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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2007

Ozawa dances around the U.S. alliance

Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) president Ichiro Ozawa's success in orchestrating the downfall of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is a major victory for his party. It is also arguably the first time since the resignation of Abe's grandfather, Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke in 1960, that a prime minister has...
Reader Mail
Sep 19, 2007

Statistical generalizations miss

I feel that author Agnes Chan shows very limited knowledge about India. In her Sept. 6 article, she makes sweeping statements such as: "Fifty-four percent of Bombay's 16 million residents live in the slums. Only 25 percent live in what would pass in developed countries as apartments and houses."
Reader Mail
Sep 19, 2007

A visit to Bombay's slums

Born, educated and bought up in Bombay, I was surprised to read Agnes Chan's Sept. 6 article, "Bombay's innocent victims of destitution" in a Japanese newspaper. It is noteworthy that UNICEF and the nongovernment organization AMRAE are starting a "Micro-Planning" project in Asia's biggest urban slum....
Reader Mail
Sep 19, 2007

'Criminality' at the gates

Regarding the Sept. 4 article "Hatoyama a hawk on . . . illegal immigrants": It is nice to know that Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama is irked by "immigrants" and that he links them with crime. How ironic it is, then, that recent funding scandals involving farm ministers, Vice Foreign Minister Yukiko...
Reader Mail
Sep 19, 2007

A bigger cost in the long run

I was a little taken aback by the simplistic view of Tom Plate's Sept. 5 article, "What's wrong with talking to save lives?" There is plenty wrong in the instances the author refers to. In the first place, while paying ransom to the Taliban may have saved the lives of those 19 naive and misguided South...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 19, 2007

Tokyo sanctions an extended cull of Taiji dolphins

The photos accompanying this article were shot covertly despite escalating intimidation by members of the Isana Fishery Union in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, who appear to be increasingly fearful that continuing publicity in Japan and abroad will threaten their widely condemned but profitable annual dolphin...
Reader Mail
Sep 19, 2007

Tactless time to ham it up

Regarding the Sept. 5 photograph and article "Iraq troop drawdown may no longer be taboo idea for Bush": From the cheerful smiles of the soldiers posing with U.S. President George W. Bush, one might think this was a picnic photograph taken on the lawn of the White House. It is just more Republican propaganda...
Reader Mail
Sep 16, 2007

Poor sense of visitor comfort

Regarding a recent article on promoting tourism to Japan: It is true that Kyoto is struggling with how to change itself into one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. I think one reason Kyoto is not a popular travel destination is that the quality of people who professionally deal with...
Reader Mail
Sep 16, 2007

Okinawa's old tattoo culture

While I enjoyed the Sept. 6 article "Japanese tattoo art carves its mark in the mainstream," I think the writer left out a very important prefecture with regard to the tattoo industry in Japan. Okinawa had mainstream studios long before they became popular on the mainland.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 16, 2007

A night out — with divorce on the rocks

Ask a friend to name a detective, and legendary sleuths such as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot or Kosuke Kindaichi will probably figure in their reply. Regardless of nationalities, detectives seem to be familiar to many — provided they are fictional characters.
Reader Mail
Sep 16, 2007

Deplorable distortion of message

I agree with Vipan Chandra's opinion in his Sept. 5 letter, "Message of a war-crimes judge," that Japanese nationalists distort the message of the late Indian Justice Radhabinod Pal, who believed that wartime leaders accused at the Tokyo Tribunal were not guilty. That a monument to the judge stands right...
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2007

Taiwan's sad quest for U.N. membership

WATERLOO, Ontario — As the United Nations General Assembly begins its annual session later this month, it will refuse once again to confront an issue where the denial of reality intersects with a negation of the world body's core values.
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Character can't stave off disaster

Tom Plate's comments on Thai vitality and resilience in his Aug. 28 article, "Thai character trumps flaws of politics," were, in my opinion, spot on. He went on to say that due to this national character, Thailand would never become a "gloomy" Myanmar or North Korea. But if one looks deeper, Plate seems...
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Living with the 'Sea of Japan'

Regarding the Aug. 29 article "Despite Korean efforts, geographic conference backs Sea of Japan name": The Koreans need to get over it and move on. Hasn't the name "Sea of Japan" been in use for at least two centuries? It would be more intelligent to move on to more progressive issues, such as creating...
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Pursuit of happiness in Bhutan

In his Aug. 30 article, "Happiness can't be legislated," David Howell writes that "It is not for state authorities to determine which kind of happiness (people) should pursue." He then criticizes the Kingdom of Bhutan for "outlawing television," insisting that everyone wear national dress, and confining...
COMMENTARY
Sep 11, 2007

Stopping sexual abuse of Russian kids

NEW YORK — One of the regrettable consequences of the uneven economic expansion that Russia has experienced in recent times has been the increase in child abuse, particularly child prostitution.
COMMUNITY
Sep 11, 2007

Have your say

The scapegoating of Asa Two thumbs up for James Eriksson and Debito Arudou on their article (Zeit Gist, Sept. 4), the first and only in Japan that actually looks at the facts of the whole (Asashoryu) situation and doesn't just follow the bandwagon of "Asa-bashing."
Reader Mail
Sep 9, 2007

What happens in a big quake?

Regarding the Aug. 31 article "Woman's failed hospital hunt irks minister": It is incomprehensible that nine hospitals turned away a woman who was about to give birth. Does that mean there was not one bed, not one doctor, not one nurse who could have helped this poor woman, and that all the patients...
Reader Mail
Sep 9, 2007

Shaky notion of superiority

Regarding the Sept. 2 Associated Press article datelined San Francisco, "Court rules naval sonar drills trump whale safety": It's tough being a mammal without thumbs, a flag, and weaponry. Writer Mark Twain did not put man at the top of the mammalian totem pole, with reason. What creature endowed with...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 9, 2007

Cardboard-bun incident serves up more distaste for China

Though it wasn't the most significant news story of the summer, the video that circulated worldwide in early July about the Dalian street vendor who sold pork buns stuffed with cardboard was certainly the most fun for local news outlets since it involved two subjects Japanese media can't get enough of:...
Reader Mail
Sep 9, 2007

Japan must address its limits

Regarding the Aug. 30 article "Miscarriage follows ambulance crash after nine hospitals turn woman away": It's extremely sad to lose a baby for whatever reason. When I read that nine hospitals refused to attend to a emergency situation in which a woman was being transported in an ambulance, I didn't...
Reader Mail
Sep 9, 2007

Image of wasteful planning

The front page of The Japan Times on Sept. 1 shows a picture of a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile battery at the Air Self-Defense Force base in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture. The accompanying article says Harumi Pier Park is a prime candidate site for deployment of the missile system in the defense...
COMMENTARY
Sep 7, 2007

APEC's purpose is missing

Each year we have to ask the same question as world leaders drag themselves across the globe, taking days from their crowded schedules, simply to hand out platitudes on the importance of free trade, the environment or some other trendy topic of the day.
Reader Mail
Sep 5, 2007

Open debate on global warming

Professor Christopher Lingle's Aug. 27 article, "Intolerance mars climate change debate," succinctly describes the present sad state of affairs. I am a retired scientist from Environment Canada and have been writing about many uncertainties in the science of global warming and climate change. About...
Reader Mail
Sep 5, 2007

Beware the sponsors of education

Shinichi Terada's implication in his Aug. 17 article, "Rural universities feel pinch of lower enrollments," that the economic troubles of many Japanese universities might be alleviated by applying more market-friendly approaches to their institutional structures and courses of study indicates a frightening...
LIFE / Language
Sep 4, 2007

Garnish your Japanese with some 'humble pie'

Second of two parts
Reader Mail
Sep 2, 2007

Internment-era comparison misses

Regarding the Aug. 25 Kyodo article "Internment-era parallels seen in today's mind-set": Japanese American Citizens League director Floyd Mori seems to be missing one very important yet simple point: Although the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II will always be a black mark on the...
Reader Mail
Sep 2, 2007

Hunt for suspect won't end

Regarding the Aug. 23 article "Hawker believed tortured 1½ days": I would like to express my sorrow for the family of Lindsay Ann Hawker (the 22-year-old English teacher murdered in Chiba Prefecture in March). I believe Japanese authorities will never stop looking for the suspect (Tatsuya Ichihashi,...
Reader Mail
Sep 2, 2007

Partition has often failed

Regarding Gregory Clark's Aug. 27 article, "Hope for peace in partition?": It was with some surprise that I read Clark preach the virtues and minimize the dangers of using partition as a tool to solve intrastate disputes (such as in Iraq). Even if one accepts Clark's view that responsibility for the...

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