Search - u_times

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2013

Big works buoyed by Dojima River's 'Little Water'

Standing in front of the largest work at the Dojima River Biennale, currently showing at the Dojima River Forum in Fukushima, Osaka, is a mesmerizing experience. A 10-meter-tall digital projection of an ethereal cascading waterfall, it glows mysteriously as its gentle rumbling permeates the dimly lit...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2013

A prince's push for workplace equality

Prince William's decision to take two weeks of job-protected, paid statutory paternity leave represents bold support for workplace equality between men and women.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2013

Like other U.S. cities, Detroit must reinvent itself

If nothing else, Detroit's bankruptcy marks the symbolic closure of an era when heavy industry dominated the American economy and the U.S. dominated the world.
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2013

Conservative sense toward eels

The July 24 editorial "The danger zone for eels" reminds me that nowadays a lot of Japanese are making a great effort to find a substitute for eels, which have become expensive and beyond the reach of common citizens. According to a TV report, conger, catfish, pork or eggplant is used as a substitute...
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2013

Language policy hurts children

Hiroshi Noro hits the proverbial nail on the head by pointing out in his July 18 letter, "Battling the language in Japan," that people at present are studying Japanese harder than ever right here in Japan.
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2013

Don't cry for Okinawa's economy

Regarding the July 11 article "Okinawans explore secession option": Many people, especially among U.S. service members, like to speculate what would happen to Okinawa's economy if the United States withdrew its troops from the island. Even Condoleezza Rice, the former U.S. secretary of state, did so...
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2013

Current behavior is what counts

In Jun Hongo's July 25 article "Leave Constitution alone," anime master Hayao Miyazaki is right about one thing: There is no question that Japan committed atrocities during World War II.
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2013

Protection of our food culture

Regarding the July 26 editorial "TPP-ready fishing industry?": If Japan participates in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, many agricultural foods will come from America, New Zealand, Asia and elsewhere. Japanese farmers are concerned that they can't win in low-price competition and that demand for domestic-grown...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2013

New America-Japan Society chief looks to expand

It has a well-recognized name and more than a century of history. Many prominent figures from Japan and the United States have been involved in its efforts to nurture friendly ties between the two nations.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2013

JPMorgan to settle market-rigging case

On March 14, 2011, Blythe Masters, head of JPMorgan Chase's global commodities group, asked one of her top deputies why California power officials were making ominous inquiries into the bank's arcane and lucrative business of selling electricity. Five months earlier, Masters had been given a spreadsheet...
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2013

China grapples with understanding spate of random violence

A spate of deadly knife attacks and other apparently random acts of violence in the past few days has rattled the Chinese government.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 31, 2013

Gymnastics coach Tomita fondly remembers legendary Aihara

The late Nobuyuki Aihara, a gymnastics legend, left a great impression on many individuals he met or influenced during his many decades in the sport, including Yoichi Tomita.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2013

7-Eleven wizard, 80, to take on U.S.

Over the past 39 years, Toshifumi Suzuki has expanded 7-Eleven to 50,000 outlets, more than any other retail chain. Now, at the age of 80, he says he has no interest in retiring. He's got too much work to do.
EDITORIALS
Jul 30, 2013

Korean War's far-reaching legacy

For North Korea, the day the United Nations Command, North Korea and China signed the armistice ending the Korean War 60 years ago is a day to celebrate.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Jul 29, 2013

Haiku brought together Polish-Japanese couple

They say that languages bring people closer together and bridge distances. So, too, does the Internet.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2013

Missing British expat left Tokyo with company cash?

A British expat who vanished in May and was feared a victim of foul play may have left Japan with some of his company's cash in hand.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2013

Dioxin found in buried barrels near Kadena

The Okinawa Defense Bureau recently found dioxin and other hazardous chemicals from barrels unearthed at a former U.S. military installation in the city of Okinawa, officials said Monday, suggesting they may have contained herbicides or agricultural chemicals.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 29, 2013

Grip on Diet leaves no scapegoats for LDP

The Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the July 21 Upper House election and regained control of both chambers of the Diet, ending years in which the legislature was effectively divided and bills were held hostage.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 29, 2013

Mideast peace talks set to resume

The U.S. announces that the first substantive peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians in years is set to begin in Washington, following a prisoner release.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jul 28, 2013

Woman with Down syndrome pushes for her independence

It wasn't her turn to talk, but early on in a hearing that will determine the limits of her independence, Margaret Jean Hatch stood up in a Newport News, Virginia, courtroom and cut the judge off in midsentence.
JAPAN / History
Jul 27, 2013

A drop in the ocean: the sea-dumping of chemical weapons in Okinawa

Accounts by U.S. veterans in the accompanying feature of tons of chemical weapons being dumped off Okinawa in autumn 1969 are the first time such revelations have been made public — but in fact they tally entirely with the Pentagon's standard operating procedures at that time.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 27, 2013

At home on the Maasai Mara range

Asuka Takita has a passion for Africa and its wildlife that took root during her childhood in Singapore and flourished in the soils of Kenya during her third year of university.
Reader Mail
Jul 27, 2013

Letting the younger crowd vote

Regarding the July 22 front-page article "Ruling bloc takes control of Upper House": It is said that the votes this time came primarily from the younger crowd. It is also true that the victorious Liberal Democratic Party's inflationary policies benefit Japan's younger generation especially, paving the...
Reader Mail
Jul 27, 2013

Philosophy for social progress

Dipak Basu has been taken to task before by readers other than myself for playing fast and loose with the facts. In his Sept. 18 letter, "Western work ethic is wanting," he's at it again with his mischaracterization of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill as philosophers of selfish, greedy capitalism....
Reader Mail
Jul 27, 2013

A case of ageist chauvinism

In his July 21 letter, "The more inspiring dystopia," Robert McKinney can't admit that narratives from a game controller may equal or even surpass those of paperback novels.
Reader Mail
Jul 27, 2013

Excellent animated story line

Regarding Mark Schilling's July 18 review of the animation film, "Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises)": It's an excellent movie, although I felt the end was slightly abrupt and hurried. It provides a sweeping view of history leading up to the Second World War.
Reader Mail
Jul 27, 2013

Results disappoint an old-timer

When I saw the election results on TV last week, I was disappointed and sad because a Liberal Democratic Party candidate from Fukushima Prefecture had been elected to the Upper House.

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped