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Reader Mail
Oct 18, 2012

What happens in death chambers

I was confused by the information provided in the Oct. 10 front-page article "Death by hanging not quick: data show." Do the times stated refer to the commencement of the execution procedure, i.e., from the condemned cell to the moment of death, or from the moment the noose is tightened around the prisoner's...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 14, 2012

Kakunaka's fortunes change in a hurry

We are establishing a new "prize" here. It is the Baseball Bullet-In "Out of the Blue Award" with recognition given to the player in Japanese pro baseball who has the best season among those virtually unheard of and who came from seemingly nowhere to become a star.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 14, 2012

Women in their 40s have it better than men

It was a shock and a disappointment to learn, courtesy of a survey released in August by the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, that men in their 40s are the unhappiest people in Japan. Who are the happiest? This is even more surprising: men in their 80s. That gives younger men something to look forward...
Reader Mail
Oct 11, 2012

Responsibility for economics

A return thank you to Joseph Jaworski for his Oct. 4 letter, "Laws of economics and physics" (which was a response to my Sept. 27 letter, "Why do producers finish last?"). I am a little baffled, though, as to why most of the response was an effort to argue semantics. I don't think most readers of The...
Reader Mail
Oct 11, 2012

Recipe for Japanese tea farmers

Regarding the Oct. 6 Kyodo article "Farmers switching from green tea to black": This is a sad story and I feel sorry for the tea farmers who have invested their livelihood into growing a traditional product. At the same time, it must be stated that some of them are licking self-inflicted wounds. For...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 9, 2012

Call to stop dolphin hunt in Taiji makes waves

Some of the many readers' letters The Japan Times received in response to the Sept. 11 Hotline to Nagatacho column, "Stop the annual Taiji dolphin massacre, make your children proud" by Deb Bowen-Saunders:
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2012

Give East Asians a greater say

The Sept. 27 editorial "Confrontation may hurt economy" is right to presume that the recent flareup between Japan and China over the Senkaku Islands is unlikely to be a one-time event. We can expect even stronger reactions in China if Japan builds a base on the islands or starts offshore drilling for...
Reader Mail
Oct 4, 2012

'Tolerance' is a two-way street

In his Sept. 30 letter, "Article that showcases tolerance," Muhammad Abu Yousuf thanks The Japan Times for the Sept. 26 article reporting that a Muslim prayer room has opened in a Sapporo mall.
Reader Mail
Oct 4, 2012

Forget about a Taiwan alliance

Regarding David Walther's Sept. 30 letter, "Getting Taiwan on Japan's side": As a Chinese student studying in Japan, my reaction to the dispute between Japan and China over the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands is that Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's recent stunt to have the metropolitan government purchase...
Reader Mail
Oct 4, 2012

Retroactive boundary changes

It is remarkable to see the investment now being made by the Chinese government to influence even international public opinion regarding its claim to the Senkaku Islands. The recent purchase of a two-page full color advertisement in the opening section of the Los Angeles Times illustrates my point.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 4, 2012

Looking at art from a local perspective

In these recessionary times, any contribution to the arts is a cause for celebration. Such a state of affairs makes the opening of the Daegu Art Museum (DAM) in May 2011 in Daegu, South Korea, an especially joyous event.
Reader Mail
Oct 4, 2012

Nothing snappy about next poll

Why does The Japan Times use the words "snap election" when referring to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's plans?
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Oct 2, 2012

Divergent views on Debito; the fate of mixed-nationality kids

Arudou's writing still needed Most of the readers who indignantly criticize the writings of Debito Arudou seem to share the same outlook. Arudou, they say, should shut up and accept the good with the bad.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Japan Pulse
Sep 29, 2012

Bagel head trend is a big distortion

Bagel heads as Japanese beauty trend? It's just an ugly distortion.
Reader Mail
Sep 27, 2012

Spare the presumption of doom

The Sept. 24 article from Sentaku magazine, titled "Power industry campaigns to pull the plug on the DPJ," states that "it became apparent that continued stoppage of the Oi reactors would cause serious power shortages in [Mayor Toru Hashimoto's] own city of Osaka." When on earth did this become "apparent"?...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 22, 2012

Evessa GM Nomamoto fired after team's rocky preseason start: sources

Hirotaro Nomamoto, the Osaka Evessa general manager since the team entered the bj-league in 2005, was relieved of his duties on Wednesday, sources familiar with the situation told The Japan Times.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2012

Game show highlights smartphone offerings

Producing more quality social games will be a key to succeeding in the growing smartphone video game market as devices become more powerful and high-speed networks spread, according to Yoshikazu Tanaka, the president of game site operator Gree Inc.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 20, 2012

To stand out in Super Junior, sometimes a side job helps

Young K-pop fans may just kill for the chance to walk backstage on the set of "M Countdown," a popular cable television music program in South Korea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 20, 2012

The art of photography

This weekend sees the fourth installment of "Tokyo Photo" — Japan's first international photography fair, and now the biggest event of its kind in Asia. Since its inception in 2009, the fair has cast its net wide, and this year has more than 35 agencies and galleries taking part. Over half of them...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 18, 2012

Shilling for our side over the Senkakus

Akihiro Suzuki does not think war will come, but if it does, he believes Japan will prevail.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Sep 18, 2012

Celebration of Kanemoto's career offers Tigers brief respite

For the next couple of weeks, the prevailing narrative of most Hanshin Tigers games will be the impending retirement of star outfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Sep 16, 2012

Man eats dynamite, fighting intensifies in Shanghai, Tokyo may allow skyscrapers, Michael Jackson in Japan

A correspondent reports from Nagano that the magazine of Shiokawa, a powder-maker in Komoro in that prefecture, was broken into and had 600 sticks of dynamite stolen lately. T
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 14, 2012

Ex-referee says bj-league made wrong call with Yuzuki

Kunio Kurata, the bj-league's director of officials since its establishment in 2005, has quietly retired. That shouldn't come as a big surprise; after all, the Shizuoka Prefecture native will turn 61 on Nov. 27, so he reached the mandatory retirement age early in the 2011-12 season.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 11, 2012

Three steps to judging whether a disciplinary measure is legal

An English teacher writes: "Recently, my company placed me on a three-month suspension from work, until five days before my fixed-period employment contract expires. As I am still employed, I cannot claim unemployment benefits, and this lengthy period makes it almost financially prohibitive to remain...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Sep 11, 2012

Hotelier sees disaster bring out best in Japanese

As a veteran of the tourism and hotel industries in Japan for more than two decades, Tony Virili says he will "never forget" what took place at one of his firm's franchise hotels in Sendai on March 11, 2011.
Reader Mail
Sep 9, 2012

Stop panicking over birthrates

Regarding the Sept. 4 front-page article "Population of Tokyo to drop to half by 2100": So much fuss has been made in the news media about the declining birthrate that it would be easy to mistake it for an impending disaster.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2012

Toray ups output to meet Daimler, Boeing demand

Toray Industries Inc., the world's largest producer of carbon fiber, plans to increase capacity as customers from Daimler to Boeing. boost the use of the lightweight material to make fuel-efficient cars and planes.
Reader Mail
Sep 6, 2012

Japan's history is in the details

In his Aug. 26 letter, "Military brothels go way back," Takashi Nagata treats us to a generalized history lesson: Europeans and others kept "comfort women." ... South Koreans had separate brothels for their soldiers and Americans in the 1970s. ... The film "Sandakan Brothel No. 8" depicts a brothel worker's...
Reader Mail
Sep 6, 2012

Building a musical following

Regarding Ian Martin's Aug. 30 column, pay to play is not a system unique to Japan. Ticket sales, space and equipment rental are a fact of life for musicians everywhere. Of all the performance-level musicians in the world, only a very small percentage make their living with music. And, by and large,...
Reader Mail
Sep 6, 2012

A perspective on GOP thought

Regarding Jennifer Rubin's Washington Post article, "Ten myths about the U.S. Republican agenda," which was printed in The Japan Times on Aug. 31: I'm confused. If the article is supposed to be about "10 myths," how come the author presents 10 facts?

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’