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Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Refute opinions, don't ban them

The intolerant attitude displayed in Bruce Collins' June 26 letter, "A name for indentured servitude," is unfortunately fairly commonplace among Americans. This is no doubt why they have a Patriot Act, have continued to hold prisoners at Guantanamo Bay for years without either indictment or trial, and...
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Customary trust on shaky ground

Regarding the July 1 article "Customs officials had habit of planting drugs" (which reported that three customs officials at Narita airport had planted cannabis resin in travelers' bags more than 160 times to train drug sniffer dogs in violation of Tokyo Customs' rules): Might the same officials have...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 6, 2008

The shrine of controversy

YASUKUNI: The War Dead and the Struggle for Japan's Past, edited by John Breen. London: Hurst Publishers, 2007, 202 pp., £25 (cloth) Yasukuni Shrine resonates powerfully in contemporary Asia, dividing Japanese and alienating regional neighbors. In April, some conservative Japanese politicians' criticisms...
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Asking for trouble from police

Regarding Debito Arudou's July 1 Just Be Cause column, "July forecast: rough with ID checks mainly in the north": Arudou claims he was stopped at Chitose Airport (Sapporo) last month merely for being "Caucasian." Yet, on his own Web site, Arudou admitted that he had "hung around" and had a tape recorder...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 6, 2008

Peace follows turbulent times

"It was a nightmare," laughs Tokyo-based author David Peace of a recent trip to Paris to promote the French version of his most successful novel, "The Damned Utd."
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 6, 2008

Hillman aims for Sapporo-like success in K.C.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last November at his sayonara party in Tokyo, I semi-promised outgoing Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman I would travel to Kansas City in 2008 to see him in action as skipper of the American League Royals. Last month, I made good on that promise.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 6, 2008

Noguchi strives to be 1st female to win Olympic marathon twice

Mizuki Noguchi is chasing history.
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Ode to the charms of Fukuoka

I read with some elation the June 26 article "Fukuoka world's best shopping city: Monocle magazine survey." Having lived in Fukuoka, I rate it the best-kept secret in Japan, a gem set beside a blue bay. The public transport system is good, and the subway system connects major centers of commercial business...
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Officials deserve to be charged

As if the international traveler doesn't have enough to worry about with a long flight, long lines, cramped seating and proper travel documents, now we have illegal drugs or contraband being planted in luggage. This violation of rules by enforcement officials could jeopardize a traveler's entry into...
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 6, 2008

Reds striker Tanaka shines in first league appearance since April

SAITAMA — Urawa Reds striker Tatsuya Tanaka gave national team manager Takeshi Okada food for thought as he helped his side get back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over FC Tokyo on Saturday night.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 6, 2008

Was the Japanese language influenced by Tamil? The war goes on

For years I have been watching from the sidelines as the opponents battle it out. For the players this fight will go on and on, and the theater of war is right here.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Glimpses into Japan's frontier

Hokkaido is seen as a prefecture apart, where the vastnesses are vaster, the wilds wilder and the splendor more splendid than anywhere else in Japan. The Group of Eight summit attendees and other summer visitors will have a chance to see for themselves at the 11 national or quasi-national parks in Hokkaido,...
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Security concerns take priority

Although I can fully appreciate Debito Arudou's frustration (expressed in his July 1 column), he signals to me that his emotions control him more than the larger security concerns. If there were any terrorists waiting to cause trouble in Hokkaido during this week's Group of Eight summit, he gave them...
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Foreigners who became geisha

Regarding the June 29 article "Aussie geisha speaks out": Why does The Japan Times identify Fiona Graham as the first foreign geisha? American anthropologist Liza Dalby (who spent her first year in Japan with a Saga City family in the 1960s) became a geisha more than 20 years ago. james guthrie
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Nineteen artists go cup to cup in Japan's first 'latte art' contest

Nineteen artists gathered at Blenz Coffee in Tokyo's Aoyama district Saturday to show off their skill at "latte art," a tasty endeavor that uses coffee as the canvas for creating paintings from foam milk.
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2008

Tough tasks on G8's agenda

Japan hosts a summit of the advanced industrialized nations' leaders for the fifth time from Monday to Wednesday. Leaders of the Group of Eight nations who gather in Toyako, Hokkaido, will discuss how to overcome major problems troubling the international community, such as global warming, steep rises...
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT SPECIAL: JAPANESE ECONOMY
Jul 6, 2008

Time for Japan to take technological lead in combating global warming

At the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Kuala Lumpur on June 15 to 16, participants called for a fresh paradigm for dialogue to tackle mounting global risks, particularly climate change that threatens the global environment. They said global risks have reached a point where the advanced countries...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 6, 2008

Driving scams abound in the world of the bureaucrat

As long as I've lived in Tokyo, I've wondered why the city's public transportation system, maybe the best in the world, doesn't operate round the clock. One of the explanations I've heard is that taxi companies have successfully campaigned against any extension of train and bus services past midnight....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Jul 6, 2008

Nissan stages own 'Olympics' to get ahead in hard times

Imagine you are a marketing mogul at one of Japan's big carmakers. Your job is to get the world's motoring press driving your cars, generate international exposure and spread the word about your company's products. And right now car sales are plummeting in many countries as rising oil prices hit consumers...
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT SPECIAL: JAPANESE ECONOMY
Jul 6, 2008

Toyako 2008: lessons from Japan

In 1936, when Keynes wrote the "General Theory," the world's key economic problem was unemployment. There were too many people and not enough jobs.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Toyota leads charge for new 'green' power source

As the world warms and gasoline prices rise, Japanese automakers are gearing up their efforts to develop vehicles that emit less or zero carbon dioxide.
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2008

Big challenge facing society

Thank you for publishing the July 1 Zeit Gist article, "Society's role in Kato's crime." After living in Japan for more than four years now, I have witnessed a steady decline in economic conditions and morale among the masses. Having a family and a modest income, and living in a regional center, I am...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 6, 2008

Dramas about a doomed escape attempt, sibling rivalries, and a homeless junior high student

One of the most infamous episodes of the Pacific War was the attempted escape by 1,100 Japanese prisoners of war from Australia's Camp Cowra on Aug. 5, 1944.

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped