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August 15, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 29, 2014
Abe's flawed contingency plan
If the barren state of Tokyo-Seoul ties continues, Shinzo Abe's call for the exercise of the right to collective self-defense as well as the protection of Japanese citizens on the Korean Peninsula in an emergency is doomed to become pie in the sky.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 28, 2014
Looking back at Fuji Rock Festival 2014
A curated collection of the highlights of the Fuji Rock Festival 2014, as seen on social media
Reader Mail
Jul 23, 2014
Pressures to bear with cold beer
Regarding the June 27 article "Drink responsibly when you're out with friends this summer": In 2007 my hometown's temperature reached 40.9 degrees Celsius. It was the hottest place in Japan. At my age, a well-chilled beer is absolutely indispensable for overcoming such sweltering weather. I think a lot...
Reader Mail
Jul 23, 2014
Welfare of Filipino workers
Regarding a recent series of articles appearing in The Japan Times — "Filipino caregivers sign away their rights" (July 14), "Nursing firm withheld funds from Filipino workers" (July 15) and "Nursing care provider drops death liability waiver for Filipino workers" (July 16): The Embassy of the Philippines...
Reader Mail
Jul 23, 2014
Simplistic explanation for Nazis
Jim Makin's most recent letter, "Mindset that favors fascism" (July 10), starts off with yet another scare tactic. Who exactly are these politicians lurking in the shadows who would make Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron look like "lily-livered lefties"? Gosh, should I be afraid?
Reader Mail
Jul 23, 2014
Confusing race with nationality
Regarding the July 14 front-page article "Rola altering DNA of pop culture": Japanese pop culture talents like "Rola," "Becky" and Jun Hasegawa are Japanese citizens despite being ethnically "half." The Nationality Law does not recognize half citizens. A person is either a citizen or not.
Reader Mail
Jul 23, 2014
Prepping next leaders for denial
After reading innumerable articles over the years about men of power and influence denying scientific evidence of climate change, denying that women should have equal rights, supporting trickle-down economic theory despite its having been proven not to work, and generally opening their mouth and making...
Reader Mail
Jul 23, 2014
Switch off sounds of the future
Regarding Michael Hoffman's July 13 Big in Japan column titled "The high cost of peace and quiet": Who are these cunning, selfish entrepreneurs who think that they can just barge into any quiet neighborhood and establish a noisy day care center? Outrageous! I'm in agreement with those residents up in...
Reader Mail
Jul 16, 2014
Misguided take on world history
As a schoolboy in England in the late 1940s, I clearly remember seeing much of the world colored in red, the red of the British Empire. We were told that "we controlled one-quarter of the globe." That empire, with all its faults, was primarily founded on trade, and its trading routes were stoutly protected...
Reader Mail
Jul 16, 2014
The all-weather universal hero
Godzilla is one of the most famous monsters in the world. Generally it is often regarded as a symbol of something destructive, strong and, sometimes, heroic. I think of Godzilla as a metaphor that reflects aspects of the times.
Reader Mail
Jul 16, 2014
Biggest responsibility for adults
I read with interest Hitomi Nagahashi's July 10 letter, "English for third graders lagging." I agree completely with Nagahashi's statements that "English education is not just about words and grammar" and that English education "at an earlier age is key to globalizing Japan."
Reader Mail
Jul 16, 2014
Pyongyang could feel cornered
Regarding the July 8 AP article "Bellicose North Korea promises cheer": Chinese President Xi Jinping's two-day state visit to South Korea, which political analysts judged successful in deepening mutual trust, has cornered North Korea.
Reader Mail
Jul 12, 2014
Article 9: dead at 67 from fever
It is with great sadness that we announce the recent death of Article 9 of Japan's Constitution. The cause of death was attributed to a long-term struggle against a persistent military fever aggravated by nationalism and the malignant growth of Chinese territorial expansion.
Reader Mail
Jul 12, 2014
Japan can deal with birth dearth
Every day, those who follow Japanese news are bombarded with stories of its increasingly severe demographic situation: Japanese are getting older and there are too few youth to replace retirees from the workforce. Make no mistake, the negative side of this situation that we've heard about is real. However,...
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2014
Neoguri's destructive path through Japan
[View the story "Super-stormy weather: Typhoon Neoguri as seen by social media" on Storify]
Reader Mail
Jul 9, 2014
The problem with change is Abe
I'll add my two pence worth on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Liberal Democratic Party and LDP coalition ally New Komeito changing the interpretation of the Constitution's Article 9 so that the ban on collective self-defense is dropped.
Reader Mail
Jul 9, 2014
Selling out a postwar conscience
Japan's current prime minister is now officially the man who sold out Japan's postwar pacifist conscience. In his own personal second coming to the position of premiership, and surrounded by the most bellicose Cabinet in 70 years, Shinzo Abe has rammed through a pacifist-piercing package despite majority...
Reader Mail
Jul 9, 2014
A great nation must face its past
I'm a visitor from the United States who has resided in the Philippines for 12 years. Japan is the friendliest and most well-run country on Earth; however, the constant denials of Japan's brutality during the "East Asia co-prosperity" years are disheartening, damaging and unnecessary.
Reader Mail
Jul 9, 2014
Mindset that favors fascism
Regarding Barry Andrew Ward's June 26 letter, "Scare tactics from the EU tribe": Leaving aside Ward's naive view that workers' rights would be safe under politicians who regard Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron as lily-livered lefties, I would like to focus on his misunderstanding of German fascism....
Reader Mail
Jul 9, 2014
An impossible radiation level
Regarding the July 4 editorial, "Questions about nuclear safety": There was no reason to evacuate Fukushima. The evacuation was caused by overly strict laws, not by radiation. The 1,600 deaths cited in the editorial should be blamed on the overly strict laws that forced the unnecessary evacuation.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Will Wakatakakage bring balance to the banzuke?
Wakatakakage during a ring entering ceremony in February 2020
Taiwanese drama 'Zero Day Attack' on Chinese invasion to stream in Japan
A scene from the Taiwanese television drama "Zero Day Attack," which will stream in Japan from Friday.
Japanese star convicted of indecent assault in Hong Kong
J-pop idol Kenshin Kamimura leaves the West Kowloon Law Courts on bail in Hong Kong on Wednesday, after he was found guilty of indecent assault of a woman who worked as his interpreter at a restaurant in Mong Kok district in March this year.
Ukraine war has transformed North Korean military: Kyiv’s military intel chief
An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over Kyiv during a Russian drone strike, on July 30. Moscow has dispatched military specialists to train the Korean People’s Army on how to use combat drones and air-defense systems.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Will Ishiba's critics be able to garner enough support for a leadership race?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's political survival likely hinges on whether a leadership race will take place within the Liberal Democratic Party following its decision to have its election committee canvass the opinions of party members and prefectural chapters on the subject.
Hidden rosters and the legacy of Japan’s germ warfare
Katsutoshi Takegami, 77, in his storehouse attic where he discovered his father's Unit 1644 documents
Osaka Expo highlights the challenge of holding events in Japan's scorching summer
People huddle near a large fan blowing icy-cold mist at the Osaka Expo on July 12. Amid Japan's relentless summer heat, organizes have put myriad measures in place in order to keep guests safe.
At Himawari Shokudo 2, Italian food with a Japanese soul
At Himawari Shokudo 2, chef Hozumi Tanaka serves Italian-inspired fare with a focus on Toyama produce, such as this appetizer of lightly blanched "hotaru ika" (firefly squid) served atop mixed wild plants and a crepe prepared from "yamato-imo" yam.

Podcast

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

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers
By Tomoko Otake

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