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Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2007

More than a mother's life

Regarding the June 21 article "Jehovah's Witness shuns blood, dies": The medical establishment has a duty to protect life. When a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect gave birth in May by Caesarean section and then refused a blood transfusion to save her life, the Osaka hospital's decision to allow...
Reader Mail
Jul 1, 2007

Unwelcome candidate in Japan

Regarding the June 20 article "Fugitive Fujimori is asked to run for Diet": It is completely unbelievable to me that a man like Alberto Fujimori is given the chance to participate in Japanese politics after all the stealing and twisted politics he is alleged to have taken part in as the president of...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 1, 2007

Food for thought — and a writ to go

Dear Reader: Today I bring you news of the most chilling and awful purport. Don't worry, it doesn't affect you — at least I hope it doesn't. It is yours truly who is getting the short end of the chopstick on this one. I tell you, I feel as if I've been reborn with a greasy spoon in my mouth — but...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 1, 2007

Immigrant workers in Japan caught in a real racket

The debate over whether Japan should allow foreign workers in to make up for current and future labor shortages is dominated by the so-called foreign trainee program, which is overseen by the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization (JITCO). The program is itself the subject of a debate,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 29, 2007

David Helfgott: Genius reborn

Critical praise — not public adulation — has eluded piano virtuoso David Helfgott since his life inspired the hit movie 'Shine.' But that's fine by him
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jun 29, 2007

Taste receptors bow to flavor god

It used to be said that the human tongue perceived flavor in the form of four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Then a Japanese scientist, Ikeda Kikunae (1864-1936), detected a rich, satisfying taste common to meat, cheese and Japanese dashi (stock) — among other things — which couldn't...
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2007

Profiting off a soft target

Regarding the June 17 article "Sony apologizes for using cathedral in violent video game": As a longtime resident of Japan and a one-time Sony investor, I would like to ask the responsible people at Sony Computer Entertainment to consider the consequences if they had used another place besides Manchester...
Reader Mail
Jun 27, 2007

Flaky respect for a contract

Regarding the June 12 Lifelines column under "Renewal fees revisited": A correspondent writes that he has refused to pay a rental contract renewal fee even though the contract obliges him to do so, and that he still lives in his apartment. The correspondent cites as justification a court decision supporting...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2007

Tobacco watch on public health policy

BANGKOK — A powerful consensus is emerging among health advocates and public officials around the world that the tobacco industry should not have any influence on public health policies.
Reader Mail
Jun 24, 2007

Appalling amount of plastic waste

Regarding a recent article about trash on Mount Fuji: As a frequent visitor to Japan, which I love, I am appalled at the amount of consumption and disposal that goes on. Most citizens are quite scrupulous about putting the right materials into recycling bins, but the quantities are staggering. So many...
Reader Mail
Jun 24, 2007

Poor case for conservatism

George Will's June 4 article, "Making a case for U.S. conservatism," was a reminder of how out of touch conservative intellectuals can be. Will's self-importance really comes through when he implies that the Republican Party's return to the traditional philosophical precepts of conservatism would be...
Reader Mail
Jun 24, 2007

Tenure at American universities

Regarding Takamitsu Sawa's June 12 article, "School tinkering that hurts": Contrary to Sawa's assertion, it is publishing prowess -- not instructional effectiveness -- that still determines tenure at American universities. Moreover, assistant professors are able to advance to associate professors and...
Reader Mail
Jun 20, 2007

Lee's Yasukuni visit disappointing

Regarding the June 8 article "Lee courts discord with Yasukuni visit": Lee Teng-hui was regarded as a democracy advocate during his years as Taiwan's president. The Taiwanese fully appreciate his contributions to Taiwan's society and economy. But his June 7 visit to Yasukuni Shrine (to offer a prayer...
Reader Mail
Jun 20, 2007

Time to prevail on Pyongyang

Regarding the June 5 article "North Korea family was desperate to escape": I was so touched by the plight of the four refugees and the worsening social and economic situation in North Korea. This family made a very dangerous move and could have perished at sea. I believe that many have tried to take...
Reader Mail
Jun 17, 2007

