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COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2008

Permanent SDF overseas deployment law endangers democracy

The Japanese government wants permanent legal authority to send military forces overseas. Letting it have it would be a mistake for many reasons, but one seldom raised is the impact the move would have on the nature of Japan's democracy. A law conferring permanent authority to deploy troops would eliminate...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 20, 2008

Ainu: indigenous in every way but not by official fiat

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples last Sept. 13, with Japan among the 144 member states voting in favor.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 6, 2008

As parent firm posts record profits, Berlitz teachers strike back

Question: How do you get to be on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires? You might inherit your wealth, take risks and get lucky, or work for it. For Soichiro Fukutake, owner of Berlitz's parent company Benesse, it's a case of "all the above."
EDITORIALS
Apr 20, 2008

Major ruling on SDF's Iraq mission

The Nagoya High Court Thursday ruled that the Air Self-Defense Force's mission in Iraq includes activities that violate the war-renouncing Constitution. It rejects the government's explanations concerning the dispatch of an ASDF unit to Iraq. Although the government says that the ruling does not bind...
Reader Mail
Apr 17, 2008

Cracking down on forced marriages

The March 13 article "U.K. gets tough on arranged marriages" explains the result of Britain's investigation of 400 forced marriages. There are over 1.8 million Muslims in Britain, and a conclusion was reached that most forced marriages take place in Britain's Muslim communities. The article notes that...
Reader Mail
Apr 3, 2008

Piece captures spirit of Ireland

I am a 17-year-old student from Ireland. While on the Internet, I stumbled across the March 30 article by Roger Pulvers titled "Ireland -- from the quintessence of reaction -- to what." I have never read an article that has captured my imagination so greatly. Never has my nation's soul and the identity...
Reader Mail
Mar 30, 2008

Speaking of the Japanese people

Brad Glosserman's March 24 article, "Japan peers into the abyss," was interesting and well written, but the enjoyment I derived from reading it was significantly hampered by the repeated misuse of the word "Japanese."
Reader Mail
Mar 16, 2008

Realities of caring for pets

Regarding Philip Brasor's March 9 article, "Crown Prince could lead the way in effort for mutt emancipation": Thank you for this fantastic article. I was very pleased to see this oft-neglected issue receive good coverage. Japan is very behind in education regarding pets, and it does not help that we...
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2008

Top court throws out Yokohama Incident suit

The Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit Friday filed by relatives of five deceased journalists who were convicted of promoting communism in the 1940s and charged with violating the now-defunct Peace Preservation Law.
Reader Mail
Mar 13, 2008

Beyond a 'functional' world

In his letter of Feb. 24, "Critique of culinary culture," Grant Piper confesses to being a "food barbarian." How, and why, a "food barbarian" can criticize top chefs in the Feb. 21 article "Tokyo's samurai chefs devoted to their craft" is a bit confusing.
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2008

Obstacles to overcome in the development of a concert of Asia-Pacific democracies

NEW DELHI — The new Australian government is signaling a wish to turn its back on an initiative bringing four major democracies of the Asia-Pacific together, even as U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has vowed to institutionalize that venture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 19, 2008

CO2 trading mirrors, but still smoke?

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, the world has been spewing out greenhouse gases that now threaten the global ecosystem. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 379.1 parts per million in 2005, or 35 percent higher than the estimated level before...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 25, 2007

Who? Me? Otaku?

"Otaku" culture is spreading over the globe. Perhaps we are all otaku now? My wife tells me I'm an otaku — should I be worried? If you haven't encountered the word, here is Wikipedia's definition: "a derisive Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly 'anime' and...
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2007

Fingerprinting issue trivialized

The Nov. 27 article by Mark Schreiber, "Prints rejected, scribe accepted," described Schreiber's re-entry to Japan after a trip to Saipan that appears to have been made purely for the opportunity to write the piece. The tone and conclusion made light of what many view as a serious issue, and were touted...
Reader Mail
Nov 29, 2007

America is not 'the world'

I wanted to comment on the peculiar use of the word "world" in The Japan Times and indeed the Japanese media generally. It is only the Japanese media and Japanese politicians who do this when referring to the opinion of the U.S. government. This apparently subconscious phenomenon seems unique to Japan,...
Reader Mail
Oct 28, 2007

Does decency go beyond the pale?

