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Reader Mail
Jan 8, 2009

Nonnative speakers can teach, too

In his Jan. 1 letter, "Problem with Asian English," Robert Thornton states that most Asian native speakers have problems with English. Let's abandon the notion that one has to master a language like a native speaker to teach it. If that were so, a native English speaker friend of mine, who still pronounces...
JAPAN / History
Jan 7, 2009

Ministry pulled protest to NYT over family mine POW claim: Aso

Prime Minister Taro Aso admitted Tuesday that the Foreign Ministry deleted a written protest to The New York Times from its Web site last month after finding evidence that a company run by his family during World War II used Allied POWs to work its coal mines.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2009

Teachers beset by unruly parents

When the 27-year-old rookie elementary school teacher in Kanagawa Prefecture began receiving phone calls from the mother of one of his students demanding an apology from the parents of their child's alleged "bullies," he thought it was just a misunderstanding by an overprotective parent.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 7, 2009

Modern childhood holds many a lesson for adults

The reader is invited to accompany me on a trip (return, not one-way) to second childhood. Those of us who learned Japanese as adults missed out, after all, on a vast store of linguistic experience. Is it irretrievable? Maybe not. The child's world is laid out in children's books. Leave your adulthood...
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2009

Work-sharing could protect jobs: Mitarai

Big business needs to take every measure possible to improve the rapidly deteriorating employment conditions, and work-sharing is an option that should be considered, Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) Chairman Fujio Mitarai said Tuesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jan 7, 2009

Hybrid storage to put new spin on netbook choices

Flash wonder: Netbook makers seem to be particularly keen to shatter the axiom that size always equals power. Their shrunken portables put a premium on being small and light, both in terms of bulk and price, for only a slight tradeoff on performance. Certainly they would also like people to stop describing...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2009

Glasses retailer has price-cutting edge

Teruhiro Ueno has seen both his business and reputation grow by upholding a key retail strategy: undercutting the competition.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 6, 2009

What does 2009 hold in store for Japan?

SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 6, 2009

Okubo equipped to make the most of his second chance

Yoshito Okubo's career may not have followed the course it seemed destined for when he burst onto the scene at the start of the decade, but a move to Wolfsburg gives the striker the perfect opportunity to make his belated mark on European soccer.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2009

Diet reopens; relief package main focus

Diet convened Monday for a regular 150-day session, with debate to focus on immediate economic relief measures mapped out in the second extra budget bill for fiscal 2008.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 5, 2009

Germany claims Nordic success

SCHONACH, Germany (AP) Germany won the team competition of the Nordic combined World Cup event Saturday.
Reader Mail
Jan 4, 2009

Terms suggestive of racism

Regarding Brian Clacey's Jan. 1 letter, "On the lookout for a slight": I took up Clacey's suggestion and asked myself why "Jap" is considered racist while "Brit" is not. While perhaps not answering his question completely, I think looking at who uses these labels offers a partial answer.
Reader Mail
Jan 4, 2009

Let the sun shine on transactions

The Dec. 30 editorial, "American capitalism, battered," is a well-written piece bringing out very clearly and persuasively the events/reasons that led to the present turmoil in the world economy. But it is not very heartening to note that the U.S. governmental actions are still not well thought out and...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 4, 2009

Rounding up 2008's media

Media Figure of the Year: Tomohiro Kato
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2009

Cars no longer coveted by young

To get around the city, Yutaka Makino hops on his skateboard or takes the trains. Does he dream of the day when he owns his own car? Not a chance.
Reader Mail
Jan 1, 2009

Another form of censorship

Regarding the Dec. 26 article "Summarized textbook screener minutes urged": "Summarized minutes" (as opposed to detailed minutes) are nothing more than another form of censorship and as far from transparency as police interrogations due to similar resistance and conniving.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 1, 2009

The battle for 2009's box office starts here

The Japanese film industry — particularly at the top, where Toho and the TV networks dwell — had a terrific 2008. Boosted by Hayao Miyazaki's animation "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" ("Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea"), which earned a splendiferous ¥15 billion, Toho passed the ¥70-billion box-office mark...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2008

China flexes naval muscle

SINGAPORE — Two Chinese destroyers and a supply ship are on their way to join other foreign warships on anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia. This is a milestone for a navy that has long focused on coastal defense and lacked the capability to project power overseas.
BUSINESS / CORPORATE COMMUNICATION SYMPOSIUM
Dec 30, 2008

Communication key to good corporate management

Communication with the public and employees is of strategic importance to corporate management today as companies' operations become more global, and people pay more attention to the social responsibilities of businesses, said participants at a recent symposium in Tokyo.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’