Search - article

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 25, 2011

Parts makers at mercy of recovery's pace

Kokune Ltd. President Yasushi Kogune is not sure his 55-worker die-casting company will be able to survive until the slump brought on by the March 11 earthquake ends.
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2011

Core problems with nuclear fuel

After reading Shinji Fukukawa's June 17 article, "Triple disaster proves need for an industrial revolution," I feel compelled to comment. There is no such thing as "safe" nuclear generation of power. Starting and containing nuclear fission reactions with concentrated fissile material is inherently dangerous....
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2011

Tax money for homes, not arenas

Regarding the June 18 article "Ishihara eyes another Olympics bid, this time 2020": I see that once again Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara intends to waste taxpayer money, this time by bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Tokyo used ¥15 billion in taxpayer money for the campaign to host the 2016 Summer...
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2011

Fukushima 'risk' was avoidable

I agree to some extent with Grant Piper's June 19 letter, "Impossible to live without risks." Yes, we do face risks every day and even "getting out of bed in the morning is dangerous." If Piper has come to the conclusion that the possibility of radiation sickness and death is a part of his life, fine,...
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2011

Kan deserves more support

Regarding the Dec. 16 front-page article "DPJ to seek 'substantial' Diet extension": We hear once again that the opposition Liberal Democratic Party is working against the prime minister at every turn. Now it is opposing an extension of the current Diet session. If a Diet session ever needed extending,...
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2011

West wants China at its disposal

Regarding Michael Richardson's June 20 article, "South China Sea is not Shangri-La": If you imagine the world in the image of the white man, you will naturally come to the conclusion that China is out to conquer the world. But this is the white man's way.
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2011

Coverage leaves others behind

Regarding the June 18 article "Tepco begins work to clean coolant water": I would like to thank The Japan Times for the best website in covering the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. Followups in this crisis are virtually blacked out in the United States; you might get a passing report on television...
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2011

Unhealthy promotion of sports

Regarding the June 18 Kyodo article "First sports law since '61 enacted": How will promoting sports cut medical spending? Some of the worst injuries are caused by sports. If there was an incentive to exercise safely, that might help reduce unnecessary spending, but to suggest that pushing sports down...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 21, 2011

Reported epidemic of elder shoplifting may not be what it seems

Media may be missing the point when it reports on rise in crime among retirees.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jun 21, 2011

Sharing Tepco's bill; family's tough choice

People must share Tepco burden Re: "A victim of Tepco's yakuza-style extortion" (Have Your Say, June 14) by Blues Bowman:
Reader Mail
Jun 19, 2011

Backing a methodical phaseout

Michael Hoffman's columns are always a great read, but his June 6 article, "What will Japan learn from the Fukushima meltdowns," is clearly one of his weaker ones.
Reader Mail
Jun 19, 2011

When those who should can't

Regarding the June 16 article reprinted from Sentaku magazine, "Yakuza eye cleanup profits": Can Japan's gangsters get the job (of cleaning up parts of the devastated Tohoku-Pacific region) done? So far, the government has been unable to do much or even agree on how the job should be done.
Reader Mail
Jun 19, 2011

How will having dosimeters help?

The June 15 Kyodo article "34,000 children in Fukushima to get dosimeters" is absurd. What facilities does the prefecture have available to read these 34,000 dosimeters? None.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 18, 2011

Annals of Cheap: 32-inch flat screen TVs

Prices of TV sets, especially smaller models, are now as low as they'll ever be.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 18, 2011

Chubu Electric urges power-saving after Kepco snub

When Kansai Electric Power Co. announced it would ask its customers to cut back on electricity usage this summer, fearing supply shortages, it also dashed Chubu Electric Power Co.'s hopes of receiving electricity from the that utility.
COMMENTARY
Jun 17, 2011

Novel approach to treating cancer

The discovery that two new drugs can control melanoma could revolutionize the treatment not only of melanoma but also of other cancers as well.
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

The complainers extraordinaire

Regarding the June 11 Kyodo article "Kan to visit disaster zone, solicit opinions": Naoto Kan is a harder worker than any of the Diet members who oppose his leadership and want him to resign as prime minister. They constantly complain about Kan's actions, but what have they done to improve the lives...
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Bin Laden was no rogue deer

Regarding the June 12 Kyodo article that states that 54 percent of the Japanese public "preferred arrest for bin Laden" to U.S. commandos' killing him during a surprise raid on his compound in Pakistan on May 2: You got to be kidding me.
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Proving one's nuclear confidence

Regarding the June 11 Kyodo article "Kaieda calls for restarting nuke reactors": I would like to ask industry minister Banri Kaieda — and anyone else who so strongly recommends the continued operation of nuclear plants in Japan after seeing what has happened these past few months — to prove to us...
Reader Mail
Jun 16, 2011

Inexcusable advice to producers

Regarding the June 11 Kyodo article "Shizuoka tells tea retailer to conceal radiation info": If confirmed as reported, this revelation has implications of almost incomprehensible magnitude.
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2011

Gaza border opening little more than rhetoric

CAIRO — For most Palestinians, leaving Gaza through Egypt is as exasperating a process as entering it. Governed by political and cultural sensitivities, most Palestinian officials and public figures refrain from criticizing the way Palestinians are treated at the Rafah border.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jun 15, 2011

Yakuza eye cleanup profits

The government and law enforcement authorities appear to be fighting an uphill battle to prevent gangsters and other "antisocial" groups from cashing in on disposing of huge amounts of debris generated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which played havoc with large areas along the Pacific coast...
Reader Mail
Jun 12, 2011

The opposite of a 'dead zone'

The Japan Times' coverage of the Tohoku-Pacific disasters has been excellent. Keep up the great work. I write with regard to the comment on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster by Ukraine's ambassador to Japan (May 27 Bloomberg article "Fukushima No. 1 eyed as site for nuke graveyard") that...
Reader Mail
Jun 12, 2011

A way to take Tepco at its word

Regarding the June 9 front-page Kyodo article "Fishermen to Tepco: Don't release water": It's little wonder that the Fisheries Agency did not approve the plan by Tokyo Electric Power Co. to release into the sea up to 3,000 tons of water accumulated at the Fukushima No. 2 power plant since the March 11...
Reader Mail
Jun 12, 2011

Respect comes with the territory

Whenever I read an article like the June 7 editorial, "Constraint on teachers' thought," I always think of the aftermath of the Pacific War, when Japan was reborn from a militaristic country to a nonmilitaristic one. That said, Japan should have made a new national flag and a national anthem while it...
Reader Mail
Jun 12, 2011

Elites who guard the status quo

Kevin Rafferty's May 26 article, "Japan: the silent IMF partner," enlightened me on how the system overseeing global finance works. We should have known and discussed these facts earlier.
Reader Mail
Jun 12, 2011

Prerequisites for Mideast peace

Regarding Ramzy Baroud's June 6 article, "A Gaza refugee camp revisited": No one would deny that the so-called Arab uprisings that have taken place in recent months have drastically altered the political landscape of the region. The events have led many to hope for a much greater level of democracy in...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 11, 2011

Gifu college sets up manga program for French students

Ogaki Women's College in Gifu Prefecture will in July conclude a manga study partnership agreement with Paris-based academic institution Eurasiam.
Reader Mail
Jun 9, 2011

Unreasonable expectations

Regarding William Pesek's May 30 article, "Nuclear meltdown digs hole for Tokyo as Tepco sullies Japan's brand image": I am sure that few readers will fault Pesek's analysis characterizing Tokyo Electric Power Co. as a "symbol of the incestuous ties between government and industry."
Reader Mail
Jun 9, 2011

A time to prepare for the worst

Regarding the June 3 Kyodo article "Plan outlines 10% hike in sales tax": A flat increase in the consumption tax is a real "no brainer" and already more than overdue. Ten percent will not even be enough. The Japanese government must consider increasing it to 15 or even 19 percent, since the whole system...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?