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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jun 30, 2008

Justices made right call on habeas corpus

Among the commentaries I've read about a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the one from George F. Will (The Japan Times, June 24) surprised me. The conservative columnist for The Washington Post upbraided Sen. John McCain for condemning Boumediene v. Bush — which upheld the right of habeas corpus...
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2008

Diet officially declares Ainu indigenous

The Ainu celebrated a historic moment Friday as the Diet unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes them as indigenous people of Japan.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
May 6, 2008

Activism vs. academia

Back in January, I was a panelist at Waseda University's Global Institute for Asian Regional Integration, invited to give an "activist's perspective" to an academic crowd.
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2008

Seeding the nuclear renaissance

The world is on the brink of a second nuclear renaissance. Prodded by rising oil prices and concerns about global warming, nations are reconsidering the nuclear energy option and finding it attractive. A significant increase in the number of nuclear reactors worldwide, however, also increases the risk...
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2008

State to be sued by hepatitis B carriers, who top 1 million

In the wake of the recent ground-breaking out-of-court settlement with people who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood products, the government will face a fresh legal battle waged by hepatitis B carriers.
Reader Mail
Mar 20, 2008

Basis for discriminatory legislation

In his March 16 letter, "Leave immigration to Darwin," William Wetherall tackles the subject of ethnic Koreans and Chinese being stripped of their Japanese nationality after World War II by emphatically stating that "[t]he loss of Japanese nationality by some former subjects after World War II was not...
Reader Mail
Mar 16, 2008

Homogeneity no excuse for profiling

Emerging with arrivals at Narita Airport earlier this month for a welcome breath of fresh air, I was approached by a police officer (riot police was his description) and asked to show my passport or alien card. He was exceedingly polite and looked quite sweet wearing a surgical mask and a Band-Aid on...
Reader Mail
Mar 13, 2008

Think before charging racism

What in the world is going on with Readers in Council and the charge of xenophobia appearing in letters the past month?
Reader Mail
Feb 10, 2008

Overboard on sight of tattoo

I would like to describe a personal experience that may be of some interest and value to readers. Last week I joined a fitness club in Nagoya. After completing the application process and paying the fee, I used the facilities. The following day I returned to use the pool before an aerobics class.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2008

Consensus on surrogate birth

A committee of the Science Council of Japan has made public a draft report that calls for enacting a law to ban surrogate births in general. Since surrogate births include ethical, legal and medical problems, medical service people, experts in ethical problems, health authorities and lawmakers should...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 22, 2008

Trouble on two wheels; moving out

Gaijin on a bike! "I have been harassed by the police while riding my bicycle," writes FC. "I happened to get the bike from a friend and it turns out it actually belonged to someone else. The bicycle is very, very old and worthless, but they tracked it down and apparently it was 'stolen.'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 19, 2008

Canadian garden of unity and reconciliation

"Hello," wrote an old Japan buddy back on her native British Columbian soil. "I've met a woman — Rumiko Kanesaka — who's helping build a Japanese garden on Salt Spring Island where I live. Would you like to talk with her?"
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 4, 2007

What good are these hospitals?

Regarding the Sept. 28 article "Woman rejected by seven hospitals (in Mie Prefecture) after giving birth": The fact that this happened to a non-Japanese woman is not only disgusting but also against everything that hospitals and the medical profession stand for. Where do these establishments get off,...
COMMENTARY
Sep 27, 2007

Hype on nuclear power is misleading

NEW DELHI — Talk of a "global nuclear renaissance" remains just that — all talk. Notwithstanding the strong public relations campaign by the nuclear power industry and its powerful lobbying groups, nuclear energy is hardly the answer to the twin challenges of carbon mitigation and energy security...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 16, 2007

Yukari Pratt

Put together the bright picture of a girl, growing up in Minnesota, with her younger brother, their Japanese mother and American father. She attended Luther College in Iowa, and took her degree there in a compelling interest, music. She said: "Music played a big part in my high school years. I had a...
Reader Mail
Mar 18, 2007

The subcategories of Japanese

Philip Brasor's March 11 article, "Female foreigners are OK in Japan, so long as they're not Asian," criticizes Japan for not yielding to pressure from the United Nations to conduct a survey of its minority women. He then refers to a nongovernment organization survey that "did not target foreigners,...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2007

Abe's sex slave stance darkens women's day

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent denial that the Imperial Japanese Army coerced women into sexual slavery during the 1930s and 1940s overshadowed an International Women's Day forum at the United Nation's University in Shibuya Ward.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2007

Bullying reflects problems in adult society

Disturbing incidents of bullying continue to make the news. We hear daily of the tragedy of children who, unable to endure the harassment and violence inflicted on them by peers and classmates, are driven to suicide.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Nov 14, 2006

Masatoshi Uchiumi

Masatoshi Uchiumi, 64, is a landlord in Tokyo's trendy Jiyugaoka area. Divorced and living alone, six years ago he lost most of his eyesight due to a hormone imbalance. Although despondent at first, he soon focused on enriching his life, through lessons in karaoke, voice-activated computers, haiku, English...
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2006

Politicians in fantasyland

LONDON -- Our leaders would do well to reread "Alice Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll. If they can suppress their vanity for a moment, they should recognize that they have much in common with the White Queen. When Alice declares that "one can't believe impossible things," the queen retorts...
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2006

Sri Lanka returns to war

Mesmerized by the situation in Lebanon, the world has paid little heed as Sri Lanka's ceasefire has disintegrated and the country slips back into war. While the conflict in Sri Lanka is not as old as that in the Middle East, it appears every bit as intractable. The international community has mediated,...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji