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Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2011

Hold the sacrificial offerings

I felt dismay and sadness — but not shock! — when I read of the risk of death faced by the brave Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant ("Nuke workers at risk of overwork death," April 20 article). Why not shock? Because this country has a long-held belief in sacrificing...
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2011

Renminbi conversion still strict

Barry Eichengreen's April 15 opinion article, "Safer alternative bears on dollar," was a very interesting take on the potential replacements for the dollar. I agree that the most frequently discussed alternatives are not viable, but my question is about China's renminbi currency.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2011

Building hospital ships for disaster response

An earthquake of unprecedented magnitude, followed by a terrible tsunami, devastated the northeast coast of Japan on March 11, setting off a nuclear emergency that is having global effects.The combination of these calamities has also plunged Japan into a kind of national depression that I have never...
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2011

Making best use of the 'military'

By explaining the role of the Japan Self-Defense Forces in disaster relief, the April 15 article "Military flexes relief might, gains newfound esteem" painted the SDF in a very good light.
Reader Mail
Apr 17, 2011

Were meters used instead of feet?

My apologies if I am incorrect about questions regarding Jun Hongo's April 12 article, "Nation's unpreparedness ahead of disaster is blasted." My current understanding of the data presented by the world community, including Japanese television, specifically relating to the events on March 11, has been...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 16, 2011

Earthquake relief: Little people doing big things

Prime Minister Naoto Kan took out nearly a full-page ad in the International Herald Tribune last week to thank the international community for their kizuna (bond of friendship), regarding Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster on March 11. It was a stirring tribute to those who have come together to...
Reader Mail
Apr 7, 2011

Uncertain future of Japan tourism

Regarding Amy Chavez's April 2 column, "This earthquake still felt all over Japan": As a Frenchman married to a Japanese and as a one-year resident of Japan, I usually read Chavez's articles with great pleasure and enjoy the wit in her writing. This article is no exception as it gives us the usual insight...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 3, 2011

Japanese antinuclear voices are still struggling to be heard

On March 26, NHK covered an antinuclear power demonstration in Germany that attracted thousands of protesters. The report pointed out that the demonstration was sparked by the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear reactor. The next day, there was a march by Japanese antinuke protesters in Tokyo. Though...
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2011

Japan's culture is not the culprit

Gregory Clark's March 24 article, "Nuclear meltdowns and Japanese culture," reinforced the stereotyped Western view of Japan, which very often tries to cast cultural traits as a contributory cause of a failure or, in this case, a major disaster.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 26, 2011

Canadian writer draws on creators' support for Tohoku

News stories around the world reveal a deluge of incomprehensible sameness, the debris of aggregate destruction overshadowing an area known for its rugged beauty and strong individuals.
Reader Mail
Mar 24, 2011

Comprehending the devastation

I just read Rob Gilhooly's March 20 article, " 'Nothing can prepare you to witness this.' " From the far off United States, it is hard to comprehend the scale of the devastation. From Miyagi Prefecture, Gilhooly has provided small touches of perspective that help me understand a little more the suffering...
Reader Mail
Mar 20, 2011

Stick with the same radiation unit

Regarding the March 16 article "Radiation fears grow after blasts": In the map-box for this article, radiation levels are stated in "millisieverts" for one time Tuesday morning (March 15), then in "microsieverts" for another time the same morning, thus rendering the information practically useless at...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 18, 2011

Power to the people: TEPCO at economic cross-purposes with blackout strategy

If the current energy crisis is not a more convincing argument for the development of the so-called smart-grid system, we don't know what is.
Reader Mail
Mar 10, 2011

Abolishing nuclear weapons use

Regarding Hirotaka Yamauchi's March 2 article, " A call for philosophical thinking": Excellent article. I tend to agree with everything Yamauchi wrote with one exception, the abolition of nuclear weapons. Yamauchi says we can never abolish nuclear weapons because someone will always want to make them....
Reader Mail
Mar 6, 2011

Socking away national treasures

Regarding the March 2 Kyodo article "Yakushiji pagoda (in Nara) open first time in 1,300 years": As a long-term resident of Japan, I have a very strong passion for Japanese history, arts and places of significant historical interest. I have found, though, on numerous occasions that historical places...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Mar 1, 2011

Foreignness, nationality and naturalization: readers' views

A selection of responses to "Naturalized Japanese: foreigners no more" by Debito Arudou (Just Be Cause, Feb. 1):
Reader Mail
Feb 27, 2011

A threat despite economic travail

Regarding Michael Richardson's Feb. 23 article, "Economy is key to security": Richardson's vapid regurgitation of economic facts and figures is all predicated on Minister in Charge of National Policy Koichiro Genba's assertion — presumably supported by Richardson — that there is a link between the...
Reader Mail
Feb 27, 2011

Just look at India's nuclear record

The Feb. 21 Kyodo article "We want nuke tech, too" — in which Pakistan demands to be treated the same as India vis-a-vis nuclear technology — rightly mentions the reluctance of Japan to transfer sensitive technology. I suggest that the nuclear records of India and Pakistan would shed more light on...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 27, 2011

Indefensible costs of military one-upmanship

NEW YORK — I was recently surprised to learn that Singapore has 72,500 troops on active duty and plans to double the number of "combat-ready aircraft" to more than 200. It also plans to have 10 more submarines to add to the four it has today. Or so the Wall Street Journal reported ("Asia's New Arms...
Reader Mail
Feb 24, 2011

Challenges of a smaller population

Regarding Shinji Fukukawa's Feb. 13 article, "How does Japan start to cope with fewer births, longer lives?": The notion that Japan would face a decline in population is nothing new. I learned it in Japanese elementary school back in the 1980s. The politicians use these key words in their manifestos...
Reader Mail
Feb 17, 2011

Adults feed that 'shoganai' feeling

Regarding Kevin Rafferty's Feb. 9 article, " 'Shoganai' won't save Japan": I know Japan's economic situation is difficult. But I don't buy the Osaka endodontologist's claim, cited in the article, that this "shoganai" attitude is somehow connected with teenagers' taking to wearing flu masks. How many...
Reader Mail
Feb 13, 2011

Financial priorities of brides

I found Kaori Shoji's Feb. 9 Bilingual page article, "Marriage has little to do with romantic love," quite interesting. However, what Shoji forgot to mention is that Japanese women are often more than ready to trade romance, love and even sex for a husband with a high and steady income.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 12, 2011

How 'bout that sumo?

The March Grand Sumo Tournament has been canceled due to bout-rigging. The May tournament is now in doubt as well. Who knows, sumo may be the world's first canceled sport.
JAPAN / Q&A
Feb 4, 2011

Match-throwing final nail in sumo coffin?

The sumo world has had its share of scandals in recent years but the latest one — text messages indicating match-fixing — is rocking the "dohyo" ring hard.
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2011

North Vietnam was a huge threat

Regarding Gwynne Dyer's Jan. 30 article, "Vietnam delusion endures": Nice article, but Dyer fails to mention Laos, which is now communist and under the heel of Vietnam. Dyer also fails to mention the writings of Vietnamese military and political leader Vo Nguyen Giap, who outlined communist expansion...
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2011

Educational reforms too slow

It was heartening to read — in the Jan. 27 Kyodo article "Job drive by firms to be delayed (until well into a student's senior year)" — that university organizations recognize that the job-hunting system in Japan has negative long-term effects on Japan's economic competitiveness. Unfortunately, the...
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2011

Housing inflation hits sex drive

Regarding Michael Hoffman's Jan. 30 Timeout article, "The decline and fall of Japan and its sex drive": As an American biology student, I am amazed to see another article blaming Japanese families for not having enough children. Throughout history, all animals have made sensible decisions about how many...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Feb 1, 2011

Rural alien attacks 'insult' in Arudou almanac; 'Love it/leave it' lacks logic

Following are responses to "Arudou's Alien Almanac" by Debito Arudou (Just Be Cause, Jan. 4):
Reader Mail
Jan 27, 2011

Leadership crisis delays solutions

It is with a frustrated and sinking feeling that I read the comments of the Liberal Democratic Party chief in the Jan. 24 article "LDP pledges to send ruling party packing." With all the problems facing Japan, what Japanese politics doesn't need is more of the same tribal mentality, greed and power faction...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 23, 2011

Is 'Galapagos-thinking' Japan back at its evolutionary dead end?

There are expressions that buzz like busy little bees and ones that don't buzz anymore. One of the dead-bee buzzwords in Japan is shimaguni konjo, meaning "island mentality." As for a buzzword for 2011, you'd be hard put to find one more busily doing the rounds than garapagosu, which references the Galapagos...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan