Search - agree

 
 
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 23, 2013

Keep it clean: World watches Iceland lead the way toward ban on Web porn

Small, volcanic, with a proud Viking heritage and run by an openly gay prime minister, Iceland is now considering becoming the first democracy in the Western world to try to ban online pornography.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 19, 2013

Abe's pick for BOJ chief coming soon

With Masaaki Shirakawa stepping down as governor of the Bank of Japan on March 19, three weeks earlier than scheduled, the process to select his successor is accelerating.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2013

Lawmakers huddle to revise BOJ Law

Like-minded lawmakers across party lines have kicked off discussions toward amending the Bank of Japan Law to effectively lessen the central bank's independence and hold it more accountable for its monetary policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2013

To regain its vitality, U.S. must lose its paranoia

A Marine officer cannot square the pettiness in the discourse of U.S. elders with the nobility of the men and women he served with in Afghanistan.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 22, 2013

Readers' views: Skype's downside for teachers; Senkaku and the ICJ; Arudou's ageist attack on Keene; Abe's nuclear folly

Do we really need to know ages? Re: "Osaka: What are your hopes for yourself, Japan and the world in 2013?" (Views From The Street, Jan. 1):
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 8, 2013

Xenophobia finds fertile soil in web anonymity

As diplomatic strains with China and South Korea worsen over territorial disputes, more and more Japanese are using the relative anonymity of cyberspace to vent their political spleens online.
BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2013

Abe hoopla aside, key economic challenges loom

Stocks are up, the yen is easing and there is a new prime minister pledging to splash trillions of yen to breathe life into the country's moribund economy: Last year ended on a high note for Japan Inc., and 2013 looks even more promising for some.
COMMENTARY
Dec 12, 2012

Coasting to climate disaster

They made some progress at the annual December round of the international negotiations on controlling climate change, held this year in Qatar. They agreed that the countries that cause the warming should compensate the ones that suffer the most from it. The principle, known as the Loss and Damage mechanism,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 11, 2012

Is Shintaro Ishihara the most dangerous man in Japan? Readers discuss

Parallels with wartime general
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2012

Separatist dreams that are mostly just hot air

In other parts of the world, separatist movements are usually violent (such as Kashmir, Sri Lanka, the various Kurdish revolts) and they sometimes succeed (South Sudan, Eritrea, East Timor).
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 1, 2012

DPJ's promise to change the system failed

The Democratic Party of Japan rode to power in 2009 and ended decades of Liberal Democratic Party rule by promising to turn politicians into the true decision-makers and end the practice of bureaucrats calling the shots on behalf of ministries instead of the people.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 6, 2012

Startup: Add risk, cash, entrepreneur

Softbank Corp. CEO Masayoshi Son took the world by surprise last month by announcing a $20 billion buyout of U.S.-based Sprint Nextel Corp. In 1980, his startup firm was a two-man computer wholesaler. Now through vigorous mergers and acquisitions it's angling to be the world's third-largest telecommunications...
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2012

Political pandering to America's middle class

Republicans and Democrats don't agree on much, but they do agree on this: the middle class. At their conventions, the two parties will compete fiercely for its support.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Aug 28, 2012

Paid leave, advice for foreign parents, JET's value: readers' views

Uncompetitive Japan Inc. Not being a Japanese person employed in a private Japanese company, it is hard for me to imagine the hardship experienced by the writer of the July 17 Have Your Say letter ("Working employees to death"). I can, however, say with a high degree of confidence that laws mandating...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Aug 27, 2012

Shifting views on the role of the Emancipator

Gore Vidal, who died at the end of July, was one writer whose essays I began to read years ago. I then moved on to his novels, though I saw one of his more famous Broadway plays, "The Best Man," only recently for the first time.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2012

Candidates want you to forget the Afghan war

Here's some news that both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney would like you to ignore: Tens of thousands of American soldiers are at war this summer in Afghanistan.
EDITORIALS
Aug 9, 2012

Diplomacy dead in Damascus

Mr. Kofi Annan, the distinguished diplomat, has resigned as peace envoy to Syria. Upon leaving, he issued a blistering broadside that blamed divisions among the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council as much as the combatants in that troubled country for the sad state of affairs....
Japan Times
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 4, 2012

Sasaki's unsavory tactics bring shame on Nadeshiko

A year ago, Nadeshiko Japan captured the world's hearts, the Women's World Cup champion producing a fabulous upset over the heavily favored United States to grab the title.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2012

China appears to be losing its diplomatic grip

In 2016, China's share of the global economy will be larger than America's in purchasing-price-parity terms. This is an earth-shaking development; in 1980, when the United States accounted for 25 percent of world output, China's share of the global economy was only 2.2 percent. And yet, after 30 years...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 31, 2012

Gawking children are tolerable, but adults have no excuse

Belated readers' responses to "Parents, please keep your kids away from me at feeding time" by Christy Bridgeman (Hotline to Nagatacho, May 22) and J. Bradley Bulsterbaum's letter on the subject, "Cut gaijin-gawking children some slack — it's how they learn" (Have Your Say, June 26):
Reader Mail
Jul 29, 2012

It is democracy, Japanese-style

In his July 19 letter, "As weak as his predecessors," Timothy Bedwell expresses his desire to see U.S. forces exit Japan. I wholeheartedly agree, as the current Japan-U.S. defense pact is quite one-sided regarding who defends whom. In addition, so many overseas bases and commitments are a waste of valuable...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2012

Turning swords into plowshares, and back again

How long does it take for enemies to become allies, and allies to become enemies?
Reader Mail
Jun 17, 2012

The right leverage for Taiwan

I both agree and disagree with Hisahiko Okazaki's June 5 article, "Fighting peace for Taiwan." He was right to point out that the vibrant working democracy in Taiwan nowadays is a determinant in shaping the island's foreign and cross-strait policy. Yet, his argument that Taiwan should fight to win the...
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2012

DPJ, LDP discuss tax hike, social security

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan on Friday began talks with the largest opposition party over its plans to double the 5 percent consumption tax and envisioned social security reforms.
Reader Mail
May 27, 2012

A roughshod run over contracts

Regarding the May 23 Kyodo article "Hashimoto: Answer tattoo survey or else": The debate surrounding tattoos on public employees in Osaka can evoke a lot of emotion, so it is helpful to approach it from clearly defined principles.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2012

Is Europe on a cross of gold?

Increasingly, one hears predictions that the euro will go the way of the gold standard in the 1930s. And, increasingly, the reasoning behind such forecasts seems persuasive. But does that mean that the euro doomsayers are right?
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
May 1, 2012

Debito takes on Donald: readers' responses

Some readers' responses to Debito Arudou's April 3 column, "Keene should engage brain before fueling 'flyjin,' foreign crime myths":

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