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Reader Mail
Jan 6, 2008

Focus on exiting the part-time rut

The Oct. 27 editorial, "Part-time all the time," suggested that today's drastic shift in Japan's hiring system -- from permanent to part-time employment -- causes employees to worry that they'll never escape the cycle of low wages. I agree, but the disadvantages of part-time workers should be emphasized...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 6, 2008

Why have Japan's bookworms turned?

Let's talk books this first Sunday of the new year.
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2008

Political temblors in Iowa

The United States has just concluded the first stage in the quadrennial spectacular — or is it a spectacle? — that is a presidential campaign. The Iowa caucuses were held Thursday evening and the two winners, Sen. Barack Obama and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, confounded their party establishments...
Reader Mail
Jan 6, 2008

Real obligation under Kyoto pact

Concerning the Jan. 3 article "Japan lags as Kyoto pact's action period begins": This article is very misleading and is therefore consistent with the Japanese government's policy of double-speak on the issue of Japan's greenhouse-gas emissions.
Reader Mail
Jan 6, 2008

Deafness to survivors' stories

Regarding Misao Nakayama's Dec. 29 letter, "Korean workers not used as slaves": What term would Nakayama prefer to use than "slave" to avoid having the truth told once again? How many Koreans have told Nakayama that they were "happy" to work for the Japanese government (during World War II)?
Reader Mail
Jan 6, 2008

Sexual division of labor

In the Jan. 1 Zeit Gist article, "Seeking life in balance," writer Michael Hassett says some insightful things about policymakers' responses to the birthrate decline. But he misses one important factor -- the "rational decision-making" of women concerning their fertility. In cultures throughout the world,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Jan 6, 2008

Games so real the best of drivers take them seriously

Advancing technology blurs the line between virtual and real-world driving as today's champions practice on television screens.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 6, 2008

Social realism enhanced by the pastoral

MOUNTAINS PAINTED WITH TURMERIC by Lil Bahadur Chettri, translated from Nepali by Michael J. Hutt. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007, $22.50 (cloth) Originally published in the late 1950s, this novel — says the blurb — "is one of the few books almost every Nepali knows well." The reason is...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 6, 2008

Rock climbing rehabilitation, celebrity life stories, taking care of parents

Yasushi Yamanoi is one of Japan's most famous rock climbers. In 1994 he made it to the top of a Himalayan peak that stands 8,201 meters above sea level. He did it alone and without oxygen.
Reader Mail
Jan 6, 2008

When writing about things Japanese

Regarding Akita Kimi's Dec. 27 letter, "Another way of writing names": In response to Mikami Takashi's Dec. 20 reasoned plea for limiting Japanese names to surname-first usage in English, Akita's argument -- that it can be "confusing" for those who do not know Japanese -- would be patronizing were...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 6, 2008

Politicians, dogs and bowels mix it up in our annual media awards

Media Personality of the Year: Hideo Higashikokubaru.
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Jan 5, 2008

Aug. 13 field draftee fast-tracked to Soviet gulag

Fourteenth in a series
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 5, 2008

Nomo eyes another comeback

Veteran right-hander Hideo Nomo has agreed to a minor-league contract with the Kansas City Royals, it was announced on Thursday. Nomo, 39, did not play in the major leagues in 2006 or last season. Nomo, the 1995 National League Rookie of the Year, has a 123-109 win-loss record since joining the Los...
Japan Times
JAPAN / THIS FOREIGN LAND
Jan 5, 2008

Assistant language teachers in trying times

Last of four parts
EDITORIALS
Jan 5, 2008

Gloomy economic outlook

The economic outlook for Japan in 2008 is not bright. The Japanese economy faces a variety of factors that are likely to place a drag on its growth, such as the steep rises in oil prices and the expected slowdown of the U.S. economy due to the subprime mortgage crisis. In fact, the Organization for Economic...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan