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Reader Mail
Dec 11, 2008

Don't call it a surprise attack

Regarding the Dec. 8 editorial "Remember Pearl Harbor": I agree with the details of the editorial, but allow me to warn that even the Japanese subterfuge of breaking off negotiations at the time should not obscure the fact that the public and U.S. military in Hawaii were at least aware of the imminent...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 7, 2008

Tadao Ando: Icon and iconoclast

One of the first houses built by Japan's most famous architect, Tadao Ando, is centered around an open atrium. That sounds nice until you realize that the atrium forms the only "corridor" between each of the rooms. Fancy a hot cup of tea before bed on a rainy winter's night? You'll need an umbrella and...
Reader Mail
Dec 7, 2008

Former ASDF chief makes sense

While I have no knowledge of facts concerning prewar Japan-U.S. relations that might have played a role in World War II, I totally agree with retired ASDF Gen. Toshio Tamogami that, in this troubled world, Japan should not be naive but should build a strong defense force and show itself as a world power...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2008

Prepping a new climate deal

A two-week meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP14, is now under way in Poznan, Poland, with some 10,000 delegates and environmentalists from some 190 countries attending. The participants are supposed to discuss international efforts...
COMMENTARY
Dec 5, 2008

Dissing those who give Dalai Lama an ear

HONG KONG — The decision by China to cancel, or at least postpone, a summit meeting with the European Union scheduled this week in Lyon, France, is unprecedented and shows the extent of its unhappiness with the Europeans in general and with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, in particular.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2008

'WALL-E'

They say the best creators of science fiction are those able to extrapolate just a bit into the future. Think of William Gibson's descriptions of a wired, digitally interconnected world dominated by multinational corporations in 1984's "Neuromancer," or Terry Gilliam's imagining of a perpetual war on...
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2008

North nuke verification must be in writing: Saiki

Negotiators on North Korea's denuclearization confirmed Wednesday that they will press Pyongyang during next week's six-party talks to agree to verify its nuclear disarmament in writing.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2008

Hillary has earned a place on the world stage

NEW YORK — So, why did he do it? What led U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to tap his former adversary, Sen. Hillary Clinton, to serve as his secretary of state, the face and voice of his foreign policy, his emissary to the world?
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2008

Defense of an artist who had lived as a slave

NEW YORK — Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the collapse of communism in Europe. Liberated from the complexity of knowing too much about the cruel past, the young people of Eastern Europe's postcommunist generation seem uninterested in what their parents and grandparents endured.
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2008

Common sense versus PC

Presumably the recent remarks of former infrastructure minister Nariaki Nakayama about Japan being ethnically homogeneous were correctly reported. If so his remarks were tactless, in view of Japan's Ainu population, but also showed an ignorance of history. The Japanese are generally considered to be...
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 20, 2008

Dempster, Cubs agree to new deal

CHICAGO (AP) Ryan Dempster made the successful switch from closer to starter this season, winning 17 games and helping the Chicago Cubs compile the best record in the National League.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 18, 2008

Prejudice among obstacles facing non-Japanese tenants

With a falling population, a shrinking tax base and a shortage of carers for its increasing number of elderly, calls are growing for Japan to allow in a large influx of foreign workers to plug the gap. The question is: When they come, will they be able to find a place to stay?
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2008

If America fades, who will lead the world?

SINGAPORE — Barack Obama's election comes at a moment when a new bit of conventional wisdom is congealing. It concerns the end of America's global dominance.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2008

Cash handout finding few fans

In 1999, the coalition government was bashed for what was dubbed "one of the silliest policy measures of the century."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 16, 2008

Postseason MLB All-Star tour to Japan appears to be thing of past

Reader Mark Chabre of Tokyo's Minato Ward is the latest of many fans who have asked, "Is there an MLB vs. Japan All-Star series this year?"
Reader Mail
Nov 16, 2008

ASDF chief's views not unusual

In the Nov. 12 Kyodo article "Taipei demands redress, apology for sex slaves," we read that "In a rare show of unity, the island's ruling and opposition parties passed by a unanimous vote the Taiwan Comfort Women Resolution, calling on Tokyo to 'accept historical responsibility for its World War II sex...
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Nov 16, 2008

The passing of Chinese royalty, the arrival of a commoner consort and Reagan's 'peace through strength'

100 YEARS AGO Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1908 Their Late Chinese Majesties
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2008

Oddball summit has limits

HONG KONG — It is the best of times because leaders from developed and developing countries have gathered in one place, Washington, to try to rebuild a broken global system, and China and India are at last at the top table.
Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2008

A repugnant anachronism

Regarding T. Mamoru Hanami's Nov. 6 letter, "The right to express oneself": Perhaps Hanami is unaware of the long and sordid history of lynching in America. Literally hundreds, if not thousands, of African-Americans were brutally beaten, hanged and burned during the post-Civil War Era in the United States....
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2008

Yes we can . . . what, Mr. Obama?

KYOTO — America appears to have been swept up in a feel-good moment. But as much as U.S. President-elect Barack Obama appeals to me as a public speaker and wordsmith, as much as I appreciate his candid, inclusive style as an antidote to everything redolent of President George W. Bush, as thrilled as...
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2008

Historic visit to Taiwan

The Taiwan Strait continues to narrow. Last week witnessed the highest-level contacts between Taiwan and mainland China since the 1949 civil war. The visit of Mr. Chen Yunlin to Taipei continues the bridge-building between the two sides and is a step forward in the eyes of all who seek peace and stability...
Reader Mail
Nov 9, 2008

Clear-cut violation of rights

I certainly don't agree with Tamogami's view of history, but I do believe that in a democracy that values freedom of speech, everyone should have the right to state his opinion without fear of reprisals. That said, if the general had committed any crimes, violated regulations, etc., then sacking him...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?