Distortion of Canberra's policies

Once again, Owen Eather, in his June 6 letter "Principled stand helped East Asia," manages to distort my remarks completely. In my May 28 Opinion page article, "More compelling than common sense," I say nothing about Australia's economic progress. I say nothing about the merits, or otherwise, of U.S....
Reader Mail
Jun 17, 2007

Multicultural challenges await

Regarding Mark Schreiber's June 10 translation ("Students: Take this job and shove it") of a recent Flash article: I have to admit that, being a senior business student at York University in Toronto, Canada, I somewhat envy Japanese graduates who have the luxury of declining multiple-job offers on such...
Reader Mail
Jun 17, 2007

Reagan liked a number of people

Regarding the May 24 article "Reagan thought Nakasone 'best' Japan leader": It might be noted that in the early 1980s, Reagan also admired Saddam Hussein (fighting the Iranians) and even Panama's little drug-dealing dictator Manuel Noriega, who is now sitting quietly in a Florida prison cell after being...
Reader Mail
Jun 17, 2007

Still waiting for the truth

Alan Goodall's May 29 article, "A prodigal divides Australia" -- about Australian David Hicks, who was detained at Guantanamo Bay for five years without charges and recently returned to Australia to serve a nine-month sentence after plea-bargaining to the very recent charge of "providing material support...
Reader Mail
Jun 13, 2007

Warped sense of heroic action

I was disturbed to read the May 27 Associated Press article under the headline "Alabama boy kills monstrous wild hog after 3-hour chase." An 11-year-old boy is presented as a young hero for his achievement in finally shooting a wild boar point-blank in the head with a high-powered pistol.
Reader Mail
Jun 13, 2007

Taiwan's Lee deserves courtesy

In Robyn Lim's June 2 article, "Lee should avoid Yasukuni," Lim grudgingly admits that, as a private citizen, former Taiwanese President Lee Tung-hui is free to visit Japan and has a right to religious freedom, which includes paying a visit to Yasukuni Shrine (Lee did visit the shrine June 7). Yet she...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 12, 2007

Media scream 'yellow peril'

Days after the broken body of British teacher Lindsay Hawker was discovered in a fourth-floor flat in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, when the media feeding frenzy was at its most intense, a newspaper editor called me from London.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 10, 2007

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door — but no answer

Two deaths made headlines on May 28. Izumi Sakai, the lead singer of the pop group ZARD, was found at the bottom of an outdoor staircase at Keio University Hospital, where she was undergoing treatment for cancer. Her management quickly released a statement to pre-empt media speculation that the death...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 9, 2007

Koshu Project sets out to redefine Japanese wine

Ernest Singer is young at heart, with six children from three different families, and an office with staff members mostly half his age. "It's the young that have the passion that Millesimes thrives upon," he explains, navigating a sea of desks and concentrated faces.
Reader Mail
Jun 6, 2007

Principled stand helped East Asia

Regarding Gregory Clark's May 28 article, "More compelling than common sense": Clark is at it again about poor, dysfunctional, ineffectual Australia. Never mind the almost 11 years of record economic growth we have had, together with a strong and warm relationship with Japan -- all, apparently, accidents...
Reader Mail
Jun 6, 2007

Statue out of place for years

Regarding Gwynne Dyer's May 24 article, "Baltic cyberwar nothing but a squabble": As an Estonian historian and writer with works published in 22 countries, I suggest that Dyer research his theme better before writing about it. Both my grandfathers, Estonian senior officers, were murdered in Russian camps,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2007

An arsonist is sentenced

The Yamagata District Court has sentenced a 66-year-old man to eight years in prison for setting the house of Liberal Democratic lawmaker Koichi Kato on fire in August 2006. Circumstances show that it was a clear attempt to suppress opinion by means of violence.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2007

Political pressure puts press freedom to test

, director of the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization, announces during a news conference on March 7 the formation of a new subcommittee to prevent fabricated information from being broadcast by TV stations. KYODO PHOTO

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan