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JAPAN
Jan 14, 2009

Ruling bloc steamrollers second extra budget

Overriding shouts of protest from the opposition parties, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito bloc rammed the second extra budget for fiscal 2008 through the Lower House on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 11, 2009

Egg-on-face bloopers can make a yolk or worse of any translation

Many readers will be familiar with the infamous guarantee said to have been spotted on the menu of a Hong Kong restaurant: "All the water used in our soups has been personally passed by the chef." Some may also have heard of that creepy assurance printed in the catalog for an art exhibition during the...
Reader Mail
Jan 11, 2009

Losing patience with U.S. system

George Will's Jan. 4 article, "The increasing costs of longevity," simply underscores the ignorance most Americans have of both alternative health-care systems and the power of special interest lobbies. The 15 percent or so of Americans who listen to National Public Radio or the Public Broadcasting...
Reader Mail
Jan 11, 2009

Digital won't make it better

In the Dec. 28 Media Mix article, "Critics switched off over digital-TV plans," media critic Yukichi Amano made a very good point — namely, that switching to digital TV will be a waste of time if there is nothing new on offer in terms of programming. I would like to add that I think Japanese TV is...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2009

NPO told to stop feeding homeless

The nonprofit organization Sanyukai, which aids the homeless in Tokyo's Sanya district, has been ordered by the metropolitan government to stop handing out its weekly free meals along the Sumida River because local residents are complaining, the volunteer group's chief said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2009

Emperor's spirit of peace

Twenty years ago on Jan. 7, 1989, the Emperor ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne immediately after the death of his father, the Emperor Showa. This year, the 20th anniversary of the Emperor's enthronement will be followed on April 10 by the 50th anniversary of his marriage with the Empress. We pray...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 9, 2009

Pianist Kawai seeks out the real Chopin

"I had the sense I was on a mission when I decided to do this project," recounts Poland-based Japanese pianist Yuko Kawai, who has been introducing authentic versions of the works of Chopin (1810-49) — as restored in musical scores published as the National Edition — through her Chopinissimo recital...
Reader Mail
Jan 8, 2009

Fingerprint scam is no surprise

Regarding the Jan. 3 article "Deportee scams biometric screener, re-enters": The successful spoofing of the Japan-Visit program should not come as a surprise to any security specialist. Instructions on how to steal or forge fingerprints and fool the scanners have long been available on the Internet....
COMMENTARY
Jan 8, 2009

Outlook is mixed for 2009

Looking at 2009, the good news is that the global economy is likely to recover much faster than predicted. The bad news is that global politics are likely to deteriorate much more rapidly than most expected.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2009

Opposition bill lacks handouts

In a bid to put a stop to the proposed ¥2 trillion cash handout program, three opposition parties on Tuesday jointly submitted a revised version of the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 that would eliminate Prime Minister Taro Aso's key measure.
Reader Mail
Jan 4, 2009

Review of law is not 'prevention'

Regarding the Dec. 25 editorial "Preventing child pornography": The editorial contained nothing related to "preventing" child pornography. A review of existing laws and potential external condemnation does a disservice to readers when such an enticing headline is used.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2009

Small parties play up 'big' role in national politics

Political parties with fewer than 20 Diet seats face an identity crisis as the legislature moves closer to a two-party system following the huge gains made by the Democratic Party of Japan in the July 2007 Upper House election.
Reader Mail
Jan 1, 2009

Time to get back to basics

Regarding the Dec. 27 front-page article "Record output fall raises alarms": My concern is for those who consider jumping in front of a train as a solution to financial or work-related problems because of the recession that is creating depression in Japanese society. What needs to change is the way the...
Reader Mail
Jan 1, 2009

Problem with Asian English

The second paragraph of the article on Indian and Chinese schools states: "Experts say that Japanese parents are eager to send their kids to such schools because they think that giving their kids opportunities to learn about Chinese and English at an early stage will be a big plus for their futures."...
Reader Mail
Jan 1, 2009

Another form of censorship

Regarding the Dec. 26 article "Summarized textbook screener minutes urged": "Summarized minutes" (as opposed to detailed minutes) are nothing more than another form of censorship and as far from transparency as police interrogations due to similar resistance and conniving.
EDITORIALS
Jan 1, 2009

Gingerly start to the new year

Japan greets the new year with political stagnation and dysfunction inherited from 2008. The stifling atmosphere nationwide is due not only to deepening economic difficulties caused by the global financial crisis that started in the United States but also to the failure of Prime Minister Taro Aso's administration...
Reader Mail
Dec 28, 2008

Boosting confidence in English

Regarding the Dec. 23 article "English classes face a shakeup": This is a rather welcome move by the education ministry. I wonder, though, why a four-year delay before implementation is sought, since the move does not mandate bringing in bilingual teachers — Japanese teachers with native-level English-speaking...
Reader Mail
Dec 28, 2008

With a fiscal stimulus for all

After reading the Dec. 25 article "State to aid foreigners in dire financial straits," I thought how much longer will the media report with metaphorically raised eyebrows that permanent foreign residents here are entitled to benefit from government policies equally with Japanese citizens? Why is that...
COMMENTARY
Dec 26, 2008

Doctors held for talking with the 'enemy'

NEW YORK — Cyrus the Great, the first Achaemenid emperor and founder of Persia, would be ashamed of the actions of the Iranian government with regard to the uncalled for detention in June of two Iranian doctors, who are experts on AIDS. The flagrant abuse of their basic human rights would have been...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2008

Aso failing to lead LDP to promised land

When Taro Aso became prime minister in September, he was chosen by his peers in the Liberal Democratic Party as the man who would reverse their declining ratings. But after three months of the extraordinary Diet session, which closes Thursday, Aso's Cabinet already seems to be in trouble.
Reader Mail
Dec 25, 2008

Getting away with murder

Regarding the Dec. 19 article "Trio avoid prison in sumo killing": Some people claim that the perfect murder is impossible. Judge Masaharu Ashizawa of the Nagoya District Court has proven that this is not necessarily the case. Three sumo wrestlers, Yuichiro Izuka, 26, Masakazu Kimura, 25, and Masanori...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 24, 2008

Overseas aid benefits whom?

PHNOM PENH CAMBODIA — Despite widespread awareness and censure of human rights violations, Japan, the United States and member nations of the European Union continue to give aid to governments that use the money to enrich themselves while ravaging ecosystems and brutalizing their own citizens. China...
COMMENTARY
Dec 22, 2008

Japan's global invisibility

Friends of Japan abroad understand why Japanese politicians often assume a low profile in international relations. When they don't — as when paying much-publicized official visits to Yasukuni Shrine or taking a recalcitrant position on whaling — they attract criticism.
Reader Mail
Dec 21, 2008

Give cannabis room to grow

Regarding the Nov. 28 article "Cops target online weed seed ads": The cannabis plant is the single most usable plant known to mankind. The fiber of the cannabis plant makes an extraordinarily tough fabric, as for sailcloth, or it can be made into all sorts of garments, some surprisingly soft and others...
Reader Mail
Dec 21, 2008

The right words to get elected

Regarding the Sentaku magazine article published in The Japan Times on Dec. 16, "Japan aches for a political rescue": Hajime Funada should be applauded for summing up the Japanese political landscape so accurately, and the people of Japan should take heed when next deciding whom to cast their votes for....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 21, 2008

The Japanese art of useless homes

Last spring, when the effects of the American sub-prime loan disaster were being felt but the world economy was still relatively OK, there was an article in the Asahi Shimbun written by one of the paper's financial reporters who recalled several years earlier a visit from a friend living in the United...
Reader Mail
Dec 21, 2008

The source of manga culture

Regarding the Dec. 2 Kyodo article "Late 'manga' pioneer Tezuka still the king": I'm a Japanese student studying communications in the United States. I strongly believe that Osamu Tezuka's wonderful manga stories had a lot of influence in Japan. He established the manga culture in Japan, creating a new...
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2008

Chinese reporters push bad-news envelope

HONG KONG — Strange things are happening in the Chinese media. Articles that would normally be expected to be censored have appeared in the establishment press, exposing the possibly illegal behavior of Communist Party officials.

Longform

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