheartening. If I were hyperactive, I’d immediately go to clear pilgrimage paths with Ms. Chavez. But the ...
Regarding the Sept. 14 Bloomberg article “Japan to protest Olympic cartoons” (carried by French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaine): The article makes some of the differences between Japanese and French society quite apparent. We know that satirical cartoons use humor to show faults or ...