Jun 16, 2013

'Mysogynists' hijacking Japan

Regarding the June 8 Kyodo article “Forcibly recruited Korean sex slaves a myth: lawmaker“: Swarms of Japanese misogynistic morons seem to inhabit the Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party). Is there something in the water? How can so many Japanese leaders sound so ...

Jun 16, 2013

It's elementary: Build confidence

Regarding Philip Brasor’s May 5 Media Mix article, “Media weighs in on LDP’s English education plan“: I think creating more opportunities for young students to come in contact with native English-language speakers is the most effective way to help students use English. I am ...

Jun 16, 2013

Improving English education

Regarding recent articles and letters relating to English education in Japan: Having taught English in high schools and universities here for the past 13 years, it’s encouraging to see the education ministry taking a few modest steps toward improving English-language education such as by ...

Jun 16, 2013

Just a friendly survey of the gods

Regarding Amy Chavez’s June 1 column, “Everyone’s own path to enlightenment“: I am always fascinated by Chavez’s essays and look forward to the next one each Saturday. In the June 1 column, by my interpretation, she wants to express her opinion that Buddhism is ...

Jun 16, 2013

Stop crying wolf about China

Regarding Michael Richardson’s June 6 article, “China’s troubling core interests“: Richardson is again beating the “China threat” drum as if repeating this theme over and over will somehow convince others of its verity. Richardson conflates some “ifs” and “maybes” and then “reaches” to imply ...

Jun 16, 2013

Condition of the Crown Princess

The June 11 Kyodo story “Crown Prince marks two decades of marriage, happy wife is on the mend” continues the parade of euphemisms about the Crown Princess and the Imperial Household Agency. In the past we have read the words “mental illness” in relation ...

Jun 16, 2013

The culture of sexual predation

Paul Gaysford, in his June 6 letter, “Sense of brotherhood toward all” (a response to my May 30 letter, “Myth of the willing prostitute”), avoids the issue at hand. The U.S. Department of Defense has recently conceded that a culture of sexual predation exists ...

Jun 13, 2013

Principled bargaining over islets

As someone who has been a guest in Japan for a relatively short time, I find some of the culture unfamiliar, as doubtless many a Japanese citizen would find it so in my country — especially the likely method of handling the dispute over ...

Jun 13, 2013

Medieval standard of decorum

In the June 4 article, “Rights groups tell Japan to fully tape interrogations of criminal suspects,” reporter Tomohiro Osaki notes that “the U.N. Committee against Torture issued a statement pointing out that Japan’s criminal justice system should do away with its traditionally strong reliance ...

Jun 13, 2013

Some dare call it 'economics'

When reading the paper or listening to the news in English, some of us may be inclined to think that “Abenomics” has something to do with economics or even sound economics. But when you listen to members of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party talk about ...

Jun 13, 2013

No offense taken to 'that guy'

When I spotted the June 9 letter titled “An offensive religious reference” and noticed that Amy Chavez’s June 1 column, “Everyone’s own path to enlightenment,” was mentioned, I wondered if I had slipped into another dimension. I’ve been reading Chavez for years, and I ...

Jun 13, 2013

Resourceful ways to kill time

Regarding the June 11 article “Wait a sec: Smartphones helping more in Japan deal with irritatingly long waits, survey says“: This survey is weird and interesting. I am amazed at the startling ingenuity of the surveyors concerning the subject matter. The survey, if it ...