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Reader Mail
Feb 19, 2008

What a difference a 'pilot' makes

Regarding the Feb. 14 article "Australian lawmakers deliver official apology to Aborigines": How long I have waited for this! I first read about the "stolen generation" in 1999 while I was staying in Australia. At first I could not believe that there was such a sad past in Australian history. But after...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 19, 2008

Sitting out but standing tall

In "Japan at War: An Oral History," Hideo Sato recalls being forced to hoist the Hinomaru flag in tandem with the playing of the "Kimigayo" — "His Majesty's Reign," the Japanese national anthem — as a schoolchild in the 1940s. If the flag reached the top of the pole too early the teachers would beat...
Reader Mail
Feb 17, 2008

Whale calves hunted for years

Regarding C.W. Nicol's Feb. 9 article, "Killing calves makes Japan's whaling indefensible": It is surprising that the author finds it indefensible that calves and their mothers are killed in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary under special permits issued by the Japanese authorities. Since 1986 it has...
Reader Mail
Feb 17, 2008

Stoking more distrust of foreigners

Regarding the Feb. 13 article "Okinawa rape case sparks resentment": So the Japanese government and people are "outraged" by another alleged rape of an underage Okinawan schoolgirl by a U.S. Marine. Is it just me who thinks these outpourings of outrage are driven by the fact that a foreigner is involved...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Feb 17, 2008

Japan's 'pouch curry' turns a tasty 40

Fancy a feast? Un petit peu du foie gras, perchance? A slice or three of the finest Aberdeen Angus roast beef, if you will — with lashings of horseradish, sans doute. Or, drop a plastic pouch of curry into boiling water, wait for 3 minutes, pour it over rice and — voila! — you have a meal fit for...
Reader Mail
Feb 14, 2008

Possible link to hospital infections

Regarding the Feb. 10 Kyodo article "Sapporo hospital probed over five infection deaths": Did all of the patients infected with the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium undergo the same medical procedure, such as bronchoscopy?
Reader Mail
Feb 14, 2008

Let tourists know where they stand

Regarding the Feb. 7 article "Tsukiji looks to curb glut of pesky tourists": There is no question that there are too many tourists in Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, although whether they are "pesky" is a matter of opinion. It's a wonder it has taken the merchants this long to say something.
Reader Mail
Feb 14, 2008

Overcoming biofuel drawbacks

Regarding the Los Angeles Times article published in The Japan Times on Feb. 7, "Studies say gas emissions raised by biofuel farming": Current discussions remind me of early discussions in Europe about reusable glass bottles and plastic bottles. The logic then was that glass could be reused (good) while...
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 10, 2008

Eyewitness: Burma from the inside

Burma's Bloody September came home to people in Japan with the slaying of veteran freelance photojournalist Kenji Nagai on Sept. 27, 2007 in Yangon during a mass demonstration. The video clip showing him being gunned down by a Burmese soldier at point-blank range was repeatedly aired, arousing public...
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2008

More pressing than sports patrol

Regarding the Feb. 3 Associated Press article "Goodell having trouble shedding Spygate controversy": I would like to thank U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (a Pennsylvania Republican) for his interest in keeping the National Football League free of rule-breakers. It's nice to see our elected officials working...
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2008

Let the Crown Princess breathe

Regarding the Feb. 7 Associated Press article "Crown Princess panned for living high": The Crown Princess's free-time activities make up one of the biggest nonstories I think I've ever read. Going riding and dining at a Mexican restaurant are hardly indulgences that are going to tip the country back...
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2008

Patriotic love can't be compelled

Regarding the Feb. 5 article "Kanagawa to keep tracking anti-anthem instructors": Any country that attempts to compel anyone, for any reason, to stand and sing a patriotic song should stop and ask itself why it would be necessary to do this.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 10, 2008

Risk-taking 'Cure' for J-Horror

THE FILMS OF KIYOSHI KUROSAWA: Master of Fear, by Jerry White. Berkeley, CA: Stonebridge Press, 2007, $19.95 (paper) Kiyoshi Kurosawa has been an international cult favorite since the release of "Cure," his breakthrough film, in 1997. Telling the strange tale of a blanked-out young man who hypnotizes...
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2008

Japan losing place on world stage, business leaders warn

KYOTO — Kansai's annual gathering of business leaders closed Friday in Kyoto, wrapping up two days of warnings that Japan is losing its place on the world stage due to the country's political situation and because its people have become too inward-looking.
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2008

Overseas duty has its perks

Kiroku Hanai, as a journalist, should have done a better background check for his Jan. 28 article, "Haves and have-nots in golf." The reason that U.S. military personnel have lower golfing fees at their bases in Japan is simple: They are ordered to serve their country overseas and, as such, receive...
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2008

Money wasted on road projects

Shimane Prefecture assemblyman Yuzo Sasaki's comments in the Feb. 2 article "Gas levy vital for maintaining rural roads" really struck a nerve. He said "those roads are not unnecessary" and "there are still many roads that need to be built."
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2008

Sources of mercury-tainted tuna

According to a recent article, Japanese say the best tuna comes from off the coasts of Japan. It is known that Japanese ships are present in the Mediterranean, off the coasts of Sicily, catching many tuna that are flown to Japan daily. The other day, in Italy, information came out that "Sicilian" tuna,...
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2008

The full story on food safety

Regarding the Feb. 1 front-page article "Poisonings from tainted Chinese 'gyoza' ": Admittedly Tianyang Food and its ilk (along with the Chinese government) have miles to go in terms of ensuring product safety and accepting responsibility once something goes awry. But it takes two to tango, as they...
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2008

U.S. naval actions provocative

Regarding the Jan. 30 article "Asia's high stake in Persian Gulf Stability": In writing about the Jan. 6 Strait of Hormuz incident, Michael Richardson states that "challenges to the right of unimpeded transit passage by warships . . . are inherently dangerous." While that is true, the fault lies with...
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2008

View from newsstand on a clear day

Regarding the Jan. 30 Kyodo article "Wrapping comes off Japan's second-tallest condo complex": Don't you think that citing the tallest condo is important? Or was that not mentioned in the press release? The latest quake-resistant technology? Do tell.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 3, 2008

'Pimp' my road — For bureaucrats, it's business as usual

It's that time of year again, when the highways and byways of Japan are suddenly filled with construction crews tearing up asphalt for repair and maintenance work. That's because the annual budgets of the crews' public-sector employers must be used up before the end of the fiscal year in March, regardless...
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2008

Feeding on the fear of failure

Regarding the Jan. 25 article "Cram school in public junior high gets metro nod": Just like the defunct Nova language-instruction chain, juku organizations are private businesses that specialize in academic instruction primarily for money. If people think that paying more is better and decide to spend...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2008

Japan-China relations: Building a creative partnership requires creative approaches

"When Fukuda comes, Fuku ('fortune' in Japanese and Chinese) has arrived!"
Reader Mail
Jan 31, 2008

Waste should figure into tax debate

Regarding the Jan. 24 article "Prefectural lawmakers rally in praise of gas taxes": Why haven't specific numbers been presented in the news covering the gasoline-tax debate? On average, how much money does the government receive from gasoline taxes (including diesel, etc.), road taxes and car inspection...
Reader Mail
Jan 31, 2008

Justice minister's cultural brains

David McNeill's Jan. 27 article, "Justice minister talks in death-penalty riddles," cites a clunky and faulty translation of an interview with Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama. However one may disagree with Hatoyama's civilization theories, his arguments are clear. According to the interview, as published...
Reader Mail
Jan 31, 2008

Domestic coverage could be better

As a reader for nearly 30 years, I recently switched my subscription from one of the other English-language dailies because I felt The Japan Times' coverage of domestic news was far superior. That said, there is always room for improvement, and I would like to offer two examples. In the Jan. 25 issue,...
Reader Mail
Jan 31, 2008

Fukuda knows what comes first

Brad Glosserman asserts in his Jan. 23 article, "False choices for Tokyo," that "the unblinking focus on domestic politics" under Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration is severely hampering the U.S.-Japan alliance. If this seems true to Glosserman, the reason is probably that once again an...

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