Search - article

 
 
JAPAN
May 14, 2008

Road-tax bill clears Diet

The ruling bloc rammed a bill through the Diet on Tuesday that allows the government to use road-related taxes solely for nationwide road construction for the next 10 years, even though the Cabinet agreed earlier in the day to free up those revenues starting next April.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 14, 2008

Space defense no reason to ax gentler projects

For a country with a constitution "forever renouncing war" (Article 9), Japan spends an awful lot of money on its military. In 2005 it was the fifth largest military spender in the world. And now there is the unsettling news that Japan is expanding its powerful self-defense capability into space.
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2008

Argentine economy, public health unraveling

NEW YORK — A recent visit to Argentina brought home the fact that, just four months after her inauguration, President Cristina Kirchner's government is unraveling.
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2008

Row that demonized China

So now we know, officially, that the U.S. military contemplated a nuclear attack on China during the 1958 Taiwan Strait crisis. But what few realize is how this then led to a violent slanging match between Beijing and Moscow, which in turn was to lead to the Vietnam and other Indochina wars, which in...
Reader Mail
May 11, 2008

The Japanese view of ending life

Regarding David Quintero's May 4 letter, "High Japanese suicide rate mystifies," and the question he poses (Why do so many Japanese people kill themselves?): I don't have a definitive answer, but I have come up with a few theories:
Reader Mail
May 11, 2008

East jump-started West's progress

Guy Sorman's May 1 article, "What exactly is the West," is the most confused piece of writing I ever read, displaying an amazing ignorance of the world and its history that only the French are capable of! Sorman claims the progress made in Europe in the last few centuries, including some progress in...
Reader Mail
May 11, 2008

Measure of Christian influence

I read with great interest Florian Coulmas' May 4 article, "Japan as a land of many religions," which was a review of the book "Prophet Motive" -- about the important role played by Oomoto founder Deguchi Onisaburo, founder of the "highly successful syncretistic sect" Oomoto.
Reader Mail
May 11, 2008

U.S. knew what it wanted in Iraq

Regarding Hiroaki Sato's April 28 article, "Bush's brutal war stirs memories of Vietnam": May I point out one big difference between America's invasion of Vietnam and the internationally illegal one going on in Iraq right now? To this day the world still can't pin down exactly why the United States invaded...
JAPAN
May 10, 2008

For the moment, panel turns aside road tax bill

An Upper House panel rejected a contentious bill Friday to use road-related tax revenue exclusively to pay for road construction for the next 10 years — even though it will likely be rammed through the Diet by the ruling coalition next week.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 9, 2008

A drop of Malbec from down south

Despite being the fifth largest producer of wine in the world, when it comes to quality wines, Argentina has long been in the shadow of neighboring Chile, where spicy Shirazes and surprising Chardonnays have consistently outshone anything from the other side of the Andes.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 6, 2008

Finance Ministry losing its luster

The Finance Ministry has long been known as the most powerful and elitist of Japan's bureaucracy. When Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda repeatedly tried in March to appoint a former vice finance minister as the new Bank of Japan governor — only to be rejected by the opposition-controlled Upper House —...
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Mental check of sailors a good idea

Regarding the April 30 article "U.S. sailors to undergo mental check": The survey seems like a great idea and should have been part of our overseas survey. But people are going to lie about things and lie about stuff they did.
Reader Mail
May 4, 2008

Nuclear attack would be disastrous

Asked what she would do if Iran carried out a nuclear attack on Israel, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton replied: "If I'm president, we (would) attack Iran. . . . We would be able to totally obliterate them."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 4, 2008

Hideki Noda: Acting with joy in his soul

Even in today's theater world in Japan, which tends to venerate age, at just 52 Hideki Noda is already a towering, legendary figure.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2008

African Union has a role to play in Zimbabwe

JOHANNESBURG — Although the Chinese ship that was carrying arms to Zimbabwe, the An Yue Jiang, has reportedly turned back, we don't know where else President Robert Mugabe's military and paramilitary forces may be acquiring weapons.
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2008

Judicial independence infringed

Documents unearthed at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration show that the United States exerted pressure on Japan after a district court made a historically famous 1959 ruling that the U.S. military presence in Japan violated principles of the war-renouncing Constitution. The pressure...
Reader Mail
May 1, 2008

Why fix what's not broken?

