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June 07, 2025
 

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Reader Mail
May 16, 2013
Autocratic anti-church struggle
Unable to refute the key role of Christian principles in progressive advances, from abolition of slavery to workers' rights, or the geographical congruence of human rights with the historic arc of Judeo-Christianity, Barry Ward (May 9 letter, "Worthy fight to right the church") resorts to historically...
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013
Cause of anger toward Japan
Frankly I was very sad and disappointed with what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso had to say on the definition of "invasion" as well as their attitude toward invasion and colonization by Japan before 1945.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013
Secondhand smoke is the enemy
In Joseph Jaworski's May 9 letter, "Limits of planning good health," he admits making the assumption linking a decrease in smoking to an increase in obesity. He then says I made an "unsupported assumption" that the decrease in smoking was from smokers dying and fewer people taking up the habit.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013
Don't be among the hypocrites
Regarding the May 11 editorial "Preventing use of nuclear weapons": Japan's refusal to sign the international anti-nuclear weapons statement is completely reasonable and consistent with its current defensive policy.
Reader Mail
May 12, 2013
Greatest risk of human cruelty
Dipak Basu, in his May 2 letter, "Signs of 'Christian' Influence," offers nothing to dispute the argument that the area of the world where human rights are most entrenched mirrors the historic orbit of Judeo-Christian influence.
Reader Mail
May 12, 2013
Price of peace with North Korea
Regarding the May 8 front-page AFP article "N. Korea moves missiles from coast" and related stories: Is it better to rent or own? It's an age-old debate and one where the White House has drawn a line in the sand right along the 38th Parallel.
Reader Mail
May 9, 2013
Limits of planning good health
Chris Flynn (May 2 letter, "Australia's declining smoking rate") seems to believe I'm a shill for the local agricultural interests here in rural Kumamoto based on my opposition to tobacco restrictions.
Reader Mail
May 9, 2013
Barbarism against the enemy
In her May 2 letter about the Yasukuni Shrine controversy, Brigitte Duchemin refers to the souls of the "Class-A war criminals" enshrined there.
Reader Mail
May 9, 2013
Myanmar's respect for Japan
The May 3 editorial "Japan's approach to Myanmar" is timely and meaningful. It not only reflects the good will of The Japan Times toward the people of Myanmar but also provides a good grasp of the prevailing situation there. I only hope that the contents are not lost on Myanmar policymakers in the Japanese...
Reader Mail
May 9, 2013
Worthy fight to right the church
Thomas Clark's April 25 letter, "Christian witness to abolitionism," is ludicrous in its attempt to link the Roman Catholic Church with human rights. One basic human right is the right to follow your own religion. The first people in Europe to try this on a large scale were the Cathars (gnostics) of...
Reader Mail
May 9, 2013
The task of embracing sincerity
Regarding Brigitte Duchemin's May 2 letter, "Let go of the sorrow and anger," I'd like to add my two pence worth.
Reader Mail
May 9, 2013
Deploy SDF unit in Senkakus
Robert Dujarric's May 3 article, "China's rift with Japan is open challenge to U.S.," posed a number of important and disturbing points with regard to not only Japan, China and the United States but also to the fact that the tiny islets could provide the spark that might well set off a regional, if not...
Reader Mail
May 5, 2013
What was there to celebrate?
As for the front-page April 29 article "Sovereignty celebration hit by protests": Soon after the security treaty between Japan and the United States was furtively signed on Sept. 8, 1951, the San Francisco Peace Treaty was gloriously signed between Japan and the relevant countries.
Reader Mail
May 5, 2013
Mom should not have to pay
Regarding the April 25 Kyodo article "Mom, firm in crane case ordered to pay": It seems that some measure of justice has been served in the case of the epileptic driver who killed six schoolchildren in 2011. Accidents are dicey situations that force us to confront the enigmatic intersection between intention...
Reader Mail
May 5, 2013
Viewing the enemy as we are
Regarding Hiroaki Sato's April 29 article, "Photos of carnage would check war sentiment": This is very true. So many "armchair warrior" Americans seem to revel in war sentiment. Case in point: the iconic photo of a badly burned Vietnamese girl running naked down a highway after her village was hit by...
Reader Mail
May 5, 2013
The 'right' stand against 'wrong'
As a longtime teacher of comparative religions at several universities, let me add a note to a recent topic in the news and among letter writers. When judging a behavior or attitude connected with a religion, we should think first whether the actions under judgment are the result of the religion itself...
Reader Mail
May 5, 2013
Motivations of disabled workers
I often wondered in my youth why disabled people wanted to work so enthusiastically, because I thought some of them could live in protective institutions without any anxiety.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Apr 30, 2013
Stand up to Abe for the sake of Japan, Asia's future
Life is comparable to a spiritual drama that in retrospect can be recalled as a series of happy, sad and bitter memories
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 29, 2013
Takeda loses cancer suit over Actos
Takeda Pharmaceutical is told to pay $6.5 million to a man who sued Asia's largest drugmaker for failing to warn that its Actos diabetes drug could cause cancer.
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2013
If they like it, they will learn
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced that the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) would be adopted in Japanese education. Considering Japan's focus on international personnel development, TOEFL could be one of the scales to assess whether Japanese people are competent enough with English...
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.

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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