Debito Arudou's bruising critique of the government's "Public Survey on the Defense of Human Rights" (Oct. 23 Zeit Gist article, "Human rights survey stinks") leaves one question unanswered: If 59.3 percent of respondents agreed that foreigners should have the same human rights protection as Japanese,...
Reader Mail
Oct 18, 2007

Improving on foreign concepts

As the Sept. 23 article "Japanese: a language in a state of flux" suggests, Japan has a long history of cultural and intellectual importation, ranging from language to literary stylistics.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 2, 2007

You have to appear to be a complete loser in Japan to get benefits

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's vision for a "beautiful country" stresses self-reliance. The media usually translates this aim in national defense terms: a stronger military that doesn't have to duck behind the United States. To the average person it simply means you're on your own. That buzz word of several...
Reader Mail
Jul 22, 2007

Lots of fun but too few facts

I'd like to say that Amy Chavez's July 14 article, "Bathhouse dress codes, or tell Yo! mama, no army boots!," offended me. Chavez mentions the "capsule hotel" in Japan. The article states: "Now imagine putting a Japanese-size person inside a space like that, just long and wide enough for him to lie...
Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 12, 2007

JCP will go own way regardless of election outcome

The Japanese Communist Party will not form an alliance with the Democratic Party of Japan or any other party regardless of how the July 29 House of Councilors election turns out, according to party leader Kazuo Shii.
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 7, 2007

Tanaka won't disband party, despite defections

New Party Nippon leader and ex-Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka announced Friday his party would carry on even though its only two lawmakers said they are going to leave and become independents.
Reader Mail
Jun 24, 2007

Cute description of creation

Regarding Rowan Hooper's June 13 article, "Religion's cute, but creation chemistry is complex": Until I read this article, it had never occurred to me that religion might be described as "cute." Rather, it is Hooper's description that strikes me as cute.
Reader Mail
Jun 17, 2007

Effects of social disparity

Tom Plate's June 8 article, "When getting rich impoverishes society," is the most eloquent summary of the effects of social disparity that I have seen. It should preface all economics education in the classroom. I feel that the greed/power factor is what makes all economic systems fail. I respect...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 17, 2007

Stand by your language — but not as a nationalist icon

Last month, on May 21 to be exact, something caught my eye in the English-language IHT/Asahi Shimbun newspaper. In an article headlined "Holistic patriotic education still missing," Professor Nobukatsu Fujioka of Takushoku University in Tokyo made an impassioned plea for Japanese children to be imbued...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2007

A 'socially accepted' act of child abuse

Last October the Supreme Court of Japan unanimously dismissed a young woman's final appeal of an Osaka High Court ruling that had found no illegality in her father's self-admitted act of suddenly touching her breast for a few seconds to "measure her sexual growth" when she was 11 years old.
Reader Mail
Jun 3, 2007

Old image of Serbia sells

The May 24 article "Appeasing Serbia hurts EU," by Natasa Kandic and Mabel Van Oranje, is one-sided in the sense that it focuses on Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica without making single mention of the more democratic President Boris Tadic, who is far more dedicated to turning former Bosnian...
Reader Mail
Jun 3, 2007

Suggested recipes bizarre

Regarding the May 24 article "Appeasing Serbia hurts EU": All those who are familiar and informed are well aware that Serbia was subjected to unprecedented international sanctions during the long rule of Slobodan Milosevic. Serbia was eventually bombed in 1999 without the approval of the U.N. Security...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 27, 2007

'Containment' time warp sours hopes that Yeltsin spawned

Nearly 60 years ago, in July 1947, American diplomat George Kennan published what was to become the single most influential article in modern American diplomatic history.
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Man arrested in Kobe stabbing had been staying at hotel near victim’s home
Masashi Tanimoto arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman in Kobe, is sent to prosecutors on Sunday.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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