Why fix what's not broken?
Reader Mail
May 1, 2008

Admiration for Japanese academia

I am not surprise by the April 15 article reporting that the University of Tokyo ranked 12th among about 3,800 academic and research institute worldwide, with Kyoto University, Osaka University and Tohoku University also ranking high ("Tokyo U. 12th in research papers").
Reader Mail
May 1, 2008

Death penalty is no deterrent

The April 23 article "Kamei seeks to undermine death penalty" states "A 2004 government opinion poll showed that 81.4 percent of respondents supported the death penalty, on the grounds that only capital punishment can provide true closure to the families of the victims, and that executions act as a deterrent...
JAPAN
May 1, 2008

Gas tax bill is rammed through Diet

If you forgot to fill up your gas tank last night, you're out of luck.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2008

State of Korean democracy

Recent National Assembly elections laid bare both the strengths and weaknesses of South Korean democracy. South Korea proved once again to be one of most dynamic democracies in the world, but unless both lawmakers and citizens confront shortcomings in the election rules and political parties, South Korea's...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2008

A failure to influence Bush

HONG KONG — Five years after the toppling of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the United States has precious little to show for its $3 trillion war, except for more than 4,000 American military dead (1,000 more than perished in the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11), 150,000 Iraqis killed, 1.5 million...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Apr 29, 2008

Seller of educational toys finds a niche

With relatively few parks to run around in, many children spend long hours either at cram schools or playing their hand-held game consoles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 29, 2008

Judiciary's 'snake legs' exposed

On April 17 the Nagoya High Court ruled that the dispatch of Air Self-Defense Force personnel to Iraq was unconstitutional. While the ruling made news, it will probably not make much difference to Japan's foreign policy. Its significance may be nothing more than academic — after all, despite the headlines...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 29, 2008

By-election loss adds to Fukuda's troubles

The Liberal Democratic Party's defeat in the Lower House by-election in the Yamaguchi No. 2 district on Sunday is yet another blow to the already reeling Cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
Reader Mail
Apr 27, 2008

Moral 'progress' is debatable

Professor Peter Singer's April 17 article, "Have we finally achieved moral progress?," is insightful and interesting. He is right in that we have made progress in the areas of racial and gender equality. Our Eastern societies need more gender equality. Nevertheless, Singer's views are Eurocentric in...
Reader Mail
Apr 27, 2008

Protests serve to remind

Regarding the April 16 article "What China and the world must do now," I am surprised and disappointed that professor Tom Plate understands so little about the anti-Chinese protests sweeping the world. I and everyone else are well aware of the fact that China regards Tibet as a part of China. The problem...
EDITORIALS
Apr 27, 2008

Ruling restricts free speech

The Supreme Court's Second Petit Bench on April 11 found three antiwar activists guilty of trespassing when they entered a housing compound of the Self-Defense Forces in Tachikawa, Tokyo, in January and February 2004 to distribute leaflets urging SDF personnel and their family members to oppose the deployment...
Reader Mail
Apr 27, 2008

One-sided view of military burden

Your April 15 editorial "Funding for U.S. military facilities" is, unfortunately, consistent with a trend that's fairly prevalent in the Japanese media -- the one-sided theme of the "burden" borne by Japan for hosting U.S. military facilities. In this editorial the burden was financial, in others...
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Good reason for over-narration

Regarding the April 13 article "Media Mix" by Philip Brasor: The simple reason why some NHK programs are over-narrated is so that the visually impaired can follow the action of what is happening. I hope this clears the matter up as I have seen this comment made in other newspapers. terence o'brien

Longform

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