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COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2012

Why Japan should amend its war-renouncing Article 9

The pressure is mounting to either amend Article 9, the war-renouncing provision of Japan's Constitution, or to increasingly disregard it and so make it irrelevant. In April the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) published its proposal for amending the Constitution, and the dangers it posed for Article 9...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 3, 2012

'7 Días en La Habana (7 Days in Havana)'

Just last week this column trotted out the movie industry's defense — post-Colorado "Batman" shootings — that films don't influence actual behavior. Now along comes "7 Días en La Habana (7 Days in Havana)," a raucous compendium film that features scene after simmering scene of people getting righteously...
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2012

Fukushima trio show thanks with 13,000-km Paris-Tokyo marathon

Kyodo Three men from Fukushima Prefecture arrived in Tokyo from Paris on Thursday, completing a yearlong transcontinental marathon to thank people around the world for helping Japan recover from the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 2011.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 3, 2012

Hasegawa gets the perfect portrait

Making a documentary on a crusading 90-year-old photojournalist who is famously fearless and uncompromising is not for the timid. Saburo Hasegawa, who has been directing television documentaries on a range of social issues since the 1990s, was initially afraid that his subject, Kikujiro Fukushima, might...
Reader Mail
Aug 2, 2012

Give credit where credit is due

The characterization of the recession and auto industry bailout by Yoshi Tsurumi in his July 26 article, "Detroit lives, thanks to a courageous decision," is a clear case of Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS), a condition that causes otherwise intelligent people to blame U.S. President George W. Bush for...
Reader Mail
Aug 2, 2012

Japan still has a long way to go

Although I am strongly against the retention of the death penalty in Japan — and thus favor its immediate abolition — I disagree with former Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura's remarks that abolishing it would represent a step toward Japan's becoming "a mature, democratic nation," as he was quoted...
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2012

Antinuclear demonstrators meet with lawmakers, seek talks with Noda

Organizers of the growing weekly antinuclear demonstrations outside the prime minister's office asked a group of lawmakers Tuesday to help them arrange a meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda so they can make a direct appeal to end Japan's use of nuclear power.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 31, 2012

Latynina watching Phelps' achievements with interest

For 48 years, former gymnast Larisa Latynina has held the record for most Olympic medals (18). And now that swimmer Michael Phelps is closing in on her record — he helped the United States nab the silver in Sunday's 4x100-meter freestyle relay, an upset loss to France, by the way, for medal No. 17...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 31, 2012

Gawking children are tolerable, but adults have no excuse

Belated readers' responses to "Parents, please keep your kids away from me at feeding time" by Christy Bridgeman (Hotline to Nagatacho, May 22) and J. Bradley Bulsterbaum's letter on the subject, "Cut gaijin-gawking children some slack — it's how they learn" (Have Your Say, June 26):
Reader Mail
Jul 29, 2012

History of obeying authorities

I read Timothy Bedwell's July 19 letter, "As weak as his predecessors," with great interest because it describes very well the characteristics of Japan's prime ministers, most of whom have been very obedient to the U.S. administration. The Noda government doesn't seem to have the strength or the will...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 29, 2012

Who can we vote for to avoid the worst-case scenario?

"Japan's Worst-Case Scenarios" — that's the title of the lead feature in the July issue of the monthly Takarajima. No one writing on such a theme need fear a shortage of material. The magazine easily fills 40 pages analyzing catastrophes and catastrophes-in-waiting: Tokyo leveled by a magnitude 9 quake;...
Reader Mail
Jul 26, 2012

Olympic spirit preempts biases

Barry Andrew Ward proposes that a rather odd "anti-English" prejudice exists at the BBC. I say "rather odd," because in my experience, the opposite is often the case: Commentators at the BBC often praise the efforts of athletes from the Celtic Nations of the U.K. as coming from "proud Britons" when they...
COMMENTARY
Jul 26, 2012

Syria's minority prospects

In war, moral power is to physical as three parts out of four, said Napoleon, and the past few days have seen a sudden and drastic shift in the balance of moral power in Syria.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 24, 2012

'Flyjin' feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan: some readers' responses

Responses to Patrick Budmar's June 12 Zeit Gist article, " 'Flyjin' feel vindicated, worry for those left in Japan:"
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2012

Osprey's arrival foments distrust

Twelve MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were unloaded from a transport ship at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Monday amid protest from Iwakuni's conservative Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda and local residents. After confirming its safety, Tokyo and Washington plan to start...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 24, 2012

From baby massage to fostering pets, many options for volunteers

Reader M.S. is looking for volunteer opportunities in Tokyo that don't require fluent Japanese ability, as many — if not most — do. In particular, she'd like to work with animals.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2012

Court judgment in Canada may set guidelines for physician-assisted death in terminal cases

Gloria Taylor, a Canadian, has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Over a period of a few years, her muscles will weaken until she can no longer walk, use her hands, chew, swallow, speak and, ultimately, breathe. Then she will die.
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2012

Costas' criticism sparks discussion over tributes

Should the International Olympic Committee permit individuals or groups to make political statements during the Olympics?
Reader Mail
Jul 22, 2012

Nuclear power justification fails

I was surprised to read Takashi Kitazume's July 17 article "Global demand for nuclear power remains." The view expressed by energy researcher Jane Nakano, quoted in the article, is simply appalling.
Reader Mail
Jul 22, 2012

Tokyo protest rallies admiration

Regarding the July 17 front-page article "Massive Tokyo rally decries atomic power": Those people at the rally were brave in demonstrating their democratic spirit. I firmly believe Japan will find an energy solution that's better than relying on atomic energy.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 22, 2012

Yokohama's Miura values long tenure with BayStars

Daisuke Miura didn't really take to being called "Hama no Bancho" initially.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 22, 2012

Spies and their watchers in a tense war of nerves

What in the world is China going to do with 5,000 tsubo — about four acres — of land in Niigata City? Build a new consulate general, it says. But that seems like an awful lot for a consulate in a regional city whose main activity since it initially opened has been issuance of commercial visas.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 22, 2012

Power spots and prehistory in beautiful Aomori Prefecture

The government of Aomori Prefecture which straddles the whole of the northern end of Japan's main island of Honshu — and is best known as the nation's apple capital — broke new ground in its tourism promotion campaign late last year, when it announced it would start selling the prefecture as the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2012

Marx: the return of the giant

If an author's eternal youth consists of his capacity to keep stimulating new ideas, then it may be said that Karl Marx has without question remained young.
Reader Mail
Jul 19, 2012

As weak as his predecessors

Regarding the July 17 Kyodo article, "Noda: Japan has no choice in Osprey deployment plan": Yoshihiko Noda has proven to be just another in a long line of weak and spineless Japanese prime ministers. Japan bends to every wind the United States sends over, allowing the U.S. and its military industrial...
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2012

Where is the political savvy hiding in China?

China allegedly has at least 1.3 billion people residing within its current ample borders. (Has anyone ever counted?!)
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2012

A Camp David moment with Egypt

Despite early assurances by Egypt's new President Mohamed Morsi regarding his "commitment to international treaties and agreements," one can already foretell a confrontation between Egypt and Israel.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight