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Reader Mail
Jun 21, 2009

Arrests hardly seem surprising

Regarding Tom Plate's June 16 article, "Jailing U.S. journalists could prove costly": If not for the nuclear threat, it would indeed be curious that such a small, mostly insignificant country as North Korea could constantly make the top news. Its actions are illogical and sometimes unpredictable.
Reader Mail
Jun 14, 2009

Rule of anger is no substitute

Regarding Frank Ching's June 5 article, "Suspect in stabbing death a national hero": The fact that a country's legal system is not perfect is by no means an excuse to replace rule of law with rule of anger. Personally, I have great sympathy for the waitress Miss Deng Yujiao and much antipathy for the...
Reader Mail
Jun 14, 2009

Fallout from 'terrorist' label

Regarding Gregory Clark's June 11 article, "Sri Lanka and Tiananmen: Time to accept the truth": Thank you for trying to bring out the truth about these conflicts.
Reader Mail
Jun 11, 2009

Background of a couple's tragedy

Regarding the June 4 "Couple leap to death in Britain with dead kid": This terrible story was given wide coverage by the British tabloids, and I don't think the (Kyodo) article that appeared in The Japan Times did it justice. Kazumi Puttick met her British husband, Neil, when they were undergraduates...
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2009

Sri Lanka and Tiananmen: Time to accept the truth

It used to be said the first casualty of war is the truth. But today we do not even need wars to see truth destroyed. Even domestic conflicts in distant countries can do the job, with a flood of black information and news distortions produced, some causing enormous harm. The distorted interpretation...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ANALYSIS
May 31, 2009

Canseco's MMA debut a farce

It was exactly what you'd call a chaban, or a farce.
Reader Mail
May 14, 2009

Could do without vivid details

Regarding the May 10 article "Office workers out in front in demand for men's bras" and related Timeout articles: It is hard to know which is more disturbing, the "demand for men's bras" or the "Angel-lap Pillow." What "psychological" purpose and what "calming effects of a bra" could there possibly be...
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2009

No place left to go after exiting Guantanamo

GUANTANAMO BAY — I write this from the U.S. Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay, where I have been held without charge for almost seven years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 14, 2009

'A battle for Japan's future'

Despite being Japan's most densely populated area, Warabi rarely causes a blip on the national media radar.
COMMENTARY
Apr 9, 2009

Australia and Afghanistan

So Australia's Labor Party prime minister, the Chinese-speaking Kevin Rudd, has promised Australia will stay the course with the United States in Afghanistan right to the very end. That's interesting. Canberra once also promised the U.S. it would stay in the Vietnam war till the very end. "All the way...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 7, 2009

Prosecutors boast clout, success

Prosecutors are legal professionals who work for the state and represent the public interest. They have the authority to investigate any crime and indict and try alleged offenders.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 27, 2009

League admits blown call cost Saitama game

Some games are difficult to forget.
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2009

Legacy of a 'disappeared' family in Argentina

Politics can have a devastating effect on a country and its people, as I discovered during a recent trip to Argentina.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2009

Climate change mitigation by low-income countries

MUMBAI, CITIZENS NEWS NETWORK — The economies and resultant emissions of low-income countries are growing at a rapid pace. China and India are already among the top five greenhouse-gas emitters. The rest of the world may strive to stabilize its emissions at 1990 levels, but if China and India continue...
Reader Mail
Mar 5, 2009

Japanese should not be ashamed

The Feb. 20 article "Aso accepts blame for Nakagawa" mentions that Prime Minister Taro Aso apologized for appointing Shoichi Nakagawa as finance minister. Although Aso should be held accountable for Nakagawa's slurred words and groggy appearance during a news conference in Rome, the Japanese government...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Feb 22, 2009

Kim sends shot across bow with victory in Vancouver

Kim Yu Na delivered a strong message to world champion Mao Asada with her victory at the recent Four Continents Championship in Vancouver.
COMMENTARY
Feb 12, 2009

Secretary Clinton's No. 1 mission is to reassure allies

HONOLULU — We welcome the news that Hillary Clinton's first overseas trip as U.S. secretary of state will be to Japan, Korea, Indonesia and China. While her visit to Beijing will likely garner the lion's share of attention and her visit to Indonesia will generate the most speculation (can a visit by...
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

Fear serves as the glue that binds

Although Paul de Vries manages to encapsulate Japan in a somewhat rosy light, his article frames an us-vs.-them slight — or the gratingly hackneyed individual-vs.-group polemic. We all know Japan is a safe and generally hospitable place in comparison to a myriad of others. Few would truly disagree....
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2009

U.S. chance to make fresh start in the Muslim world

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — President Barack Obama was the world's favored candidate in what was America's first global election. The key question is how the Obama administration will tap this rare good will to re-establish U.S. credibility and repair its reputation. How Obama manages issues in the Muslim world...
EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2009

Emperor's spirit of peace

Twenty years ago on Jan. 7, 1989, the Emperor ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne immediately after the death of his father, the Emperor Showa. This year, the 20th anniversary of the Emperor's enthronement will be followed on April 10 by the 50th anniversary of his marriage with the Empress. We pray...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2008

Aso failing to lead LDP to promised land

When Taro Aso became prime minister in September, he was chosen by his peers in the Liberal Democratic Party as the man who would reverse their declining ratings. But after three months of the extraordinary Diet session, which closes Thursday, Aso's Cabinet already seems to be in trouble.
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2008

U.S.-China ties good for Japan

Regarding the Nov. 25 article reprinted from Sentaku magazine, "U.S.-China ties weaken alliances": The rise in U.S.-China relations, which primarily accounts for inseparable bilateral economic trade, in my opinion should be good news for Japan, contrary to what the writer argues. This is essentially...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 16, 2008

Young 'Zainichi' Koreans look beyond Chongryon ideology

Imagine attending school with portraits of the late North Korean dictator, Kim Il Sung, and current leader Kim Jong Il hanging on the classroom walls. This is a reality at schools operated by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2008

Too much for the Earth to bear

HONG KONG — The global financial crisis that has sent economies teetering from recession toward slump is preoccupying politicians and families worldwide, who see their livelihoods being snatched away by the consequences of the inventive greed of financial whiz kids.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 29, 2008

Devoted to the game: Looking back at Oh's career

First in a three-part series
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2008

Practical fashion for the other end of life

One after the other, the models strutted across the stage to bouncy '80s dance tunes, all showing off designs of the same article of clothing — adult diapers.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 21, 2008

Koizumi branded the bad boy in latest food scandal

Most of the recent food-related scandals were motivated by pure greed, so they were easy to understand. The current scandal involving inedible imported rice bought from the government and sold as edible rice is more complicated and raises some questions. How do the governments of the countries that produced...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 17, 2008

Supreme Court place of last judicial resort

In 1889, Japan took its first step toward forming a modern constitutional state by promulgating the Meiji Constitution, dividing power among the legislature, or Diet, the executive branch, or Cabinet, and the judiciary, with the Supreme Court at the top.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 14, 2008

Feed, don't fight, Afghanistan

The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping and killing of Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito in Afghanistan last month remain unclear. In the web journal Japan Focus, Michael Penn conjectures that Ito's death resulted from a "botched effort to abduct him, not . . . premeditated murder." The gunshot wounds...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji