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June 07, 2025
 

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Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013
Learn the Heimlich maneuver
My wife relayed a shocking story to me this week. A child in Hokkaido choked to death on a plum pit during school lunch. More shocking is that the teachers called "119" emergency services but were apparently told to just wait for the ambulance.
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013
New priority class not needed
Recently the transport ministry decided to establish a sign that indicates priority space for baby-carriage users on public transportation as part of childcare support services. This is supposed to make it easier for baby-carriage users to use public transportation. I don't think it will. I don't think...
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013
Christian mentality showing
It's only necessary to look at the personal, seemingly malevolent sarcasm of Frank O'Brien's June 23 letter, "Right to express religious views," and Jennifer Kim's June 23 letter, "Mild wisecrack in comparison," to see what is wrong with the Christian mentality.
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013
Great tool for political discourse
Regarding Ted Rall's June 29 article, "End of editorial cartooning": I was surprised to learn that there is an annual conference of political cartoonists in America where "partisan divisions fall away." Hardline leftist Rall writes that "one of my dearest friends is a conservative cartoonist." What a...
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013
Government plans for farmers
Regarding the June 28 editorial "How will Japan's farms survive?": It seems to me that the Japanese government is planning to expand farms in the future and will fight to save rice, wheat, beef, sugar and dairy products. But what do the old farmers think about this?
Reader Mail
Jun 30, 2013
Labor market has been rigged
Regarding the June 25 article "Unpaid overtime excesses hit young": Many things need to change to reach a pluralistic society: the lack of political opposition, the abusive amakudari system (high-ranking government officials' "retiring" into lucrative private jobs), the excessive power of corporations,...
Reader Mail
Jun 30, 2013
Not quite as pretty as it seems
My partner works in an industry where they tend to work six days a week for 10-plus hours a day with no overtime, no holiday pay and no sick pay. She is a beautician. It's not pretty.
Reader Mail
Jun 30, 2013
Universities are for the Japanese
In his June 24 article, "Top students shunning Japan," professor Takamitsu Sawa presents interesting facts and rightly concludes that Japan may not attract outstanding students from abroad. But he misses a very important point: Are there global brands among the Japanese universities, and do they present...
Reader Mail
Jun 30, 2013
Laid-back attitude needs work
I beg to differ with the headline for Takamitsu Sawa's article, asserting that top students are shunning Japan. Talented students are not shunning Japan, per se — just the laid-back, everyone-gets-a-degree, pay-your-tuition approach to higher education in Japan.
Reader Mail
Jun 30, 2013
Analogy isn't what it used to be
Regarding the June 25 AP article "Detroit may sell its cultural gems if city goes bust": The world is in a sad state. I hope Detroit recovers and comes out stronger in the future. I wonder whether Japanese companies will still continue to refer to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu as the "Detroit" of India,...
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2013
Basically a case of bad manners
Allow me to express my weariness with Drusilla de Lanor, who in her June 13 letter, "No offense taken to 'that guy,'" called my view bigoted. A careful reading of my June 9 letter, "An offensive religious reference," will show that I do not claim to be a Christian.
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2013
Abe bears watching after July
I always look forward to Noriko Hama's columns as she has an adroit way of aiming her own "arrows" at the heart of any subject matter she chooses. She once again excels in her June 24 article, "Abe's rhetoric reveals a growth strategy aimed at global conquest." If any headline could cause Japan's neighbors...
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2013
Hope to see blood test abolished
Last summer, Japan was getting ready to introduce a new type of prenatal examination that requires only a blood test. Recently I read the March 5 article "Down syndrome blood test draws interests and ire," which prompted some doubts about this test. The blood test is an easy way to know whether a baby...
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2013
Responsibilities toward the state
The June 23 Bloomberg article by Peter Gumbel, "French high school curriculum includes pitfalls U.S. should try to avoid with its Common Core," talks about the relatively high standard of the French baccalaureat secondary school graduation exams, and a corresponding dropout rate.
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2013
NSA operations in the U.K.
Reports such as the June 23 AP article "U.K. surveillance operation 'bigger than' U.S. effort" demonstrate a lack of knowledge about the agreements that underpin the U.S. National Security Agency's worldwide eavesdropping system and its practicalities.
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2013
The only ethical energy option
Regarding the June 19 article "Meltdowns haven't killed anyone: LDP bigwig": Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Sanae Takaichi's comment that the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant "have not claimed the lives of any people," however technically accurate, was deservedly criticized...
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2013
Japan endures like a U.S. vassal
Regarding the June 22 Kyodo article, "Tainted soil detected at ex-U.S. land in Okinawa": Under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), the United States does not have the obligation to clean up environmental contamination. Can you believe this?
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2013
Right to express religious views
When I noticed Drusilla de Lanor's June 13 letter, "No offense taken to 'that guy' " (which was a reaction to Brian Redmond's June 9 letter, "An offensive religious reference"), I thought of how enlightened De Lanor must be.
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2013
Wise decision on cervix vaccine
Regarding the June 15 Kyodo article "Cervix vaccine issues trigger health notice": I was so relieved to read about the Japanese health ministry's decision not to recommend the HPV vaccinations to young girls while further research is conducted.
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2013
Mild wisecrack in comparison
On behalf of Christians everywhere, I apologize to Drusilla de Lanor for making her think she has to "walk on eggshells" around us. I share her view that Brian Redmond overreacted to Amy Chavez's "that guy on the cross" quip, although not for the same reason. While De Lanor thinks Redmond's letter was...
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after
Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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