On the morning of Sept. 15 we were once again startled by the national alert system because North Korea had launched another large missile over Japan. I suppose the government wants everyone to believe that it is protecting them, and to have a sense ...
Regarding the story "English-fluent Foreign Minister Kono makes international debut at ASEAN gathering" in the Aug. 9 edition, I have been interested in Taro Kono since the Cabinet reshuffle and watched a lot of videos about him. I have a very good impression of ...
The opinion piece by Jeff Kingston in the Sept. 10 edition presented his interpretation of "revisionism" and the "comfort women" issue, assertively describing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as "revisionist" and "extremist." But he did not present important historical facts contradicting the assertions in his ...
It is regrettable that Shiori Yamao should have resigned from the Democratic Party in the wake of her extramarital affair. She was the first person in the Diet who succeeded in attracting people's attention to the shortage of child care facilities, and her image ...
Regarding Mark Schilling's Wide Angle column headlined "Filming disability from a new angle" in the Sept. 8 edition, as a fellow wheelchair user I want to thank activist and documentary filmmaker Mizuko Yamaoka for bringing attention to the small things that affect the lives ...
At a recent meeting with U.S. Ambassador William Haggerty, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera asked him to heed Japanese people's concerns over hosting U.S. bases. That's a roundabout way of expressing his dissidence over low-altitude flight training by Ospreys on six designated routes on mainland ...
Regarding the story "JR Tokai will travel on a different track, bucking trend of luxury sleeper trains" in the Sept. 12 edition, many people may have been surprised by the very conservative management strategy of Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), not only in ...
Regarding "Panel to brainstorm lifestyle solutions for Japan's demographic ills" in the Sept. 10 edition, no one wants to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Japan has the world's highest debt to GDP burden among developed and growing economies, and it continues to live ...
The article headlined "After two-week escape, tortoise on the run no more" in the Aug. 17 edition made me ponder not only the lifestyle of tortoises but also our way of life. It's commonly known that tortoises live a long time, having a life span ...
J.J. O'Donoghue's enticing review of the Osaka restaurant Southern Peas in the Aug. 27 edition ("Southern Peas: A little slice of New Orleans") unfortunately perpetuates the popular but mistaken conflation of New Orleans Creole dishes, such as gumbo, with Cajun cooking. Cajun country lies ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seems to be well and truly in the doghouse over his wheeler-dealing conduct regarding the proposed veterinary department at Kake Gakuen ("Decision deferred on Kake Gakuen's plan" in the Aug. 19 edition). So why doesn't he seem in the slightest concerned, ...
Speechwriter Ben Rhodes gives his former boss, U.S. President Barrack Obama, full credit for a memorable line in the president's May 2016 Hiroshima speech ("Ex-Obama adviser rips Trump's diplomacy," in the Aug. 21 edition). Is he distancing himself from a piece of ugly wordsmithing? The ...
