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June 07, 2025
 

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Jan 8, 2016
Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall
Reader Mail
Jan 8, 2016
National apology doesn't make Japan a victim
I am grateful for your thoughtful and careful editorial, "The 'comfort women' agreement," in the Jan. 1 edition.
Reader Mail
Jan 8, 2016
Thai government on road to reform
Regarding the opinion piece by Pavin Chachavalpongpun in the Dec. 21 edition titled "Thailand in 2015: a year of spinning its wheels," I wish to make the following clarifications:
Reader Mail
Jan 8, 2016
Bring back best 'Kohaku' features
Regarding the story "Kohaku music show ratings dive to new low" in the Jan. 4 edition, it is really not at all surprising that the viewer ratings are falling.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jan 4, 2016
Let's discuss healthy eating in Japan
In a country where food culture permeates all aspects of life and society, it is perhaps unsurprising that Japan leads the 'World Health Olympics.'
Reader Mail
Jan 2, 2016
Remembering St. Luis Ibaraki
The Living Past column titled "Japan's 'Christian century' failed to blossom" in the Dec. 20 edition made me ponder one aspect of our history in Japan. The writer of the article says that for the Japanese "... there is no 'beyond' (transcending man and nature)."
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Dec 28, 2015
Let's discuss the law on surnames
Plaintiffs contesting family laws that require spouses to choose a single surname expressed shock and anger at Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling, saying it will force more women to suffer the misery of having to change their name upon marriage.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 28, 2015
Cancer drugs: fact and fiction
Collusion between pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions to grab large chunks of medical spending is driving drug prices to stratospheric heights.
Reader Mail
Dec 26, 2015
Learning from past best way to move forward
Criticism is always fair game. When it borders on make-believe it is worth correcting. In his Dec. 20 letter to the editor regarding the article "50 Japanese scholars fire back in McGraw-Hill sex slave row" in the Dec. 12 issue, Jason Morgan's intentionally misreads my words to create scurrilous fantasy....
Reader Mail
Dec 26, 2015
In the end, refugee photo doesn't lie
The caption below the photo accompanying the Dec. 4 article "In unexpected twist, Assad ally may become Lebanon's next president," reads, "A Syrian refugee stands behind a door at a makeshift settlement. . . ."
Reader Mail
Dec 26, 2015
Overly opaque education funding
Regarding the editorial headlined "Japan's woeful school funding" in the Dec. 20 edition, while the proportion of the finances spent on Japanese education is the second-lowest of all advanced countries in the world, an audit of the education ministry's self-awarded funding is likely much higher, but...
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Dec 21, 2015
Let's discuss the Akatsuki space probe
Japan's space agency says its Akatsuki probe has successfully entered into orbit around Venus.
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2015
U.S. textbook defender lacks an open mind
The article "50 Japanese scholars fire back in McGraw-Hill sex slave row" in the Dec. 12 issue about professor Eiji Yamashita's well-worded and eminently reasonable rebuttal to the American academics' year-long histrionics over the "comfort women" makes a nice capstone to this disheartening affair.
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2015
Santa should be more inclusive
Regarding the 20 Questions column in the Dec. 13 issue titled "Pursue what you love ... be a Santa if you want," it was interesting to read that Santa Paradise Yamamoto recently became the first authorized Santa from Japan. Your fun little interview, however, shocked me at question No. 11, when Santa...
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2015
The consumption tax needs fixing
If the government is really interested in fiscal health of Japan, a hike in the consumption tax is not the answer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NEW IN TOWN
Dec 16, 2015
Un Grain: Good things come in small patisserie
The lowdown: Premium confectionery brand Yoku Moku is bankrolling one of Tokyo's hottest patisserie chefs.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Dec 14, 2015
Let's discuss this year's buzzwords in Japan
This year's most memorable buzzwords in Japan were recently announced, with the words 'bakugai' and 'toripuru surii' jointly taking home the top honors.
Reader Mail
Dec 12, 2015
Education for students via part-time jobs
Regarding the editorial "Labor woes of student workers" in the Dec. 4 edition, I felt so sad to read that "students are given excessive workload and duties — sometimes at pay below legal minimum wage — at their part-time jobs and are unable to attend classes or are failing exams because they can't...
Reader Mail
Dec 12, 2015
Turkey justified in downing plane
Having read the two articles in the Nov. 27 edition of The Japan Times, namely "With friends like Turkey, who needs enemies?" by Doug Bandow and "Erdogan aims to derail Russia-NATO alliance" by Gwynne Dyer, I could not help but criticize your approach of supporting President Vladimir Putin's policies...
Reader Mail
Dec 12, 2015
Extreme weather and climate change
Puzzling, it is, that Tom Harris ("Real climate crisis: misdirected funds" in the Nov. 29 Letters column) attempts to make a case that global warming is not related to extreme weather events.
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.
Japan won’t wait for G7 summit for possible U.S. trade deal
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top negotiator in tariff talks with the U.S. speaks to reporters at the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Friday.
What can Kenji Yanobe’s cosmic cats teach us about humanity?
Kenji Yanobe’s spacesuited cats are the main characters of “Ship’s Cat Island,” the inaugural exhibition at Hyper Museum Hanno in Saitama Prefecture.
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.
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.
Accidents raise concern over how Japan vets foreign drivers
Keita Ueno (right), the owner of Kiki Driving School and an instructor who supports both foreign nationals and Japanese citizens returning from abroad in getting their foreign driver’s licenses converted, is worried about the current lax system for the process.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy
Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

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