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ASIA PACIFIC
May 16, 2013

TV show gives peek into world of Chinese porn censors

In the annals of bizarre bureaucratic desk jobs, the Chinese government may have all others beat.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013

Chinese versus U.S. corruption

Regarding the April 6 article "Can China's new government end corruption?": China's corruption can be solved by simply taking a page from the United States and legalizing it.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013

Catholic link to human rights

Barry Andrew Ward's Catholic-bashing letter of May 9 ... falsely portrays the Cathars as an innocent, wrongfully persecuted religious minority. In fact they held that the world was fundamentally evil, that suicide was admirable, that marital intercourse and reproduction were abhorrent, and other teachings...
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013

Autocratic anti-church struggle

Unable to refute the key role of Christian principles in progressive advances, from abolition of slavery to workers' rights, or the geographical congruence of human rights with the historic arc of Judeo-Christianity, Barry Ward (May 9 letter, "Worthy fight to right the church") resorts to historically...
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013

Cause of anger toward Japan

Frankly I was very sad and disappointed with what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso had to say on the definition of "invasion" as well as their attitude toward invasion and colonization by Japan before 1945.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013

Secondhand smoke is the enemy

In Joseph Jaworski's May 9 letter, "Limits of planning good health," he admits making the assumption linking a decrease in smoking to an increase in obesity. He then says I made an "unsupported assumption" that the decrease in smoking was from smokers dying and fewer people taking up the habit.
Reader Mail
May 16, 2013

Don't be among the hypocrites

Regarding the May 11 editorial "Preventing use of nuclear weapons": Japan's refusal to sign the international anti-nuclear weapons statement is completely reasonable and consistent with its current defensive policy.
JAPAN / History
May 15, 2013

Hashimoto takes flak for sex slave rationale

The backlash against Osaka political maverick Toru Hashimoto escalates over his remarks justifying Japan's wartime sex slave system and his suggestion that U.S. soldiers in Okinawa use more prostitutes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
May 15, 2013

Kids love park life in the summer

At long last, warm weather has arrived, which means more playtime in Tokyo's parks — from your scrappy, local patch of dirt to the manicured opulence of Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. My family's favorite is Yoyogi Park. While not the most pristine public space Japan has to offer, it's certainly the...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 15, 2013

Chinese prostitutes 'routinely extorted, abused'

Police raids on brothels in China have a pattern, sex workers say, often occurring a few days ahead of politically sensitive events or whenever someone in government orders an antipornography campaign to please the leadership.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 15, 2013

IRS conservative scandal snowballs

Internal Revenue Service officials in Washington and at least two other offices were involved in the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, making clear that the effort reached well beyond the branch in Cincinnati that was initially blamed, according to documents obtained by The...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
May 15, 2013

Google Glass may shatter Japan's 'manner' mode

Google Glass is the latest mobile Internet gadget to grab headlines. Resembling a pair of glasses, the futuristic device enables wearers to access the Internet — in particular Google's search, maps and translation functions — as long as they have a Wifi or Bluetooth connection. The mini computer...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
May 15, 2013

Nash reflects on Toyama's success this season

Toyama Grouses coach Bob Nash guided his team to its first winning season, and that's something the franchise, which began play in the fall of 2006, can consider a major accomplishment.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 15, 2013

China's cyberspies outwit model for James Bond's Q

Among defense contractors, QinetiQ North America is known for spy-world connections and an eye-popping product line. Its contributions to national security include secret satellites, drones and software used by U.S. special forces in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2013

'The right path' for North Korea

In an interview, President Park Geun Hye says South Korea won't tolerate the North's nuclear weapons and provocations, but will keep the window open for dialogue.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
May 14, 2013

Interleague schedule will pit PL hurlers against Blanco

On a bright day earlier this season, Tony Blanco wrapped up batting practice and headed back to the Yokohama BayStars clubhouse after sending a litany of balls all over — and a few out of — Yokohama Stadium.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 14, 2013

Turks in Kansai fear Inose gaffe indicative of wider ignorance about culture

'Stupid', 'shockingly provincial' and 'a sign of how little Japanese people really understand that part of the world' were among the reactions of Turkish residents in Kansai to Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose's comments about Turkey and the wider Muslim world.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 14, 2013

Inose's slurs anger, bemuse Turks in Tokyo but may boost Istanbul's Olympic bid

It's prayer time at Tokyo's biggest mosque and the congregation is pondering God, community and Naoki Inose, the city's governor, who many here say has revealed himself to be, well, a bit of a bigot.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
May 14, 2013

Czech promoter sings way to cultural identity

For singer Eva Miklas Takamine, who also has been head of the Czech Center in Tokyo since March, singing both Czech and Japanese songs is a way of expressing her identity.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2013

Secretive trade talks aren't in the public interest

Both Japan and Australia need to inform the public as to what agreement may or may not have been reached secretly during current trade negotiations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 12, 2013

Japan's Suzaku satellite shows how all bets are off around Cygnus X-1

This month, the Vermillion bird of the South — which is currently flying 550 km above Earth — meets an astronomical swan some 6,000 light-years away.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2013

Problems with figuring poor countries' GDP cloud judgments about which policies work

Since we can't be sure whether one poor country's GDP is higher than another's, we should not use GDP alone to determine which policies lead to growth.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 12, 2013

Death penalty: Systemic failings add to risk of wrongful executions

Japan's continued resort to the death penalty raises a number of troubling questions.
LIFE
May 12, 2013

Trendsetting U.S. craft beers pour into Germany

Almost 65 years after Allied planes flew Western supplies into blockaded Berlin, a new American import is arriving by air: craft beer.
Reader Mail
May 12, 2013

Greatest risk of human cruelty

Dipak Basu, in his May 2 letter, "Signs of 'Christian' Influence," offers nothing to dispute the argument that the area of the world where human rights are most entrenched mirrors the historic orbit of Judeo-Christian influence.
Reader Mail
May 12, 2013

Price of peace with North Korea

Regarding the May 8 front-page AFP article "N. Korea moves missiles from coast" and related stories: Is it better to rent or own? It's an age-old debate and one where the White House has drawn a line in the sand right along the 38th Parallel.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic