Search - people

 
 
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013

Brazen proposal on Okinawa

On a June 10 news talk show, Kevin Maher, the former U.S. Consul General Okinawa and chief of the Japan Desk at the U.S. State Department, said the suggestion by the Chinese People's Liberation Army deputy chief of staff that the Senkaku Islands issue be shelved for now is like a thief proposing a condition....
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013

Learn the Heimlich maneuver

My wife relayed a shocking story to me this week. A child in Hokkaido choked to death on a plum pit during school lunch. More shocking is that the teachers called "119" emergency services but were apparently told to just wait for the ambulance.
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013

New priority class not needed

Recently the transport ministry decided to establish a sign that indicates priority space for baby-carriage users on public transportation as part of childcare support services. This is supposed to make it easier for baby-carriage users to use public transportation. I don't think it will. I don't think...
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013

Christian mentality showing

It's only necessary to look at the personal, seemingly malevolent sarcasm of Frank O'Brien's June 23 letter, "Right to express religious views," and Jennifer Kim's June 23 letter, "Mild wisecrack in comparison," to see what is wrong with the Christian mentality.
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013

Government plans for farmers

Regarding the June 28 editorial "How will Japan's farms survive?": It seems to me that the Japanese government is planning to expand farms in the future and will fight to save rice, wheat, beef, sugar and dairy products. But what do the old farmers think about this?
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jul 3, 2013

Bubbles, music and paint as babies learn to create

For a moment, I wonder if I've accidentally strayed onto the set of a children's TV programme. Center stage are three grown men in matching T-shirts singing at the top of their voices in a Technicolor-bright toy-filled room more dazzling than Joseph's dreamcoat.
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2013

DPJ ruins chance at power reform

The multipartisan anti-bullying law enacted by the Diet is no panacea for the nation's schools as it fails to take into account all aspects of the bullying problem.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 3, 2013

Mandela family battles over ailing icon's legacy

A convoy of cars and buses decked with balloons streamed into Qunu on Saturday as the childhood home of Nelson Mandela hosted a wedding and enjoyed a moment of respite from the deep uncertainty caused by the health of its most celebrated son.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Jul 3, 2013

Portugal's baby bust feeding vicious cycle

For an enterprise in the business of welcoming life, the birthing ward inside Portugal's largest maternity hospital is eerily quiet. On a recent morning, not a single expectant father nervously paced the orange laminated floors. Unhurried nurses shuffled by rows of darkened rooms with empty beds, busying...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2013

Salarymen's allowance falls to 1982 level

The average Japanese husband's monthly allowance slumped to the lowest level since 1982 at the start of the financial year as workers await the dividends promised by "Abenomics."
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2013

Egypt liberals make more noise, wield less power

The winds should have been favorable for new President Mohamed Morsi after the 'last pharaoh' was deposed a year ago. Instead, Egypt is socially divided.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2013

Securing nuclear material

World leaders have devoted increasing attention in recent years to the risk of terrorists obtaining nuclear or other radioactive material. That's the good news. But all of us need to act with greater urgency in translating good intentions into concrete action.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 2, 2013

Nuclear safety rules put onus on utilities

The Nuclear Regulation Authority on July 8 will begin enforcing new safety standards at atomic power stations, more than two years after Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 plant experienced three reactor core meltdowns.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Jul 2, 2013

Former Dodgers owner reflects on Nomo, friendships

The paths of former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo and former owner and team president Peter O'Malley didn't cross during the latter's recent trip to Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 2, 2013

Boehner 'soft' approach boon, bane

When someone crosses John Boehner, he or she can expect a couple of reactions from the House speaker. Sometimes it is a thwack on the back and a disapproving shake of his head, quickly followed by a begrudging smile to indicate that all is forgiven. Sometimes it is a fake yell and then a shrug. One recalcitrant...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2013

Apple seeks to trademark 'iWatch'

Apple Inc., the world's most valuable technology company, is seeking to trademark "iWatch" in Japan as rival Samsung Electronics Co. readies its own wearable smartphone device.
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2013

Services for depopulated areas

As the population in Japan's countryside rapidly declines, an advisory body to the prime minister proposes intercity cooperation to maintain public services.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2013

Understanding China's maritime aspirations

China's declaration that it wants to be a sea power and focus on this interest is not sudden. China has long dreamed of becoming a 'maritime civilization.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 1, 2013

Xi regime swinging to the left

Disturbing rumors are spreading that, sometime this fall, there will be a large-scale purge of reformist members from the Chinese Communist Party.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 1, 2013

U.S. plans first tribal national park to protect buffaloes

Buffalo stroll undisturbed, pausing occasionally to wallow in the grass and caked dirt, while prairie dogs yip intermittently as they dive into their holes and pop out again to survey the landscape. This northern stretch of Badlands National Park, known as Sage Creek Wilderness, is what the northern...

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes