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Reader Mail
Apr 17, 2011

Unsafe radiation levels questioned

I'm curious about the math in the April 12 article "High radiation well past no-go zone: Greenpeace." It begins by describing an exposure rate of 4 microsieverts/hour, which it says amounts to 5 millisieverts/year. If that math is correct, reasonable comparisons would be a mammogram (3 millisieverts...
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2011

Foreign students since the disaster

Of the many consequences of the Tohoku crisis, one of the most disappointing is the fear so many foreigners now have about coming to Japan. Half a million hotel reservations have been canceled, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. In addition to those losses, the number of foreign students planning...
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2011

Convenience in Tohoku

One of the few signs of things returning to normal in Tohoku is the reopening of convenience stores. In the six prefectures making up Tohoku, and in Ibaraki Prefecture, a third of the 3,700 stores closed after the quake-tsunami due to power, water and infrastructure failures.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 17, 2011

Viewing wildlife through a lens

I grew up in Britain, which is a crane-free zone, so from the very first time I arrived in Japan I was dreaming of seeing the iconic red-crowned cranes of Hokkaido. How much more iconic as a crane can you get than being dubbed Grus japonensis? But just how was I to learn about their haunts and habits?...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 17, 2011

Capturing the eerie beauty of Chernobyl

Pripyat, Ukraine, has been a ghost town for the last 25 years. On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant's No. 4 reactor experienced a sudden power surge resulting in several explosions and fires that sent a massive amount of nuclear debris into the air.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Apr 17, 2011

Yoshiwara fire, war and foreign ministers start weekly meetings, intellectuals on dope, Japan offers to help at Chernobyl

100 YEARS AGOTuesday, April 11, 1911
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 17, 2011

In this time of trials, a new nationalism would aid Japan's recovery

The worst form of bondage is the bondage of dejection, which keeps men hopelessly chained in loss of faith in themselves."
Reader Mail
Apr 17, 2011

Anticipating evacuation distance

Regarding the April 13 article "Tsunami hit more than 100 evacuation sites": Decisions made for disaster events are often modified after an event. There are particular populations, elderly and disabled, that need consideration. If evacuation sites are moved to greater distances, then planners should...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 16, 2011

Quest to gain, impart knowledge drives expat

The importance of education informs Aileen Kawagoe's life view, although early on she turned down the chance to become an educator like her father.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2011

Military flexes relief might, gains newfound esteem

In a famous speech former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida gave at the National Defense Academy's graduation ceremony in February 1957, he had insightful advice to give about joining the Self-Defense Forces.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2011

Fish near Fukushima have cesium

Radioactive cesium 25 times above the legal limit for consumption was detected Wednesday in young sand lance caught off Fukushima Prefecture, the health ministry said.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 15, 2011

Blazers pass on Swift after tryout this week

The Tokyo Apache's season is finished, but big man Robert Swift's goal of returning to the NBA lives on.
Reader Mail
Apr 14, 2011

Journalist captures humanity

Regarding Rob Gilhooly's March 27 article, "Survivors strive to start picking up the pieces": I wish I had been introduced to Gilhooly's work before the disaster in Japan. I have been very impressed by his photographs, but this is my first glimpse at his "journalist" side.
Reader Mail
Apr 14, 2011

Connect with alternative energy

Last Sunday there were anti-nuclear protests in Tokyo. They were no match for Tahrir Square, Cairo, for sure. Nothing shut down — just a bunch of people peacefully walking down the street, accompanied by a few beat cops. Some dressed up in wacky costumes, others carried NO NUKE signs, and others, young...
Reader Mail
Apr 14, 2011

Courage to make do with less

Regarding the March 28 Kyodo article "Nuclear policy called into question": Debates over the nuclear policy in Japan have always been centered on the interests of the current generations or, perhaps, a limited number of people engaged in promoting, constructing and operating nuclear power plants.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2011

Radiation surges above 4's fuel pool

Radiation has risen to high levels above the spent-fuel pool at reactor No. 4 and its temperature is rising, the nuclear safety agency said Wednesday, indicating the fuel rods have been further damaged and are emitting radioactive substances.
Reader Mail
Apr 14, 2011

Japanese can express anything

In their April 9 article, "With the world looking in, Japan needs to speak out," Kumi Sato and Michael J. Alfant write that the "inherent vagueness of Japanese creates many challenges in translation." While structural differences between Japanese and English certainly do make translation challenging,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Apr 14, 2011

Bouncing back and reaching higher

A blast of fashion literature
Reader Mail
Apr 14, 2011

Step beyond the stoic reaction

During the past month, pundits in the domestic and foreign news media have praised the stoicism of the people who were affected by the Tohoku-Pacific earthquake and tsunami. This is certainly an attribute that I am proud of as a Japanese person. But how come this unprecedented disaster does not also...
Reader Mail
Apr 14, 2011

Foreigners have different stakes

I totally agree with R. Gurumurthy (“Bad habit of judging foreigners,” April 10 letter) since I was living in Hong Kong at the time of the SARS epidemic, and Japanese expatriates were the first ones to flee town and the last ones to come back. The difference was that people in Hong Kong welcomed...
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2011

Crisis keeps foreign students away from classes

Incessant aftershocks and the fear of radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant are dissuading foreign students from starting their new academic year in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 12, 2011

Disaster toll still incalculable

Although a month has passed since the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on March 11, no one yet has a clear idea of when or how the radiation disaster will end.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2011

Nation's unpreparedness ahead of disaster is blasted

A month after the earthquake and tsunami obliterated cities along the Tohoku coast, Japan is struggling to limp back to some semblance of normalcy while coming to grips with the unprecedented disaster.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2011

High radiation well past no-go zone: Greenpeace

Radiology experts from Greenpeace urged the government to revise their evacuation protocol Monday after they found high levels of radiation around the greater Fukushima area and in the region's fresh produce.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 12, 2011

Kashiwa: What are you doing to save energy in these troubled times?

Simon Wood
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2011

End to crisis is years, fortune away

Once Japan's leaky nuclear complex stops spewing radiation and its reactors cool down, making the site safe and removing the ruined equipment is going to be a messy ordeal that could take decades and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Reader Mail
Apr 10, 2011

Bad habit of judging foreigners

There are many great things about the Japanese people, but the biggest problem is that they judge people by one perspective. With regard to their criticism of foreign residents — the so-called "fly-jin" — who left Tokyo after the Fukushima nuclear plant crisis began, I am sure that some Japanese...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb