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June 07, 2025
 

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Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2013
Shameful coverage of rape case
Regarding The Observer feature published March 30 in The Japan Times under the headline " 'If girls look sexy, boys will rape': Do Indian men believe this?": It is a case of shame for the British that, even after exploiting India for 200 years by creating man-made famines, killing ruthlessly and destroying...
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2013
Violent impulse of Americans
Regarding the April 3 AP article "Death penalty sought in Colorado shooting case": In the wake of each mass shooting, the question on everyone's mind is always "why?"
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2013
TOEFL ranks individual ability
Regarding the March 31 editorial, "Testing English versus teaching it": I wonder why people who quote Educational Testing Service data ranking each country by people's scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language overlook the fact that the TOEFL test provides accurate scores at the individual...
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2013
The LDP's annoying agenda
For many years I didn't hesitate to think of the Emperor as the head of state, despite disagreement from the Japanese I spoke with who said the Emperor was the "symbol of the state" — not the head of state. I tended to disregard them: first, because these were the same people who insisted that Japan...
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2013
Attitude toward foreign nurses
The March 26 Kyodo article "Only 30 foreigners pass nursing exam despite extra help" reminds me of a terrible experience.
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2013
Blue is blue, and so is green
Regarding the Feb. 25 Bilingual Page article "The Japanese traffic light blues: Stop on red, go on what?": I drove in more than 15 countries and have been driving in Japan for years.
Reader Mail
Mar 31, 2013
What are Americans' excuses?
Regarding The Washington Post article by Max Fisher, published March 25 in The Japan Times under the headline "Did success have a prayer in Iraq?": Lessons will go unheeded by the "38 percent of Americans" who continue to think the Iraq war was "worth it."
Reader Mail
Mar 31, 2013
Comeuppance for Osaka mayor
The March 26 Kyodo article "Osaka city survey on labor plans ruled illegal" was good to read. I think it is about time that someone stood up to the bullying nature of Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and the dictatorial way he has treated city employees.
Reader Mail
Mar 31, 2013
Parental effectiveness irrelevant
Regarding the March 28 Washington Post article published in The Japan Times under the headline "Effects of same-sex parenting debated": When logically evaluating an argument, it is good practice to first eliminate irrelevant assertions.
Reader Mail
Mar 31, 2013
Berezovsky's plans were foiled
Regarding the March 27 Observer feature titled "Berezovsky: a tale of betrayal by pal Putin": The Boris Yeltsin era was the worst for Russia since World War II. The country was in chaos, run by a band of mobsters headed by Boris Berezovsky, who spoiled and ripped out what was left of the collapsed Soviet...
Reader Mail
Mar 24, 2013
It takes more than an English test
The March 19 article, "Higher English test hurdle awaits ministry applicants from fiscal '15," has caused me some anxiety about the attitude of some Japanese toward English.
Reader Mail
Mar 24, 2013
University rankings too sweet
The March 14 front-page article "Universities to boost classes in English" states: "According to Times Higher Education's World University Rankings, only two Japanese colleges make the top 100 — the University of Tokyo (No. 27) and Kyoto University (No. 54)."
Reader Mail
Mar 24, 2013
Facade of national independence
In the March 20 article, "Abe firm on Futenma but vows respite," we read that the Abe administration is planning to commemorate April 28, the day in 1952 when Japan's sovereignty was restored under the San Francisco Peace Treaty.
Reader Mail
Mar 24, 2013
Nuclear retreat signals decline
In his March 12 Community page article, "Do dire predictions for Japan factor in a rush for the exits?," Colin P.A. Jones makes a tragic error, an error repeated all too often in the media by those critical of both nuclear power and Japan's general direction. He sees the government's response to the...
Reader Mail
Mar 24, 2013
No bones to pick with God
Grant Piper's March 21 letter, "Honorable human destination," was another very well-reasoned response to my March 14 letter on the subject of bullying and religion ("Giving compassion a chance"). By contrast, my letter elicited a hostile response from Jennifer Kim on March 17 ("Odd condemnation of religion")....
Reader Mail
Mar 24, 2013
The blame for maritime disputes
Regarding Michael Richardson's March 14 article, "China using Senkakus to test Japan, U.S.": According to Richardson, China is using the sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands to test Japan and the United States.
Reader Mail
Mar 17, 2013
Untold costs of nuclear energy
The March 14 "Views From the Street: Tokyo" survey question "Do you support Japan abandoning nuclear power even if it means increases in electricity prices?" sets a trap for the interviewee due to the bias in the wording of the question.
Reader Mail
Mar 17, 2013
Odd condemnation of religion
Regarding Robert McKinney's March 14 letter, "Giving compassion a chance": If I ever make it to McKinney's side of Hokkaido, I'd love to have a beer with him to get to the bottom of his hostility toward religion, which has again blemished these venerable pages.
Reader Mail
Mar 17, 2013
Swiping at Sri Lanka's progress
I protest the inaccuracies of the March 4 AFP article "Film accuses Sri Lanka of war crimes." Tamil Tiger rebels were responsible for massacring Sinhala and Muslim villagers with axes, in some cases, and with machine guns in hundreds of incidents in temples, villages and mosques, spanning the 1980s and...
Reader Mail
Mar 10, 2013
'World policeman' won't help
On Jan. 26, 2008, Hugh Cortazzi wrote an article for The Japan Times titled "Democracy is not a panacea," but now that the United States has seen the first term of a Democratic president rather than a Republican one (the lack of distinction between the two parties' foreign policies notwithstanding),...
Japan eyes tougher rules for foreign residents and tax hike for tourists
A tax-free shop in Kyoto in April 2024. Last week, members of a Liberal Democratic Party study group drafted a proposal seeking to scrap the country's tax-free shopping system altogether.
From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
Hakuho’s departure highlights worrying sumo trend
Former <i>yokozuna</i> Hakuho performs a ring-entering ceremony at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in February 2020.
Trump and Musk trade barbs on social media as alliance crumbles
The trouble between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk started brewing days ago, when Musk denounced Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
New Naoshima museum bets on Asia, not the West
Detail of Takashi Murakami, “Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu Byobu: Iwasa Matabei RIP” (2023-25)
Japan’s prison reform focuses on rehabilitation
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Suzuki said preparations for the changes that will focus more on rehabilitation are being actively made at each correctional facility.
Six months into 2025, J-pop is having a full-on identity crisis (and a great time)
The year so far is only proving that Mrs. Green Apple is the biggest band in Japan. Their success also seems to be hinting at a change in the musical landscape more broadly.
Nintendo’s Switch 2 console is finally here
The Switch 2 is Nintendo's first new gaming console in eight years.
Hakuho’s departure highlights worrying sumo trend
Former <i>yokozuna</i> Hakuho performs a ring-entering ceremony at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in February 2020.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
By Alex K.T. Martin

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