25
P/SUNNY
The head of an official inquiry into the deadly collapse of a Bangladesh factory complex said the building’s owner was the “main culprit” for the disaster because he violated construction codes. The cave-in of the eight-story Rana Plaza outside the capital last month killed ...
Throughout most of Japan, June is the rainy season. While all that rainfall is great for rice paddies so that we can have delicious new harvest rice in the fall, it makes it a rather dull month for seasonal produce: The summer’s bounty of ...
“I was stopped by two men in a government-registered vehicle, blindfolded and dragged off the street. They took me away to a house in a place I did not know. I was forced into a room with blood all over the walls and floor, ...
Claude Regy says the team at the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) threw him the “best birthday party ever” when he arrived in Japan just days after the actual May 1 occasion. The 90-year-old French director is hoping for an even better birthday gift, ...
As far as debuts go, Shohei Otani's delivered. The celebrated rookie pitched fairly well on Thursday night, and though he finished outside the decision, he left the mound with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters well within striking distance of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
In his April 14 paean to Baroness Thatcher, “‘Iron Lady’ is worth emulating,” Paul Gaysford advises Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to read her memoirs, “The Downing Street Years,” to fully grasp her own brand of conservatism. In this 915-page volume covering her time as ...
In his April 14 letter, “Social justice here and now” (a response to my April 4 letter, “Where does human respect live?“), Thomas Clark proves my point. Unable to refute what I actually said — that there is a correlation between human rights and ...
Regarding the April 11 article “Ishin leaders, Abe meet on revising Constitution“: Once more, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has indicated his desire to revise Article 96 of the Constitution so that it can be amended by a simple majority in the Upper and Lower ...
I am so grateful to professor Jeff Kingston for his April 14 review of Adam Komisarof’s book “At Home Abroad: The Contemporary Western Experience in Japan.” I’ve lived here for nearly 17 years and have never really understood my own deep feelings about this ...
As someone who has spent his entire academic life in computational economics, I would like to comment on the April 12 Bloomberg article by theoretical physicist Mark Buchanan, titled “Beware economists who peddle cute models.” An economic model is based on the fundamental assumptions ...
I read Mark Buckton’s April 14 Timeout feature article, “Takarazuka: Japan’s newest ‘traditional’ theater turns 100,” and thought, “Maybe I need to get out more.” The Takarazuka Revue looks like the epitome of Japanese kitsch and gaudiness to me. In other words, pretty ugly. ...
Regarding the April 12 editorial “A decisive but divisive leader“: Once upon the time, the United Kingdom was labeled the “sick old man of Europe.” Margaret Thatcher, a female prime minister, challenged that image and wiped it out. When I look back on Japan’s ...
Much has been written and said about the life and times of Margaret Thatcher. I was especially pleased to read Gwynne Dyer’s balanced article “The Iron Lady’s lasting legacy” and George Will’s complimentary “Margaret Thatcher buoyed by vigorous virtues,” both published April 11 in ...
Vimal Malik, in his April 4 letter, “Where does human respect live?,” says we must look at the world we actually live in, not through the “stained glass of dogma.” I agree, yet it apparently is Malik’s “dogma” that social justice sprang up spontaneously ...
Regarding the April 6 AFP-JIJI article “Whale institute still justifying lethal research“: I believe a few points need to be raised. First, as for Japan’s culture, if whaling is as traditional as some advocates claim, then why is it not being conducted by “traditional” ...
As an associate professor at a national university, I completely agree with The Japan Times April 8 editorial “Delay recruitment even longer.” The current regimen robs students of critical time for education, experience and maturity. University students spend much of their first two years ...
Regarding the April 9 article “PAC-3 batteries deployed as North Korea threatens missile launch“: Russian President Vladimir Putin, who oversees a vast military nuclear complex, has warned that any nuclear conflict on the Korean Peninsula “could make Chernobyl look like a fairy tale.” The ...