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Reader Mail
Feb 13, 2011

Crossed genders dressing right

I would like to correct a reference by Edan Corkill in his Feb. 4 Weekend Scene article, "Anime's late, late show." The late-night anime production "Hourou Musuko" ("Wandering Son") is not about cross-dressers; it's about transgendered adolescents. If you read the manga, or pay close attention to the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 12, 2011

English school teams up with famed U.K. soccer academy

An English-language school in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, has tied up with the prestigious soccer school in the U.K. that produced David Beckham, aiming to help young Japanese get a grasp of the language so they can play abroad professionally.
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2011

'Rational' decline in population

After reading Michael Hoffman's Jan. 30 Timeout article, "The decline and fall of Japan and its sex drive," I'm not sure that I entirely agree with the opinion that Japanese are disinterested in sex. I think they are avoiding the possibility of what could happen if they have sex without having the fiscal...
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2011

Sums of yuan should not surprise

Regarding Brahma Chellaney's Feb. 6 article, " Lama drama and intrigue": The facts of the matter (in which Indian police recently seized large sums of Chinese currency from the Indian monastery of the Karmapa Lama) is that most of the money, about 70 percent, was in U.S. dollars. Yet, no one sees fit...
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2011

Choreographed entertainment

Regarding the Feb. 4 article "Match-throwing final nail in sumo coffin?": As a youngster in upstate New York, I loved watching World Wrestling Federation (now called the World Wrestling Entertainment) matches on weekends. Hulk Hogan, Captain Lou, Andre the Giant, Junkyard Dog, Rowdy Roddy Piper — those...
EDITORIALS
Feb 8, 2011

National anthem debate

In September 2006, the Tokyo District Court ruled that the policy of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education to force school teachers to sing the national anthem Kimigayo ("Your Reign") during school ceremonies was illegal. The court ruled that the policy violated...
COMMENTARY
Feb 7, 2011

Enlightened year to revive autism research

NEW YORK — The theory that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine was responsible for causing autism has, since it was first elaborated, been a hindrance to a proper assessment of the autism problem.
Reader Mail
Feb 6, 2011

Better ways of restricting manga

The Jan. 26 Kyodo article "Adult manga artist prepares to fight City Hall" mentions that a creator of adult manga was preparing to argue with the Tokyo vice governor about the recent toughening of restrictions on the sale of comic books and animation containing "extreme depictions of sexual acts." Adult...
Reader Mail
Feb 6, 2011

Aquarium no boon to biodiversity

In the Feb. 2 article "Kyoto plan to boost visitors with aquarium irks locals," Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa is quoted as saying that "Modern zoos and aquariums that contribute to biodiversity are the models for the Kyoto aquarium." I am amazed that the mayor makes this ludicrous argument, since the...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 6, 2011

Japan at a crossroads

CONTEMPORARY JAPAN. Journal of the German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo. Mind the Gap: Stratification and Social Inequalities in Japan. Editor Florian Coulmas. Volume 22. Number 1/2. De Gruyter, 2010, 221 pp., (hardcover) The launch of this journal is cause for celebration by anyone interested...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 6, 2011

The bitter pill of Japan's high-cost medical treatment

When NHK's in-depth news program, "Closeup Gendai," addresses a pressing social issue, it usually offers possible solutions articulated by experts. Two weeks ago, however, the show covered a problem that seems to have no solution. The subject of the opening segment was a middle-aged man who was diagnosed...
Reader Mail
Feb 6, 2011

A thought for Lindsay Ann Hawker

Regarding Alex Martin's Jan. 26 article, "Ichihashi book details life on run" (about the book written by Tatsuya Ichihashi, the accused killer of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker): Family members of Hawker are said to feel "disgusted" and "hurt" about the book being published before Ichihashi's trial. I agree...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 5, 2011

Nagoya condos rising high

Condo towers 20 stories or higher are going up or will in central Nagoya this year as dwindling land prices driven by the 2008 financial collapse revitalize the depressed market.
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2011

