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Reader Mail
May 31, 2009

Necessary evil in dangerous times

The May 15 AP article "Britain overzealous in terrorism arrests" was critical of the fact that Britons of South Asian descent are more likely to be detained in antiterrorism raids than any other ethnic groups. I agree that this is unfortunate and discriminatory, but it is nevertheless necessary.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 30, 2009

Women's university in Bangladesh makes appeal for corporate support

As members of the Asian community, more Japanese corporations should help support fledgling Asian University for Women in Bangladesh, one of the keys to the continent's continued growth, according to a board member of the university's support foundation.
JAPAN
May 28, 2009

Upper House frets dispatch authority in antipiracy bill

The opposition-controlled Upper House began deliberations Wednesday on an antipiracy bill that would create a permanent law enabling the Maritime Self-Defense Force to protect the ships of any nation and ease the ban on the use of force.
Japan Times
JAPAN / YOKOHAMA AT 150
May 28, 2009

Chinese immigrants played vital role

Third in a series
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2009

What the Tigers taught al-Qaida

WASHINGTON, THE WASHINGTON POST — It took a pitched two-hour gun battle with Sri Lankan special forces. Then a rocket launched into his armor-plated ambulance. But on May 18, death finally came to Velupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the Tamil Tigers separatist group.
EDITORIALS
May 26, 2009

Pyongyang rolls the dice again

North Korea has announced that it successfully carried out another underground nuclear test on Monday. The nuclear explosion came on the heels of the North's April 5 launching of a long-range rocket, which drew condemnation from the United Nations Security Council in the form of a presidential statement....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 26, 2009

Expat life in Japan: the good, the bad and the meaningful

I am a 46-year-old Caucasian male. I have lived in Japan for 17 years with an attitude toward assimilation that would not be looked upon favorably in my native Australia. I would feel worse about this were it not for an undeniable fact: Compared to the average Westerner in Japan, the moderate level of...
BUSINESS
May 26, 2009

Extra budget plan said wasteful

The government's extra budget for fiscal 2009 worth a record ¥13.9 trillion to combat the economic crisis is likely to be approved by the Diet as early as this week.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
May 26, 2009

Pre-empting an EMP

Dear Prime Minister Taro Aso, I'm writing to urge you to initiate measures that would protect Japan in the event of an EMP attack.
JAPAN
May 26, 2009

More sanctions seen as ineffective

Japan joined the international community in condemning North Korea's nuclear test Monday, but some experts questioned whether imposing further sanctions will help get the reclusive state to drop its nuclear program.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2009

California crisis imperils Obama's agenda

BERKELEY, Calif. — While the new Obama administration is commanding global attention, America's future may be written — as so many times before — in and by its largest state. Once the lodestar for American optimism and achievement, California now illustrates the difficulties confronting the United...
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2009

Life of coalition extended

DELHI, OPINION ASIA — The outcome of the just-concluded 2009 national poll in India reflect continuity because the verdict was clearly in favor of an incumbent coalition government that presages political stability. Equally, the results are indicative of change because voters rejected regional parties,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2009

'The Soloist'

"The Soloist" is a film that easily could have sucked, so it's almost shocking how good it actually turned out to be. I mean, just take the premise: calloused, professional journalist, used to filing his "human interest" stories and moving on, meets a funky, fuzzy-brained homeless dude who's also a musical...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 19, 2009

IC you: bugging the alien

When the Japanese government first issued alien registration cards (aka gaijin cards) in 1952, it had one basic aim in mind: to track "foreigners" (at that time, mostly Korean and Taiwanese stripped of Japanese colonial citizenship) who decided to stay in postwar Japan.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
May 19, 2009

Tackle gender gap in mathematics, reading

Dear ministry of education,
JAPAN
May 18, 2009

Domestic H1N1 flu cases increase to 42

The number of domestic swine flu cases hit 42 on Sunday after 34 high school and college students as well as their family members and teachers in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures were confirmed to have been infected.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 17, 2009

1989: A year of hopes turned sour that we all must live with today

Anniversaries do sometimes matter, but it's not often that the anniversary of an entire year deserves noting and celebrating. However, the year 1989, now 20 years past, marks a crucial turning point in history.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 15, 2009

Deerhunter

Bradford Cox, frontman for Atlanta, Georgia's, self-styled "ambient punks" Deerhunter, tends to attract attention.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 15, 2009

Japan embraces the big cheese

Ask the experts what makes a good cheese, and at some point the conversation is going to get down to grass. After all, cheese comes from milk, and the best milk comes from animals raised on grass.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
May 12, 2009

Kusanagi romp makes waves as real crimes go unpunished

Dear Tokyo Metropolitan Police,
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2009

The audacity of optimism in the Middle East

SINGAPORE — The world will be enveloped in a heavy cloud of gloom and doom this year. Economies will sputter, governments will fall and companies will fail. But the biggest danger of all is a sense of hopelessness. Preventing this requires resolving some large and apparently intractable problem. Closing...
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2009

Let China launch its flattop

China's possession of aircraft carriers is not a matter of if but when. Last November, an official in China's Ministry of National Defense touched for the first time in a public venue on the possibility of his nation acquiring aircraft carriers.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2009

No place left to go after exiting Guantanamo

GUANTANAMO BAY — I write this from the U.S. Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay, where I have been held without charge for almost seven years.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2009

Nuclear spin in Indian polls

DELHI OPINION ASIA — As elections progress, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Congress party are in more trouble over the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal than they will readily acknowledge, with the distinct possibility of losing power.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 5, 2009

Mean streets feared under Tokyo's new safety law

Last month a group of activists called Dystopia Tokyo called a protest against what they described as a "Draconian" new city ordinance by conservative Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
May 5, 2009

On nikkei 'golden parachutes'

Re: Debito Arudou's April 7 Just Be Cause column " 'Golden parachutes' mark failure of race-based policy":

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo