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ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 22, 2007

Can others save Earth despite Big Oil's blinkers?

How can an economic superpower founded on progress and innovation be so averse to change that would cut the greenhouse-gas emissions that are spurring global warming and climate change?
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 21, 2007

'Hanko' fate sealed by test of time

A "hanko" personal seal is a necessary item for most adults in Japan, serving the same role as a signature in the West.
Reader Mail
Aug 15, 2007

Why belittle environmentalists?

Professor Christopher Lingle, in his very political Aug. 6 article, "Don't play politics with lifesaving DDT," does not seem to know what he is talking about. The ban on DDT has saved the U.S. environment from many difficulties. The bald eagle is being taken off the endangered species list and the...
Reader Mail
Aug 8, 2007

Who can say no to tetrapods?

The reporting for the July 22 article "Tetrapods" was top-notch. When in Japan, I always found tetrapods quite a puzzling hubristic sight -- all the more because they defeat any possibility of lying down for a sunbathe. Although I am not a geologist or a structural engineer, and I see the point...
Reader Mail
Aug 5, 2007

An apology from one American

Regarding Kiroku Hanai's July 23 article, "U.S. owes A-bomb apology": I find the article sincere and having merit after living in Japan and learning for myself more of what was behind World War II and the colonization of Asia by Britain, France, the United States and other countries.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 5, 2007

Tojo and Bush: Trumpeting delusion on their way to defeat

Writing in the New York Times on July 17, the newspaper's well-known columnist David Brooks reported on a White House press conference he attended on July 13. "[Pres.] Bush was assertive and good-humored," Brooks noted.
COMMENTARY
Aug 3, 2007

Wanted: creative leadership

HONOLULU — As expected, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were defeated in Sunday's Upper House election. And, despite concerted attempts to lower expectations, the results still embarrassed the ruling party.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 2, 2007

Last words on hell from the skies

"Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives."
Reader Mail
Aug 1, 2007

Child's identity can't be forced

I read Debito Arudou's July 17 Zeit Gist article, "Schools single out foreign roots," with compassion for the teen daughter of immigrants who suffers from the inanities of what appears to be a narrow-minded bullying high school teacher in Shizuoka. There was no mention, though, of her parents' actions...
Japan Times
JAPAN / UPPER HOUSE SHOWDOWN
Jul 30, 2007

One thing's sure: Status quo doesn't cut it

An electorate dismayed by a seemingly endless series of scandals involving the ruling bloc went to the polls Sunday to decide the fate of the current leadership in the House of Councilors.
Reader Mail
Jul 29, 2007

Brazen demand for apology

Regarding Kiroku Hanai's article: I don't know whether he is aware of how offensive it is from an American point of view for people in Japan to ask that the United States apologize for using the atomic bomb to end the war with Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 24, 2007

Koreans speak out on schooling

Since the publication of my article about the Okayama Korean Primary and Middle School (Community, May 22), I have had several people ask me questions about the attitudes, opinions and beliefs of the people involved with the school.
Reader Mail
Jul 22, 2007

Cool it for a good night's sleep

It was interesting to see the following comment in Tomoko Otake's July 17 article, "How to survive summer fatigue," about natsubate (summer fatigue): "Turning air conditioning on throughout the night is often a cause of natsubate."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 22, 2007

Mobilizing the populace 'World War II-style' to judge their fellow citizens

Yoshikazu Ebisu seems an unlikely advocate for judicial reform. The 59-year-old illustrator first gained notoriety in the 1970s for his crude caricatures and moved on to variety shows in the late '80s, where his bumbling slob persona was the perfect target for insult comics. After he was arrested for...
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 22, 2007

TETRAPODS

Ah, tetrapods!
Reader Mail
Jul 15, 2007

Domains of science, religion

Admittedly, Peter Milward, in his June 24 letter "Cute description of creation," laid himself open to misinterpretation by injudiciously using a term like "intelligent design" in his reaction to Rowan Hooper's June 13 article, "Religion's cute, but creation chemistry is complex." But Milward did not...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 8, 2007

Take a slab of meat, beef up the label on it and Hope for the best

There's a stereotype that says the Japanese possess a refined palate. The French are said to possess it, too, but have you seen a French movie lately? All they eat is spaghetti.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2007

Voter litmus test last thing Abe needs now

Scandals, from corruption to suicide, have been the hallmarks of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first ordinary Diet session, which ended Thursday with support for his Cabinet at its lowest ebb.
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2007

Ground fighting in the last days

Some recent stories about Okinawa have followed the same faulty manual. At least two articles have made the claim that "Okinawa was the only inhabited part of Japan where ground fighting took place in the closing days of World War II."
CULTURE / Film
Jun 29, 2007

Steel sells hard story

Eric Steel is a Yale graduate who's been active in publishing and producing for some 20 years now, but has only just made his own feature debut as director with "The Bridge." Inspired by an article in The New Yorker ("Jumpers," by Tad Friend), Steel set out to record the phenomenon of suicide at the...
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2007

Get the cat off the head

Regarding Kaori Shoji's June 12 article, "It's a dog's life when you wear a cat on your head," on the Bilingual page: There are some misleading comments about Japan and the Japanese in this article that I think need to be cleared up:
COMMENTARY
Jun 25, 2007

Ways to steer public opinion

Since last year, moves by the government to sway public opinion in favor of its policies have come to the fore one after another. On June 6, the Japan Communist Party revealed that the Ground Self-Defense Force's intelligence security unit had gathered information on the activities of organizations and...
Reader Mail
Jun 13, 2007

What about cigarette smoke?

Regarding the May 31 article "Government proposes programs for asthma prevention in Tokyo wards": It is interesting that Japan's government is focused on automobile pollution in its asthma prevention programs while apparently ignoring cigarette smoking as a major known cause of breathing problems, including...
Reader Mail
Jun 6, 2007

Dispelling the Korean stereotype

I would like to convey my encouragement to Jason Williams, the writer of the well-written, May 22 article "Teaching with the 'enemy.' " As Williams stated, North Korea-linked schools play a valuable role for ethnic Koreans in Japan. Under the recent severe circumstances for innocent Korean children...
Reader Mail
Jun 6, 2007

Critics loyal to Dalai Lama

I would like to express my appreciation for the publication of B. Gautam's May 26 article, "Dalai Lama's shattered dream for Tibet." I am happy about the way in which the author has spoken about the Tibetan issue and the Dalai Lama, and about the underlying tone of support in his piece.
Reader Mail
Jun 3, 2007

North Korea can never satisfy Abe

The May 25 article by Ralph Cossa, "Fears of new Nixon shock," seems to take seriously the claims by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ideological brethren that North Koreans must do more to assuage the Japanese belief that they have not yet "come clean" on the abduction issue if there is to be progress...

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