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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 28, 2013

African elephants pluck at Japan's heartstrings

Next time you attend a shamisen performance, neither you nor most anyone else there will likely notice the elephant in the room. And those who do probably won't have given it much thought.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2013

Ceremony an affront to Okinawans

The Abe government is inconsiderate for having the Emperor and Empress attend a ceremony that commemorates the restoration of Japan's sovereignty in 1952.
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2013

Survival as a nation ruled by law

Regarding the April 18 article "Pulvers wins Noma translation prize": I can't thank former Japan Times columnist Roger Pulvers enough for his great contribution of introducing Japan's literary legacy to the world. That said, with all due respect, my thoughts are a little different from his March 31 article,...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2013

Cost of the American dream

The U.S. Fed policy of low interest rates and easy money is criticized for creating a 'bubble machine' from which asset prices could rise without growing jobs.
Reader Mail
Apr 21, 2013

U.S. doesn't deserve high score

I am baffled by the April 12 Kyodo article "Hiroshima gives disarmament grades," which reports that Hiroshima prefectural authorities have judged the United States second best in reducing its nuclear arsenal and working for nuclear weapons nonproliferation. The U.S. is spending an additional $185 billion...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 18, 2013

Scroll displays the human side of Perry's arrival

"It's come pretty much out of nowhere," says British Museum curator Tim Clark, placing a small wooden box on the table — it's about the dimensions of a shoebox, slightly weathered and lightly inscribed with fluid kanji characters. "It was in Japan until last summer, where it belonged to a dealer, and...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 16, 2013

Mad court rush could brake or bless Abe's vision

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet rush to diminish the Bank of Japan's bothersome independence, join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations (sort of . . .), start pouring lovely, popular concrete before the summer House of Councilors elections and (sotto voce) maybe even amend the Constitution,...
Reader Mail
Apr 14, 2013

Conventional attack bad enough

Regarding the April 9 article "PAC-3 batteries deployed as North Korea threatens missile launch": Russian President Vladimir Putin, who oversees a vast military nuclear complex, has warned that any nuclear conflict on the Korean Peninsula "could make Chernobyl look like a fairy tale."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 13, 2013

The ration-ality of toilets — trying to change the 'plumbing code'

Nomura Holding America Inc., the U.S subsidiary of Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings, Inc. is in the news lately for being the first business to attempt to alter New York City's "plumbing code" that requires buildings to have an equal number of toilets for both men and women. Oh yay.
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2013

The LDP's annoying agenda

For many years I didn't hesitate to think of the Emperor as the head of state, despite disagreement from the Japanese I spoke with who said the Emperor was the "symbol of the state" — not the head of state. I tended to disregard them: first, because these were the same people who insisted that Japan...
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2013

Attitude toward foreign nurses

The March 26 Kyodo article "Only 30 foreigners pass nursing exam despite extra help" reminds me of a terrible experience.
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2013

Blue is blue, and so is green

Regarding the Feb. 25 Bilingual Page article "The Japanese traffic light blues: Stop on red, go on what?": I drove in more than 15 countries and have been driving in Japan for years.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 5, 2013

Yingluck seeks constitutional change amid court challenge

Thai lawmakers moved to change parts of the country's military-backed constitution after its highest court agreed to hear a case that may block them from doing so, signaling a renewed round of political tension.
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2013

Japan Restoration Party platform

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) flies dangerous colors at its first party convention, calling for constitutional revision of the no-war principle.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 2, 2013

When remodeling isn't quite a home improvement

A year ago we looked at a 20-year-old apartment after it had just gone on sale in the city where we live, which is about an hour from Tokyo. It was large and sunny, but the walls needed to be re-papered and the floors replaced. The realtor told us that the ¥11.6 million asking price included the cost...
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Apr 2, 2013

Using 'Richard Parker' pseudonym to excuse terror, fear is most apt

Whoever wrote "Right or wrong, corporal punishment can produce winners" (The Foreign Element, March 12) picked an excellent pseudonym.
Reader Mail
Mar 31, 2013

Parental effectiveness irrelevant

Regarding the March 28 Washington Post article published in The Japan Times under the headline "Effects of same-sex parenting debated": When logically evaluating an argument, it is good practice to first eliminate irrelevant assertions.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 31, 2013

As rural rail lines close bus travel gets a makeover

If you live in the Tokyo metropolitan area, you have access to the greatest network in the universe, but if you don't you may find your local transportation options dwindling.
LIFE / Digital
Mar 27, 2013

Technology that works for prose is still a curse for verse

Washington poet and literary activist E. Ethelbert Miller insists there is a difference between his poem "Before Hip Hop" when it is shown like this:
Reader Mail
Mar 14, 2013

The scoop on cherry blossoms

Just a short note of appreciation for The Japan Times columns of Kaori Shoji and Thomas Dillon (When East Marries West). The insight, humor and wit from both are an absolute balance on the daily news from North Korea, Iran, Middle East, Africa, etc.
Reader Mail
Mar 10, 2013

'World policeman' won't help

On Jan. 26, 2008, Hugh Cortazzi wrote an article for The Japan Times titled "Democracy is not a panacea," but now that the United States has seen the first term of a Democratic president rather than a Republican one (the lack of distinction between the two parties' foreign policies notwithstanding),...
Reader Mail
Mar 10, 2013

Compassion for real people

Regarding Michael Hoffman's March 3 article, "Solution to bullying lies in 'resetting' culprits": The views of the Catholic novelist and thinker Ayako Sono, which are cited in the article, are a classic example of the kind of anti-human thinking that seem all too common in the devout the world over....
Reader Mail
Mar 10, 2013

Don't rely only on 'reputation'

Readers should be careful when evaluating the rather biased Times (magazine) Higher Education World Reputation Rankings of the world's top 100 universities, which were reported in the March 6 Kyodo article "University of Tokyo maintains reputation as top institution in Asia: survey." As stated in the...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Mar 9, 2013

'Kony2012' and the fight for truth in the Internet age

A year ago, Jason Russell was a nobody. Not a nobody, precisely, but just ordinary. Normal. He was a healthy father of two, living in San Diego, and was happy in his work as a director for Invisible Children, a nonprofit organization he'd helped found.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building