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Reader Mail
Apr 19, 2012

Catholic Church's belief crisis

I usually enjoy Kevin Rafferty's social commentary, but his views expressed in his April 11 article, "The pope's leadership crisis," need to be challenged. His assertion that the story of Jesus "requires less suspension of belief than Harry Potter" is ridiculous. To truly believe that Jesus was the son...
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2012

Quake assessment projects nearly 10,000 dead in Tokyo

A massive quake beneath northern Tokyo Bay would kill about 9,700 people, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 19, 2012

Afghan lies mirror deception of Vietnam War

In the midst of the Taliban attacks in central Kabul on Sunday, a journalist called the British embassy for a comment. "I really don't know why they are doing this," said the exasperated diplomat who answered the phone. "We'll be out of here in two years' time. All they have to do is wait."
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 16, 2012

Could happiness be the new frontier?

Bookstore shelves all over Tokyo are stacked with shiawase hautsū bon (幸せハウツー本, how-to-be-happy books), which, surprisingly perhaps, outnumber the dire-prediction books that spin tales about what's ailing the global economy and how Japan will chinbotsu (沈没, sink) in five years or less....
Reader Mail
Apr 15, 2012

Too soon to the back burner

Regarding Takamitsu Sawa's April 10 article, "Energy conservation is key": I agree that more conservation is of utmost importance, but I don't see Japanese companies, the Japanese government and the Japanese people doing much.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Apr 15, 2012

U.S. forces keep the world in their sights

Complex issues often become much easier to understand when they are approached with the benefit of a broader perspective.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 15, 2012

Kato says NPB must work to keep stars

Between Game 7 of the 2011 Japan Series and Opening Day of the 2012 season, five players left Japan to play in MLB.
Reader Mail
Apr 12, 2012

Ideas that could stand debate

Regarding Grant Piper's April 8 letter, "Expressions to avoid discomfort": The question is not whether an expression is the result of "erroneous cosmology." Some of us really do not believe in such unscientific notions as God, heaven and hell, however such notions may be expressed cosmologically or poetically....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 12, 2012

Songha prepares for a Wilde John the Baptist

A year ago, Songha Cho changed his professional name to plain and simple Songha — explaining that there is no appropriate kanji for Cho, though there is for Songha. That problem, the third-generation Korean-Japanese said, is just one of many complications faced in daily life here by people with Korean...
Reader Mail
Apr 8, 2012

Undoing the damage in Myanmar

Regarding the April 4 editorial, "Myanmar marching forward": The recent dramatic developments for reforms in Myanmar are indeed good so far. The outcomes of the by-elections last weekend were, in a sense, the reaffirmation of the love and trust that the overwhelming majority of the Burmese people have...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 7, 2012

Washoku on World Heritage menu?

Let's talk about food cultures of the world. And I don't mean yogurt.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 6, 2012

Exhibition tells a cute tale of kawaii culture

When you hear the term "kawaii" (cute) what do you think of? Hello Kitty? Domo-kun? Everyone has their own idea of what makes something kawaii, what they might not know is the origin of Japan's particular brand of cuteness.
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2012

Prosecution's organizational ills

The Osaka District Court on March 30 found Mr. Hiromichi Otsubo, former head of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation squad, and his former deputy Mr. Motoaki Saga guilty of covering up evidence tampering by a subordinate, Mr. Tsunehiko Maeda.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 6, 2012

410,000 attend Okinawa movie fest, but it's still a money-loser

The fourth edition of the Okinawa International Movie Festival, held from March 24 to 31, was a strange beast, combining screenings of 102 films from Japan, Asia and elsewhere with manzai comics and other acts from the powerful Yoshimoto Kogyo agency, which underwrote the entire event, in cooperation...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 3, 2012

Little houses crammed in a big city

The neighborhood of Minami Senju in Tokyo's Arakawa Ward is serviced by three train lines that provide easy, quick access to all parts of the city and beyond. East of these lines is an area called Shioiri, highlighted by a relatively new urban development complex centered around high-rise condominiums...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 3, 2012

Less-than-fluent foreigners may have trouble giving blood

Julian recently visited a Red Cross blood donation center in Kagoshima to donate blood, but was refused because he can't speak Japanese. They also told him he couldn't donate blood even if he brought along a native speaker.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Apr 3, 2012

'Silver democracy' could undermine Tohoku's reconstruction

Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda,
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2012

Lawmakers' pay cut for what?

The Democratic Party of Japan has proposed cutting Diet members' salaries by ¥3 million annually in fiscal 2012 and 2013. The proposal came after the Diet enacted a special law to cut the wages for national public servants by an average of about 7.8 percent, also in fiscal 2012 and 2013. The public...
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2012

10th anniversary of the ICC

Winston Churchill said, "History is written by the victors," but justice may be decided that way, too. In the 10 years since its inception, the International Criminal Court has found detractors who claim the court is biased. Supporters of the court argue that a permanent international criminal court...
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 31, 2012

Ishikawa hopes FC Tokyo can sustain early momentum

Relegation is never an achievement to celebrate, but FC Tokyo winger Naohiro Ishikawa believes his side's perfect start to the J. League season would not have been possible without spending 2011 in the second division.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 30, 2012

Art Fair Tokyo searches for new breed of buyer

Occupying almost twice the area of last year's event, and with more galleries set up and side-events being staged than ever before in its Tokyo International Forum venue, this year's Art Fair Tokyo will almost be unrecognizable to regular visitors — let alone anyone returning for the first time since...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 30, 2012

Art Fair Tokyo searches for new breed of buyer

Occupying almost twice the area of last year's event, and with more galleries set up and side-events being staged than ever before in its Tokyo International Forum venue, this year's Art Fair Tokyo will almost be unrecognizable to regular visitors — let alone anyone returning for the first time since...
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2012

Three hanged in first executions in Japan since 2010

Three inmates were hanged Thursday, in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, in the country's first executions since July 2010.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2012

Japanese-Americans continue to grapple with mixed legacy

For a long, quiet moment, a white-haired gentleman stood and gazed at the words engraved in a low granite wall. Few passersby noticed the memorial, tucked on a tiny patch of federal parkland near Union Station in Washington. But every time Grant Ichikawa returns to the spot and stands before the statue...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 27, 2012

Detainees' families fighting for dignity — and hugs

The East Japan Immigration Center, more commonly known as the Ushiku detention center, stands in the middle of sleepy countryside in Ibaraki Prefecture, 50 km north of Tokyo. With one of the world's tallest standing Buddha statues less than 3 km away, the center could have made a nice country getaway...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Mar 27, 2012

JET teacher outfoxes board, Dr. Savoie's Hague prescription: readers' responses

Some responses to Patrick Budmar's Feb. 28 Light Gist column, "Teacher outfoxes board, exposes bid to fleece JETs":
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 27, 2012

Tohoku in rebuilding bubble

As Tohoku struggles to rebuild from last year's quake and tsunami, money continues to pour into the region in the form of central government subsidies for cleanup, repair and reconstruction.
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2012

Mr. Okada's pseudo-reform

Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada has directed government ministries to reduce the number of recruits for fiscal 2013 by an average of about 70 percent from fiscal 2009's level. This is a typical example of the pseudo-reform that the Democratic Party of Japan government often uses to dupe the public....

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