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June 06, 2025
 

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Reader Mail
Sep 30, 2016
Structural changes need time to work
The Bank of Japan announced its latest initiatives ("BOJ targets yields in new strategy" in the Sept. 22 edition) and the financial press was filled with the same old comments about "need for structural change," "failure of Abe's third arrow," etc.
Reader Mail
Sep 30, 2016
Pay heed to school psychological tests
About the editorial "Preventing youth suicides" in the Sept. 18 edition, it is frustrating that there are many schoolchildren suffering from bullying, and some of them are ending up having suicidal thoughts.
Reader Mail
Sep 30, 2016
Coming to grips with child abuse
Regarding the editorial "Targeting scourge of child abuse" in the Aug. 14 issue, my four sisters and I were born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, by well-educated Japanese parents. My mother and us children were subject to physical and psychological abuse by my controlling father.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 26, 2016
Let's discuss anime and manga tourism
Anime and manga will play a bigger role in promoting tourism across Japan under an initiative to make better use of the nation's pop culture.
Reader Mail
Sep 24, 2016
New Okinawa helipads won't help defense of Senkaku Islands
Despite strong local opposition, the central government seems intent on forging ahead with the construction of V/STOL (vertical or short takeoff or landing) facilities for Ospreys and Harrier jump jets in Yanbaru, Okinawa's northern highlands, without any regard to Japan as a sovereign state.
Reader Mail
Sep 24, 2016
Finding a solution for costly medicine
The mind boggling times we live in ("Pricey drugs push health burden up" in the Sept. 15 edition). On the one hand, we have people promising us a DNA revolution that can alter the code(s) of life, self-driving cars in the next 20 years, space travel, etc.
Reader Mail
Sep 24, 2016
Japan's war aim in China misinterpreted
In his Counterpoint column titled "Memories of Mukden Incident remain divisive" in the Sept. 18 edition, Jeff Kingston claims that Japan's drive into Southeast Asia in 1941 was initiated "in order to secure resources needed to vanquish China." This is a curious interpretation for the expansion of the...
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 19, 2016
Let's discuss young recluses in Japan
An estimated 541,000 people aged between 15 and 39 in Japan avoid social contact and shut themselves in their homes, according to a government survey.
Reader Mail
Sep 16, 2016
Privacy a myth in this nation of snoops
Stalking? It's as Japanese as sushi ("Waking up to the menace of stalking" in the Sept. 11 edition). Ninja were professional stalkers and it's in the blood of most Japanese.
Reader Mail
Sep 16, 2016
Thai government not in blame game
I wish to refer to the article "Thai military junta playing a dangerous blame game" by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, published in the Sept. 1 issue, and wish to make the following clarifications:
Reader Mail
Sep 16, 2016
Build Bushido, not feminism
A foreign woman writing about Japan's Emperor accession ("Compromising on Imperial succession reform" in the Sept. 13 edition) demonstrates her profound lack of understanding of Japanese history and the traditions that have protected Japan from conquest for thousands of years.
Reader Mail
Sep 16, 2016
Mother Teresa's enduring message
The news that Mother Teresa was made a saint Sept. 4 by the pope reminded me of her speech in Sendai and had me pondering her life as well.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 12, 2016
Let's discuss helping foreign residents and tourists in natural disasters
Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, enterprises in the public and private sectors are taking steps to make sure foreign residents and tourists will know what to do in the event of natural disasters.
Reader Mail
Sep 10, 2016
Japan, China can find mutual prosperity
Regarding the opinion piece "The most dangerous problem in Asia: Japan-China relations" in the Sept. 3 edition, Japan-China relations have indeed had its tumultuous phases since the second half of the 19th century.
Reader Mail
Sep 10, 2016
'Haafu' deserve full acceptance
In only two years, Priyanka Yoshikawa is the second mixed race contestant to win a major Japanese beauty pageant, but even so she is facing a severe backlash ("Japanese-Indian crowned Miss World Japan" in the Sept. 7 edition).
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 5, 2016
Let's discuss ANA's dog-friendly flights
All Nippon Airways Co. is considering launching tours that allow pet dogs to travel in the cabin with their owners.
Reader Mail
Sep 3, 2016
Patriotism and nationalism in postwar Japan
Social media is alight every August with comments ranging from educational to pure hate speech ("Anniversary of surrender marked with speeches and prayers" in the Aug. 16 edition). Seventy-one years later, the war still elicits strong opinions, some fact-based and some social media myths. As I read the...
Reader Mail
Sep 3, 2016
Don't overreact to Sagamihara
As a disabled person — I have cerebral palsy — I give The Japan Times a lot of credit for highlighting the potential harm to people with mental health issues an overreaction to Sagamihara might cause ("Trying to make sense of Sagamihara" in the Aug. 30 edition). I think it's fair to say Japan is...
Reader Mail
Sep 3, 2016
Female succession urgently needed
The Emperor's video message made me astonished, then made me sad ("Emperor hints at desire to abdicate," Aug. 9). He is 82 years old and still responsible for public duties and rituals.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 29, 2016
Let's discuss the men's 4x100 relay at Rio
Japan came close to sabotaging Usain Bolt's bid for Olympic immortality but settled for a first-ever silver medal in the men's 4u00d7100-meter relay at the Rio Games.
Japan’s fertility rate hits record low despite government push
The total number of births dropped to about 686,000, marking the first time the figure has fallen below 700,000, according to a health ministry release on Wednesday.
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.
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.
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.
Is Japan ready to say goodbye to tax-free shopping?
Arrows lead to the tax-free counter at a branch of discount retailer Don Quijote in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
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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Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

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