Search - article

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2013

Even stealth drone wars need rules

President Barack Obama is presiding over a changing form of warfare, including drones and cyber attacks, that need a firmer political and legal foundation.
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2013

Cues from Germany and France

The recently celebrated half-century-long Treaty of Friendship between Germany and France has a lesson for Japan concerning reconciliation in Asia.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 11, 2013

'Good seed' versus 'evil weed': Hemp activists eye legalization

In the cannabis plant family, hemp is the good seed. Marijuana, the evil weed. Michael Bowman, a gregarious Colorado farmer who grows corn and wheat, has been working his contacts in Congress in an attempt to persuade lawmakers that hemp has been framed, unfairly lumped with the stuff people smoke to...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2013

Measurement of hope competes with setbacks

Progress in getting aid to the world's poorest is now measured by one improved life at a time. That kind of news still lacks the visibility of a big setback.
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2013

The right reason to perform well

The Feb. 1 article "Two sides to corporal punishment practices in Japan" mentions the rising problem of abusive Japanese sports coaches. Recent incidents include the suicide of an Osaka high school basketball team captain after he had been physically punished by his coach, and the physical harassment...
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2013

Console nears perceptible limits

The Feb. 4 Bloomberg article "Sony expected to beef up PlayStation 4 to keep consoles in the game" describes Sony's new console as capable of rendering games at 240 frames per second (fps). Current-generation games typically render at 30 or 60 fps.
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2013

Town spoiling for dressing-down

Regarding the Feb. 7 AFP article "Put pants on 'David' replica, locals urge": Who would have thought that there was such a level of modesty in a culture that created such graphic works of erotica as the Shunga illustrated texts for newlywed couples or the modern "adult" manga? What gives?
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2013

A homemade recipe for cruelty?

Ian Martin's Feb. 1 article, "AKB48 member's 'penance' shows flaws in idol culture," calls attention to Minami Minegishi, a member of the Japanese girl pop band AKB48. She violated the Golden Rule for idols by going out on a date. The video of her making a tearful apology after she had shaved her head...
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2013

Crying won't clean the slate

The Feb. 1 article, "AKB48 idol begs for fans' mercy after breaking dating ban" states that Minami Minegishi willingly shaved her head to beg forgiveness for breaking one of the group's rules. AKB48 has a strict rule prohibiting relationships, but Minegishi was reported to have left an actor's house....
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 8, 2013

Nagano city takes roundabout tack

In what is being touted as a local first, a new roundabout is in operation in the Towa district of Iida, Nagano Prefecture, in a bid to ease congestion and eliminate the need for traffic lights.
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2013

Ripples in Japan's fan culture

Regarding Ian Martin's Feb. 1 article, "AKB48 member's 'penance' shows flaws in idol culture": Putting aside any particular opinion on the scandal surrounding AKB48 member Minami Minegishi, it is plainly wrong for Martin to imply that Japan's fan culture is the cause, rather than an effect, of Japan's...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 4, 2013

Keep Abe's hawks in check or Japan and Asia will suffer

On Jan. 1, The Japan Times' lead story was "Summer poll to keep Abe in check." It made the argument that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party alliance falls short of a majority in the Upper House, so until elections happen this summer he lacks a "full-fledged administration" to carry...
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2013

The DPJ's obligation

Members of the No. 1 opposition party, DPJ, have a duty to check the moves of the Abe administration with regard to economic and and defense policies.
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2013

Abe's willpower for core values

Some Japan Times staff writers, at the expense of their journalistic integrity, seem to have a penchant for the same old partisan cliche in reporting on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as we see in the Jan. 29 front-page article "Abe opens Diet, skips hawkish rhetoric," and in previous articles that either...
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2013

Leave Japanese courses alone

Regarding the Jan. 30 Kyodo article "U.K. plan to limit Japanese worries language teachers": While Japanese could be considered a luxury item on the curriculum, ironically, the same label could also be applied to subjects such as art, music, drama, dance and even English, science and math!
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2013

Questions about contamination

The Jan. 29 Kyodo article "Fukushima kids' thyroids said safe" indicates that radiation levels in the thyroids of 1-year-old kids living near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are "estimated to be less than 30 millisieverts in most cases," based on medical exams of 1,000 children. The story goes...
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 3, 2013

U.S. to Abe: Collective self-defense off agenda

Washington does not want Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to bring up the issue of collective self-defense at the Japan-U.S. summit to be held later this month, diplomatic sources said.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 2, 2013

Government says all single parents not created equal

A single mother finds that she doesn't qualify for a tax exemption because she was never married.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 2, 2013

'Cosplay' students promote Nagoya's highlights

Running away with a win against a Memphis team in disarray after trading away top scorer Rudy Gay, the Oklahoma City Thunder found a way to come unhinged, too.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Feb 1, 2013

AKB48 member's 'penance' shows flaws in idol culture

The image of a young girl in front of a camera, her head recently shaved, sobbing into the lens is one that's guaranteed to shock. But when that girl is a key member of idol group AKB48, the reaction is bound to be stronger.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 1, 2013

Two sides to corporal punishment practices in Japan

The December suicide of an Osaka high school basketball team captain who had been physically punished by his coach cast a harsh light on corporal punishment in Japan, and this week's admission by the All Japan Judo Federation that Olympic female judoka had been physically abused and harassed by their...
WORLD
Feb 1, 2013

The quirky sex lives of barnacles

Mostly hermaphroditic, barnacles are famous for their genitalia — the longest in the animal kingdom, relative to size — which can change shape and size to fertilize neighboring barnacles. For the times when accessing a potential mate is too difficult, most barnacles rely on self-fertilization to...
Reader Mail
Jan 31, 2013

Retiring teachers deserve better

Shame on The Japan Times for implicitly joining in with the wholly unjustified criticism of teachers who have retired early to avoid cuts to their retirement allowance. The use of the word "dodge" in the Jan. 23 article titled "Teachers retire to dodge benefit cut" implies that teachers are doing something...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2013

A question of Chinese sovereignty

China's 'historic rights' claims in the South China Sea have prompted Southeast Asian nations to argue that China is flouting international law.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 28, 2013

Who'll govern the governor?

A high-ranking bureaucrat of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government had this to say about new Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose: "Although he served as vice governor, it is not known whether he has the necessary political finesse. I wonder if he is capable of moving metropolitan politics forward."
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 28, 2013

Feminists split over first lady

In the opening moments of her second turn at history, as Michelle Obama waved at celebrants along Pennsylvania Avenue, Americans clamored to see the first lady, who remains one of the most popular public figures in the country. In the most recent poll, 73 percent said they approve of the way she is handling...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 27, 2013

Farewell games in Japan usually teary affairs

There was a news item saying the New York Yankees were considering signing Hideki Matsui to a one-day contract so he can officially retire as a major leaguer with that club. The Jan. 10 Kyodo report quoted Yankees team co-owner Hal Steinbrenner as saying the team might also invite Matsui "to throw out...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 27, 2013

Time to stop nonsense on import rule, expand to 48-minute game

Formed as a six-team breakaway circuit from the old-guard JBL, the bj-league aimed to usher in a new era of pro basketball in Japan in 2005.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 26, 2013

No room for subtleties when laying off workers

Thanks to a feature that appeared on the front page of the Dec. 31 issue of the Asahi Shimbun, oidashi beya is the first topical neologism of 2013 if you don't count "Abenomics." It's not clear if the term, which translates as "expulsion room," was coined by the newspaper, but since then the blogosphere...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years