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Japan Times
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Apr 24, 2008

Kitajima eager for challenge

Kosuke Kitajima prepares for this summer's Beijing Olympics as the reigning Olympic champion in the men's 100- and 200-meter breaststroke races. But instead of considering himself the king of the hill, he will stand on the starting block with the mind-set of a challenger.
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Cutting U.S. service-member crime

Your April 9 editorial "Murder in Yokosuka" is very appropriate and timely. Criminal cases involving American soldiers are becoming far too numerous for comfort and there is a need to work out new arrangements so that such criminals are treated as such, and are not given any special privileges by virtue...
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Good reason for over-narration

Regarding the April 13 article "Media Mix" by Philip Brasor: The simple reason why some NHK programs are over-narrated is so that the visually impaired can follow the action of what is happening. I hope this clears the matter up as I have seen this comment made in other newspapers. terence o'brien
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2008

Japan vows to build 1,000 new schools in Africa

Japan pledged Wednesday to provide aid to finance construction of 1,000 new schools in Africa with a total of 5,500 classrooms over the next five years, setting a key numerical target ahead of planned major international conferences later this year.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 24, 2008

Suns' mental gaffes inexcusable

NEW YORK — What better time to dramatize then after the first games of the first series of an inexorable playoff season? Beginning with the Spurs-Suns showdown. . .
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2008

Now it's food versus fuel

What is the next great global problem we have to fear? The answer is not climate change and global warming, but food shortage and starvation. Suddenly, and in ways largely unforeseen by experts, a serious shortage of food supplies, especially corn and rice, has crept up on the world. The result has been...
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Release 'Yasukuni' overseas

Regarding the decision by some cinemas not to screen Chinese director Li Ying's documentary "Yasukuni," it seems that once again Japanese conservatives have exerted their strict control over political expression and the right to free speech. The movie's producers should submit "Yasukuni" to all the...
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

CPR article could save lives

According to the April 2 article "Skip mouth-to-mouth: CPR ruled just as good with hands only," the American Heart Association has announced that simple uninterrupted chest presses at the rate of 100 times a minute could save a life in a case of a sudden cardiac arrest in adults. Evidently, in contrast...
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Bring back old weather map

Could we please have the informative old weather map back? The new, static chart is so dumbed down as to be almost worthless. It essentially informs us that some time today there may be some kind of precipitation. The high and low forecast temperatures are unreadable. There is nothing about any winds...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2008

Warming up Tokyo-Seoul ties

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak's visit to Japan this week heralds the start of a new relationship between South Korea and Japan. It is the first visit to Japan by a South Korean president since December 2004, when Mr. Roh Moo Hyun met with then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Prime Minister Yasuo...
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

How to promote Japanese

The April 17 article "Tenfold boost in overseas Japanese language centers planned" unfortunately makes the Japanese government look rather childish and pathetic as it continues to try to one-up China in areas that are beyond its control. A 10-fold increase in language schools is a good thing, but one...
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2008

U.S. candidates' top target: China

Ever since the Tiananmen Square military crackdown of 1989, China has become an issue in domestic American politics, usually with the party in power — either Republican or Democratic — being attacked by the opposition party for not being tough enough toward Beijing.
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Produce food, not missiles

I applaud the recent decision by the Japanese Cabinet to extend economic sanctions against North Korea. North Korea poses a big threat to Asia due to its hardheaded response to calls for nuclear-arms disarmament. North Korea should feed its hungry people instead of building life-destroying missiles....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2008

One hell of a time

What wasn't to like about an artist who painted the scroll "Hard Times in Hell," in which the king of Hell and his coterie of demons ascend to paradise in search of more suitable employment?
Reader Mail
Apr 24, 2008

Keep out torch-protection unit

Recently I saw video footage of members of the Chinese government's Olympic Games Sacred Flame Protection Unit -- reportedly from the same paramilitary People's Armed Police that crush protesters in Beijing and Tibet -- roughing up Britons in Britain and Frenchmen in France. It is odd that the Olympic...
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2008

With credit tight, real estate growth tails off

Japan's real estate market is becoming lackluster after the growth of the past few years due to the ripple effect of the credit squeeze triggered by the U.S. subprime mortgage loan crisis.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2008

Death-penalty foe fined by court

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday overturned a lower court ruling and fined lawyer Yoshihiro Yasuda ¥500,000 for obstructing compulsory seizures of the assets of his client by moneylenders between 1993 and 1996.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear