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COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jun 5, 2012

'It's just because ... foreigners know best': readers' views

Some readers' views on John Spiri's May 1 Zeit Gist column, "It's just because . . . foreigners know best":
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices
May 8, 2012

The top 10 Zeit Gist articles of the past decade, chosen by the readers

1. Battling a broken system, by RICHARD CORY One day in March, just minutes after my daughter and I returned home from celebrating her graduation from elementary school that morning, her mother, from whom I had filed for divorce in January after 17 years of marriage, lured my daughter out of the house,...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Apr 12, 2011

'Judge not,' 'fly-jin' and saving electricity: views from readers

Some readers' responses to Roberto De Vido's "Judge not, lest you be judged" (March 22), Darek Gondor's " 'Fly-jin' face fallout from decision to go" (April 5), and Darryl Magree's March 29 letter:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 1, 2011

Naturalized Japanese: foreigners no more

In Dec. 28's Japan Times, Charles Lewis wrote a respectful Zeit Gist column asking three fellow wise men (sumo wrestler Konishiki, musicologist Peter Barakan and Diet member Marutei Tsurunen) about their successful lives as "foreigners" in Japan. Despite their combined century of experience here, the...
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2009

Foundation of news gathering

The Tokyo High Court on July 28 overturned a September 2007 Tokyo District Court ruling that said three newspapers libeled a doctor at Tokyo Women's Medical College Hospital in a news report, and acquitted the news agency that originated the report. The high court ruling correctly understands the role...
Reader Mail
Jun 14, 2009

The protesters at Hosei University

I take great exception to the June 9 Zeit Gist article, "Rumpus on campus." The writer may think that he has furthered the cause of justice by revealing Hosei University for the bully it is, but at the very least, the most basic of facts should have been checked.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 19, 2008

Readers respond: Once a 'gaijin,' always a 'gaijin'?

The Community Page received a large number of responses to Debito Arudou's last Just Be Cause column on the use of the word "gaijin." Following is a selection of readers' views.
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2008

The secrets of the sea

The investigative unit of the Ground Self-Defense Force has sent up a paper on an Air Self-Defense Force officer to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing him of passing a "defense-related secret" to a Yomiuri Shimbun reporter in connection with a 2005 newspaper article. The unit acted...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 6, 2007

Nova's crash: readers respond

Following are responses from readers on the collapse of language school chain Nova Corp. and last week's Zeit Gist article, "Nova crash adds to 'eikaiwa' wage woes":
JAPAN / UPPER HOUSE SHOWDOWN
Jul 14, 2007

Constitution pushed out of campaign

The pension records fiasco and concerns about a consumption tax hike have upstaged what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe most wanted to focus on during campaigning for the July 29 Upper House poll — revising the Constitution.
JAPAN
May 9, 2007

Revision risks freedoms, U.S. academic warns

Constitution is an outlandish idea, and amending it is simple common sense," Lummis, a former professor at Tsuda College in Tokyo and a staunch supporter of the current Constitution, said via e-mail. "But a large portion of the public is not buying that, as opinion polls show the percentage of people...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 15, 2007

LDP fuddy-duddies' social engineering hits women and the birthrate

Earlier this month, the ruling coalition put together a bill to change part of the Civil Code that determines the paternity of a child under certain circumstances. The planned revision, which editorial writers supported for its acknowledgment of practical reality, nevertheless split the Liberal Democratic...
EDITORIALS
Feb 22, 2007

'Secrets' with a public interest

The Self-Defense Forces' investigation of an SDF member in connection with a news report of an accident in a Chinese Navy submarine in 2005 raises concerns regarding people's right to know and the freedom of the press. It could lead to limits on basic rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution....
EDITORIALS
Nov 14, 2006

Uninspiring case for revision

Sixty years after the postwar pacifist Constitution was promulgated Nov. 3, 1946, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other politicians are pushing to revise the supreme law. Strangely, their call for constitutional revision comes amid a lack of enthusiasm for it among the public in general. Clearly, people...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 17, 2006

Struggling to put the brakes on the culture of drunk driving

What makes a crime more heinous than another? We usually think it has to do with intention. Murder, which implies pre-meditation, is more seriously punished than manslaughter, which implies lack of premeditation.
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2006

Hope dims for plebiscite bill

Now that the budget bills for fiscal 2006 have cleared both houses of the National Diet, one of the focal issues for the remainder of the current session will be how to reconcile conflicting views between the ruling and opposition parties over legislation on plebiscites, a process indispensable for amending...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2005

NHK censorship story had 'uncertain' info: Asahi

The Asahi Shimbun admitted Friday that an article it ran in January about an NHK documentary in 2001 contained "uncertain" information but the daily has no plans to correct it.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 26, 2005

Constitutional debate welcome

NEW YORK -- I was recently intrigued by the constitutional debate -- not in Iraq, but in Japan -- when I read a book on the art of writing, "Bungei Tokuhon," that Yukio Mishima dictated in 1958.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 25, 2005

Hit piece on Valentine, Marines another black eye for journalism in Japan

Is it just me, or has the level of media assaults on prominent foreign sports figures in Japan increased markedly in the past few months?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 1, 2005

'The Only Woman in the Room' who helped to reshape Japan

Last Monday evening, 81-year-old Beate Sirota Gordon walked onto the stage of the Japan Bar Association auditorium in Tokyo, took a seat, and for 90 minutes explained in Japanese how she helped write Japan's post-war Constitution.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 4, 2004

A responsible attitude needed toward 'privacy'

Everybody knows what they mean when they say "privacy," but when it's used in a legal context the word turns squishy and slippery. For instance, it's difficult to grasp why Barbra Streisand sued a photographer last year for invasion of privacy because her estate appeared in two aerial pictures he took...
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

SDF dispatch decision like a double-edged sword

When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi voiced his unequivocal support of the U.S.-led war on Iraq in March, he was left with little choice but to commit Self-Defense Forces troops to the country's postwar reconstruction effort.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 14, 2003

Not letting the facts get in the way of a good 'documentary'

In the tributes to the Japanese diplomats who were killed two weeks ago, few people mentioned what they were actually doing in Iraq. Katsuhiko Oku was, among other things, encouraging Iraqis to watch NHK's popular drama series, "Oshin," which is being broadcast on Iraqi TV. The show, originally aired...
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2003

LDP candidates all favor revisions to Constitution

The four candidates for the presidency of the governing Liberal Democratic Party each appeared positive Saturday about the possibility of revising the war-renouncing Article 9 of Japan's Constitution.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2003

Farm chief sues publisher over allegation of corruption

Agriculture minister Tadamori Oshima filed a lawsuit Thursday against the publisher of a weekly magazine demanding 10 million yen in damages and a published apology over an article that alleged he worked inappropriately for the construction of a vocational school.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2002

Tricky laws cap emotional powder keg

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- After so much controversy surrounding two recent asylum incidents in Beijing, a change of focus may be in order -- from the emotional to the legal dimension. We should begin with the reminder that asylum and inviolability issues, in general, are extremely complicated and can never...
COMMENTARY
Apr 19, 2002

China puts growth before 'reunification'

HONG KONG -- The launching of the U.S. Congressional Taiwan Caucus on April 9, which already includes 85 members of the House of Representatives, is but the latest sign of Washington's moving inexorably closer to Taiwan, 30 years after the signing of the Shanghai communique. So far, China has shown remarkable...
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2001

Yamasaki's bold proposal

Taku Yamasaki, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, calls for a revision to the Constitution in his book "Kempo Kaisei" (Constitutional revision). I read it with great interest because his proposal, coming as it does from the No. 2 man in the ruling party, carries weight and therefore could...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji