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Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2013
Many Japanese left town, too
Although I disagree with the tone of Shigure Tatsushige's Jan. 20 letter, "Deport the solo 'flyjin' of 3/11," I can understand his sentiment, except that I think he's forgetting one very important fact: Many Japanese also fled after 3/11 — if not to other countries then elsewhere in Japan.
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2013
Unsurprising radiation results
In his Jan. 20 letter, "Radiation results beggar belief," Giovanni Fazio expresses dismay that doctors working in Fukushima are not finding dangerous levels of radiation in children.
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2013
Xenophobic nationalist nonsense
I was dismayed at the vitriol expressed toward Emmanuelle Bodin by Shigure Tatsushige in his Jan. 20 letter. The idea that people should be deported because they left an area that was hazardous to the health of them and their families is ridiculous.
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2013
'Flyjin' demonstrated a reality
There is an old rule about judging people by their actions: Don't generalize. Generalizing may allow you to sound funny at first, but on second take, you may appear completely off the mark. Consider Emmanuelle Bodin (subject of the Jan. 16 article "Frenchwoman fired for leaving Japan during 3/11 nuclear...
CARTOONS / DAHL'S JAPAN
Jan 23, 2013
sumo salt
Reader Mail
Jan 19, 2013
Concern for Fukushima people
I want to express my appreciation for The Japan Times' coverage of Dr. Masaharu Tsubokura's work monitoring internal radioactive contamination of people living in Fukushima, as reported in the Jan. 10 article "As radiation fears dwindle, so do checkups."
Reader Mail
Jan 19, 2013
Coach may be just tip of iceberg
Regarding the Jan. 12/13 Kyodo article "Osaka basketball coach tries to justify physical discipline after beaten boy's suicide": Whether the student was struck one time, 10 times or 30 times does not make any difference. People with a mind-set like this teacher's have to be kept away from pupils.
Japan Times
CARTOONS / DAHL'S JAPAN
Jan 19, 2013
JAL chutes
Japan Times
CARTOONS / DAHL'S JAPAN
Jan 19, 2013
Ozawa Bucket
Reader Mail
Jan 17, 2013
Keep Christianity in perspective
Kevin Rafferty's Jan. 7 article, "Christianity vs. secularism," was lambasted by secularist Scott Mintz in his Jan. 13 letter, "Inequality in Christian nations." Now I'll lambaste Rafferty from the other side.
Reader Mail
Jan 17, 2013
Violence lurks below the veneer
It was interesting to see that The Japan Times happened to publish three directly connected items in the Jan. 13 edition. On the front page was the Kyodo article "High school coach tries to justify abuse of boy" plus a photograph of Japanese Shinto devotees enduring a self-purification test in which...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jan 14, 2013
Advising Abe on the wisdom of a nuclear restart
Readers offer some advice to the new prime minister on the contentious issue of nuclear power in post-3/11 Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jan 8, 2013
Refer Senkaku issue to ICJ to avoid a train wreck
Dear Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 9, 2012
"Give it a try!"; A Matsumoto mystery; CM of the week: Pizza Hut
Celebrity couples are very popular among variety-show producers, but in recent years they have shown more interest in another two-for-one bargain: the parent-child pairing. This week a special two-hour edition of the consumer challenge show, "Otameshi Ka!" ("Give It a Try!"; TV Asahi, Mon. 7 p.m.) will...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Sep 11, 2012
Stop the annual Taiji dolphin massacre, make your children proud
To the mayor and people of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture,
Reader Mail
Aug 5, 2012
Shut out of the grand finale
As for the London Olympic Games, I noticed that NHK was to broadcast the opening ceremony live, starting at 4:30 a.m., so I duly set my TV to record and looked forward to watching it the following day. But I was baffled to discover that the program came to an abrupt end just before the grand finale:...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 3, 2012
Strong winds linger from the microaggressions tempest
Readers' responses to Debito Arudou's May 1 Just Be Cause column, "Yes, I can use chopsticks: the everyday 'microaggressions' that grind us down," his followup June 5 JBC column, "Guestists, Haters, the Vested: Apologists take many forms," and Colin P.A. Jones' counterarticle, "Much ado, but microimportant"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
May 22, 2012
The elephant in the foreigner's room now has a name: microaggression
Some positive and negative readers' reactions to Debito Arudou's provocative and widely read May 1 Just Be Cause column, "Yes, I can use chopsticks: the everyday 'microaggressions' that grind us down":
Reader Mail
Feb 23, 2012
Heart of Japan's administration
Jeff Kingston's Feb. 6 review of my recent book, "JAPAN'S NUCLEAR CRISIS: The Routes of Responsibility," is baffling. Kingston thinks that the title misleads and that the work is hastily cobbled together, relying on materials from prior texts. He protests that I do not put the Ministry of Economy, Trade...
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2011
Risky catalog purchase of fighter
The government on Tuesday selected Lockheed Martin's F-35 as the Air-Self Defense Force's next-generation fighter over Boeing's F/A-18 and the Eurofighter Typhoon to replace aging F-4 fighters. Japan plans to purchase 42 F-35s, hoping that the first delivery will start in fiscal 2016 (April 2016-March...

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