Search - u_times

 
 
Reader Mail
Oct 6, 2011

Fitting reminder of an obligation

Regarding the Sept. 30 Kyodo article "Seoul urged to nix slave monument": The South Korean government should go ahead with the memorial to the "comfort women." It is clear that the Japanese government is hoping that the issue will die off along with the remaining handful of elderly Korean women. This...
Reader Mail
Oct 6, 2011

Look who's fretting about danger

For people who do not wish to see Russia regain its former strength, if not glory, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is a dangerous czar. Such is the narrative consistently sung by people like Ralph Peters, the writer of the Sept. 30 Washington Post article "Genius lurks in this dangerous czar."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 6, 2011

Gamarjobat: Pantomime artists who have plenty to say

Tough-looking with their cockscomb mohawks — the red one topping Ketch!; the yellow one, HIRO-PON — the "silent-comedy" duo Gamarjobat ("Hello" in Georgian) are now well into a 31-stop tour that's filling theaters around the country with whoops and rollicking laughter — as well as their own "language"...
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2011

Integration outlook for ex-Soviets

It is well known that, in the political field, the 20th century brought about a strong and, as it turned out, omnipresent trend toward disintegration of former empires and the formation in their place of nation-states all over the crumbling colonial world.
EDITORIALS
Oct 6, 2011

Another blow to al-Qaida

ACIA drone strike has killed Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the world's most wanted terrorists. Awlaki's death is another blow to al-Qaida, and proof yet again of the extraordinary reach bestowed on the United States by its technology.
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2011

Few dare call it federal control of education

Obama Gives States a Voice In 'No Child' — New York Times, Sept. 24
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 6, 2011

The patron saint of Japanese indie?

Steven Tanaka has a secret. The vibrant live-house scenes of Tokyo's Koenji and Shimokitazawa neighborhoods hold a special place in his heart, and since last year he has been spending vast sums to take some of that energy to Canada — just don't tell his parents.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Oct 5, 2011

Big Bulls ready to charge into debut bj-league season

The Iwate Big Bulls are about to begin experiencing something every professional sports team must encounter: an inaugural season.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2011

NEC touts 'smart innovation' for competitiveness

Fusing technologies of electronics industries, a Japanese strength, with other businesses is vital for the nation to increase its global competitiveness, NEC Corp. Chairman Kaoru Yano said Tuesday.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 4, 2011

World Heritage listing has its price

News that Iwate Prefecture's historic Hiraizumi area and the Ogasawara Islands would be added to UNESCO's World Heritage List last June lifted the spirits of residents in the Tohoku region after the March 11 quake-tsunami trauma.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 4, 2011

Left-behind dads take desperate measures

"In September of 2010, The Japan Times published a two-part series by a man under the pen name Richard Cory telling the extraordinary tale of his divorce and custody battles over his three children with his Japanese ex-wife . . . essentially custody by capture." — "Divorce and the Welfare of the Child...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2011

'Smart city' projects revived by disasters

Ever since the March 11 disasters exposed the nation's dependence on conventional power sources and infrastructure, energy-efficient "smart city" projects have drawn increasing attention.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 4, 2011

Mascot menagerie: from the practical to the satirical

In the Aug. 30 Light Gist column, headlined "Mascots on a mission to explain the mundane," Colin P. A. Jones explored the marvellous menagerie of mascots deployed by Japanese authorities to educate adults and children alike about the law and the workings of government.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Oct 4, 2011

Hawks euphoric after triumph, focused on winning Japan Series title

For a few precious hours, the rigors of a demanding season were forgotten as the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks sprayed one another with bottle after bottle of beer.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2011

Greater growth with lower domestic demand

As the American economy continues to sputter three years after the global financial crisis erupted, one thing has become clear: The United States cannot generate higher rates of growth in gross domestic product and employment without a change in the mix of the economy's domestic and export-oriented components....
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2011

What political moderates can learn from America's political extremes

What is a campaign platform that most Americans would support but will never get a chance to vote for?
Reader Mail
Oct 2, 2011

U.S. record enervates influence

Regarding Washington Post analyst Anthony H. Cordesman's Sept. 28 article, "Long-range plan for Afghanistan would help": Washington's positions on the Saudi monarchy, its historical support for military regimes in Pakistan, its acquiescence to the inhuman Israeli repression of Palestinians, its unwelcome...
Reader Mail / The Argument: radioactive water
Oct 2, 2011

Effects of disenfranchisement

In his Sept. 22 letter, "A prevalent form of propaganda," Greg Leviton addresses a number of points that are often brought up concerning issues in the Middle East. Although I appreciate his ardor in support of Israel, many of these topics are more nuanced than appear. For example, Israel is often cited...
Reader Mail
Oct 2, 2011

War crimes by any other name

Hiroaki Sato's Sept. 26 article, "Two 'systematic' acts of brutality and coverup," is very well written. I have always wondered why and how the United States could get away with this most enormous of war crimes, and then with further war crimes on a huge scale.
Reader Mail
Oct 2, 2011

Japanese leaders will find a way

I feel compelled to comment on two letters published Sept. 25. First, Grant Piper ("Evacuation revelations shocking") uses the Sept. 19 article "Tokyo faced evacuation scenario: Kan" to lambast Japanese leadership, arguing that "alarmist and hysterical" foreign media coverage was warranted after all...
Reader Mail
Oct 2, 2011

It'll take more than social media

Regarding Mihoko Matsubara and Yang Yi's Sept. 29 article, "Chinese social media reshape image of Japan": We don't have to be in China to know how evil and cruel Japanese soldiers were when they occupied and pillaged our country in World War II.
Reader Mail
Oct 2, 2011

Downside of higher tobacco tax

One point of agreement on the Sept. 27 editorial "Health side of tobacco tax" — the Japanese government should sell its shares of Japan Tobacco as well as all shares of any other private company it owns. Governments have no business taking stakes in private companies because it will inevitably cause...
Reader Mail
Oct 2, 2011

A continual but not 'total war'

In his Sept. 25 book review titled "Praise, where it's due, for Japanese fascism," I think that writer Michael Hoffman misuses the term "total war" by equating it with "a period of persistent conflict." Rather than merely implying continual war, scholars have typically used the phrase "total war" to...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 2, 2011

Bikes keep the wheels of progress rolling

With the onslaught of super typhoon No. 15 on Sept. 21-22, for the second time in a little over six months Tokyo's public transport network was snarled by a natural disaster. Several hundreds of thousands of hapless commuters found themselves stranded for hours as kitaku nanmin ("refugees" unable to...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 2, 2011

Uchikawa savors moment of glory

Seiichi Uchikawa couldn't stop tears of joy from streaming down his face.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 2, 2011

Arrival of October recalls great moments in game's history

Some of the greatest moments in baseball history, in Japan and the major leagues, have taken place during the month of October.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Oct 2, 2011

Satoshi Kamata: Rebel spirit writ large

Monday, Sept. 19, was Respect for the Aged Day in Japan. But on that sweltering national holiday, it wasn't the heat that that drew tens of thousands of people to Meiji Park in central Tokyo, but their concerns for all the nation's citizens, and others, who may face a threat from nuclear power.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Sep 30, 2011

Just in case: Retailers urge customers to buy ahead

No matter where you are, you should be thinking ahead and preparing for the worst-case scenario.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2011

Eight prefectures eyed for radioactive dumps

The Environment Ministry has revealed a controversial plan to build temporary storage facilities for soil contaminated with radiation from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in eight prefectures in the Tohoku and Kanto regions.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear