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Reader Mail
Jun 13, 2007

Make high school exams relevant

Proposed education reforms reported in recent articles do not address the most glaring, fundamental problems in the school system. Most crucially, no mention is made of the fact that it is too hard to enter university and too easy to graduate.
Reader Mail
Jun 13, 2007

Taiwan's Lee deserves courtesy

In Robyn Lim's June 2 article, "Lee should avoid Yasukuni," Lim grudgingly admits that, as a private citizen, former Taiwanese President Lee Tung-hui is free to visit Japan and has a right to religious freedom, which includes paying a visit to Yasukuni Shrine (Lee did visit the shrine June 7). Yet she...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 12, 2007

Japan's green strides belie spotty record

Last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought a leading role in the fight against climate change when he proposed a global initiative to halve greenhouse gas emis sions by 2050.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jun 10, 2007

Shiraishi credits sailing career to mentor Tada

"Ask yourself when you last spent a single day with no human contact — then multiply this by 100!" — VELUX 5 OCEANS pre-race press release.
Reader Mail
Jun 10, 2007

Japan had an ugly side, too

Regarding Paula Bame's June 3 letter, "Western values have made a mess": As a Canadian who lived in Japan, I was shocked and saddened as well to read about the recent tragedies in Japan concerning the decapitation of a mother, parents abandoning their babies, and so on.
Reader Mail
Jun 10, 2007

Movie depicted actual events

Regarding the June 1 review of the film "300": I disagree on several points. This movie depicted actual events, including many that had been recorded at the time by such men as Herodotus and others.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 10, 2007

Japan and Germany: worlds apart and yet so similar

CULTURE AND POWER IN GERMANY AND JAPAN: The Spirit of Renewal, by Nils-Johan Jorgensen. Global Oriental, 318 pp., 2006, £50 (cloth) The author of this interesting and thought-provoking study was a Norwegian diplomat who served in both Germany and Japan. He acquired a good knowledge of both countries...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 10, 2007

Bunroku Shishi: Finding humor in a recovering postwar Japan

SCHOOL OF FREEDOM, by Bunroku Shishi, translated and with an afterword by Lynne E. Riggs. Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, 2006, 256 pp., $29.95 (cloth). Bunroku Shishi (1893-1969), who was born as Toyoo Iwata, had two occupations, just as he had two names. He was...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2007

Climate change raises threat of water wars

PRAGUE — The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released alarming data on the consequences of global warming in some of the world's poorest regions. By 2100, 1 billion to 3 billion people worldwide are expected to suffer from water scarcity. Global warming will increase evaporation...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2007

Energy savings start at home

The white paper on the environment and a recycling-based society approved by the Cabinet expresses serious concern about global warming and stresses the importance of individual citizens taking conscious action to alleviate environmental problems and to help slow global warming. The white paper comes...
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2007

Popularity takes a tumble

The approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has hit a record low since he came into power last September. A telephone poll at the beginning of this month by Kyodo News shows that the support rate has sunk to 35.8 percent, a drop of 11.8 points from mid-May and a big slide from the...
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2007

Defection from the North

Four North Koreans — a married couple and their two adult sons — were spotted in a small boat off Fukaura port in Aomori Prefecture last Saturday and are now in custody. They arrived in a 7.3-meter-long open wooden boat equipped with an old outboard engine. They say they left a port near the northeastern...
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2007

When getting rich impoverishes society

NEW DELHI — Serious social tension roils here and there across the globe. Gaps between poor and rich rarely seem to shrink and in most places continue to enlarge. The fairest assessment of economic and informational globalization (the greatest pretender as an income gap-narrower since orthodox Marxism)...
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2007

Sony looking to cut jobs at U.S. video-game unit

Sony's U.S. video-game unit is cutting jobs to become more competitive, the company said Thursday, as the PlayStation 3 machine struggles against rival offerings from Microsoft and Nintendo.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 8, 2007

PanicSmile "Best Education"

The old cliche about The Velvet Underground was that few people bought their records, but everyone who did formed a band. Something similar is probably true of Tokyo-based experimental punks PanicSmile, whose early fans included indie-rockers Number Girl and quirky J-pop singer Shiina Ringo. PanicSmile's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Jun 8, 2007

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Director: Gore Verbinski Language: English
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 8, 2007

Mejiro gets a Baroque makeover

Forget its curious title and head to Tokyo's Mejiro district to catch a host of concerts featuring Baroque music running through June 24. The Mejiro Ba-Rock Music Festival 2007 is expected to attract around 10,000 people to its 12 concert venues dotted among this largely residential area.

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