A bow to anti-GM sentiments

In his Jan. 25 article, "Inflation and food supplies," Hugh Cortazzi commented that the "The use of GM crops may well be necessary, but we do not yet know what the long-term implications for wildlife may be."
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2011

A contrarian view of how 'austerity' bleeds Japan

With the Standard and Poor's downgrading of Japan's long-term credit rating from AA to AA minus, the focus even more is on how the economy can get out of its current deflationary quagmire.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2011

Risk of Algerian default puts builders in CDS bind

Two of the nation's biggest construction companies are learning the risks of expanding in developing markets to offset dwindling domestic demand, credit default swap prices show.
Reader Mail
Jan 30, 2011

Australia as rare earth supplier

RegardingMinoru Matsutani's Jan. 26 article, "Worse rare earth shortages 'yet to come' ": What isn't widely known is that Australia has a large part to play in resolving this situation, as Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed companies control more than 40 percent of the world's rare earth element...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 30, 2011

Cultural insensitivity no laughing matter

The tempest in a teapot whipped up by a segment on the British quiz-cum-comedy show "QI" has prompted debate on cross-cultural sensitivity. The BBC has apologized for the segment, which, contrary to a statement issued by Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, did not make fun of its subject, the late Tsutomu...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 30, 2011

Pushing the U.S. Constitution to the brink

NEW YORK — On opening day of the 112th session of the U.S. Congress, the members of the House of Representatives recited the U.S. Constitution. The Republican Party, now the majority, instituted the unprecedented step. The tea party instigated it.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 29, 2011

Kaiten-zushi chains gird for battle

You got your exclusive high-grade sushi, and you've got your bargain sushi, good for the whole family.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 29, 2011

Nagoya 'Tokyo Girls Collection' set to target cash-flush women

Young Japanese males may no longer be interested in buying new cars, brand-name clothes or other expensive items, but their female counterparts appear less reluctant to part with their money, and retailers are tuned in.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2011

Economics for the people

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — We are in the midst of a boom in popular economics: books, articles, blogs, public lectures, all followed closely by the general public.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 25, 2011

Waiting for the WikiLeak dam to break

Like a giant dose of salts to a bloated and constipated patient, "Cablegate" has scoured its way through the post-9/11 United States empire, exposing its internal workings to merciless scrutiny: In Iraq, U.S. forces and their Iraqi subordinates kill civilians and journalists while their commanders turn...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2011

Whither Tunisia's 'Jasmine Revolution'?

NEW YORK — As I try to grasp the meaning of the Tunisian Revolution and gauge its future, I am looking at my desk, where I have spread two issues of The New York Times, both featuring Tunisia on their front pages. The two issues are dated 23 years apart.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 24, 2011

Japan's chance to exploit Russian suspicion of China

Military policy and maneuvers undertaken by Russia in recent months appear to indicate that Moscow has begun to feel threatened by China's growing military strength, according to experts on Russian affairs.
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2011

Fate of northern islands is sealed

I read Masami Ito's Jan. 18 article, "Russian-held isles: so near, so far," with great interest. Japan's government claims that the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty does not apply to the four islands off Hokkaido, known as the Northern Territories. We hear stories that U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2011

Lavatory facilities are almost there

Regarding Kaori Shoji's Jan. 19 Bilingual page article, "Paying respect to the Japanese toilet god": While Japanese lavatories are very clean, I sometimes miss soap and water or otherwise with which to wash my hands. May I recommend including soap as a necessary adjunct? Public lavatories at highway...
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2011

'Gun' headline misfires

The headline for the Jan. 14 article "Leave the gun, bring 'takoyaki': East Village" baffles me. Is this an off-color reference to the recent gun violence in America? Or was the editor just at a loss for words? Is the headline supposed to mean that it is safe in the East Village (Manhattan, N.Y.) because...

Longform

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