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Reader Mail

Aug 24, 2008

Ready to defend Japan's interests

Having served in the U.S. military for nearly 30 years and been stationed in Japan for almost 20 of those years, I am deeply insulted by Yoshio Shimoji's Aug. 17 letter, "Victor's privileges to present day," in which he suggests that American military personnel would not put their lives on the line to...

Reader Mail

Aug 21, 2008

Natural way to divide the world

In his Aug. 5 article "Once a 'gaijin,' always a 'gaijin,' " Debito Arudou claims that the word "gaijin" is essentially the same as "n--ger" and should be made obsolete. He adds that the word gaijin lacks the meaning of "extra-national." I found this explanation absurd.

Reader Mail

Aug 17, 2008

Victor's privileges to present day

In his Aug. 7 letter, "Prosecution hurdles needed," Jeffrey Snow argues that since "the Japanese police have a horrible track record of maintaining the rights of those under arrest," U.S. service members suspected of crimes must be protected from this defective justice system by all means.

EDITORIALS

Jul 29, 2008

More good lawyers needed

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (Nichibenren) has made an emergency proposal to slow down the government's plan to increase the number of successful applicants in the annual national bar exam to 3,000 by around 2010. Nichibenren said that since the current system of nurturing legal professionals...

Reader Mail

Jul 27, 2008

Forgetting a passport in China

It was with amazement that I read D.B's July 17 letter, "Three days in the Hakodate jail." D.B. was imprisoned for that length of time for not producing an original copy of his passport, although he did have copies.

Reader Mail

Jul 24, 2008

Visitor got off easy in Hokkaido

Regarding D.B.'s July 17 letter, "Three days in the Hakodate jail": Japanese law is quite clear -- a visitor must carry his passport with him at all times. I cannot believe that this gentleman chose to deliberately break the law by traveling to Hokkaido at a time of heightened security without his passport....

Reader Mail

Jul 17, 2008

Three days in the Hakodate jail

The unsuccessful Group of Eight summit is over and no definite agreements were announced, but at least the Hakodate police were successful -- in arresting me, a 32-year-old German tourist. A week before the G8 summit I traveled with my wife, a Japanese national, by motorbike from Kyushu to Hokkaido....

EDITORIALS

Jun 7, 2008

Protection from a Web of harm

The Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, the Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Communist Party have worked out a bill aimed at shielding children from harmful Web sites. The Education Resuscitation Council had called for restricting the use of mobile phones by schoolchildren to direct calls and GPS...

EDITORIALS

May 28, 2008

Another nail for Mr. Brown?

In another sign that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is in real trouble, his Labour Party was beaten in a by-election last week. Coming on the heels of a crushing defeat in local elections earlier this month, Labour looks exhausted and desperate for a turnaround in its fortunes. With the British...

EDITORIALS

May 18, 2008

More expensive school lunches

Everyone who has attended school retains memories of school lunches. The simple experience of eating together with other students and teachers is almost as important as learning inside the classroom. Social skills, informal interaction and a sense of shared community are basic to school lunches. However,...

Reader Mail

Apr 10, 2008

Don't overlook water problems

The March 23 article "Billions may lack safe drinking water by 2025: U.N." mentions that new ways to provide clean water to citizens are being tested. Water users themselves, however, have very little or no knowledge about the problem.

Reader Mail

Feb 7, 2008

Global warming, local dawdling

At 1:15 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 26, I was about to retire when I ran across a program on Channel 10 devoted to global warming. Styled a "debate," it featured several of Japan's leading authorities on both sides of the issue, but by the time I headed for bed at 2:30 a.m., the discussion had progressed no...

Reader Mail

Nov 8, 2007

Review of NHK's offerings

Encouraged by timely letters Oct. 30, may this resident of over 50 years register his rage at some of the recent behavior of NHK with the hope of some kind of rectification?

Reader Mail

Oct 30, 2007

Broadcast offerings disappoint

I choose not to pay. NHK's general standards of broadcasting are reminiscent of the BBC's about 30 years ago. While I'm obliged to pay for the service, sadly, NHK appears to be under no obligation to provide programs that I want to watch.

Reader Mail

Sep 5, 2007

Depression born in the workplace

Regarding the Aug. 22 article "Family doctors enlisted in war on depression": I don't think the health and labor ministry really understands what is causing an increasing number of people to suffer from depression and thus contributing to the toll of more than 30,000 suicides every year. According to...

Reader Mail

Aug 15, 2007

Wrong idea about kinesiology

John Wocher's Aug. 8 letter, "Another quack therapy let loose," demonstrates Wocher's ignorance. (Wocher includes "kinesiology" in a list of alternative-medicine therapies that he suggests lack a scientific foundation.)

Reader Mail

Aug 12, 2007

Fortuitous courtesy on a train

Roger Pulvers' July 29 Counterpoint article, "Erring voyager roots for Japanese courtesy that can't be beat," could not have been more timely. I read it within 48 hours of experiencing the same brand of uniquely Japanese courtesy of which Pulvers writes so admiringly. On the way to Tokyo Station on...

Reader Mail

May 13, 2007

It's time that all this Yasukuni Shrine, Kimigayo and textbook-revision nonsense was laid to rest.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

Apr 5, 2005

BUSINESS / Companies

Jun 6, 2004

UFJ group to sell ailing Aplus to foreign firm

The UFJ group is in the final stages of talks with several foreign financial institutions, including Citigroup Inc. of the United States, to sell struggling consumer finance affiliate Aplus Co., sources close to the talks said Saturday.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.

Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?

By Eric Margolis

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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