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Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

Ammunition against Japan

Regarding the Sept. 30 article "110,000 protest history text revision order": It surprises me that in a democratic country like Japan a single ministry (education) is able to affect internal and international politics so negatively. Okinawans are not the only ones who have criticized past and present...
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

The young deserve the truth

Regarding the Oct. 4 article "Okinawa leaders press state to keep hands off textbooks": I agree that the books should not be changed. True history is a hard thing to find because it is always the victor that writes the history. Victors will exclude all things that make them look bad. And, again, each...
TENNIS
Oct 7, 2007

Defiant Razzano rallies to pull upset

France's Virginie Razzano rallied from a set down and defied match points against her to defeat top-seeded Venus Williams 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 and win the Japan Open.
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

Poor example for educators

Regarding the Sept. 28 article "Tokai tasked with continuing education reforms": Increasing the number of teachers in the schools is not the solution. Improving the attitudes and integrity of everyone concerned -- from the education minister to the classroom teachers -- can help a lot.
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

Junta will receive retribution

As a Myanmar citizen, I would like to apologize to the citizens of Japan for the utterly wrong action of the government of Myanmar late last month. I am sure the regime did not know what it was doing, for it has been doing wrong after wrong for two decades now. It does not know the value of human life....
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2007

Supporters saddened by twin's passing

and his brother Duc play on a specially made wheelchair sent from Japan at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City in April 1986. KYODO PHOTO
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

The death of one's own

Before I go to bed tonight, I will pray hard to Lord Buddha that I wake up as a Japanese in the morning. All my life, I have been Burmese and have thought that human life has equal value worldwide. Recent days have been a rude awakening for me.
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

Many chances to speak English

In response to Hikaru Maeda's Sept. 30 letter, I think that criticism of Nova's wrongdoing is not only justified; it's long overdue. Maeda has opportunities all around to speak English. All you have to do is speak to someone!
COMMENTARY
Oct 7, 2007

Advancing the study of Japan in Britain

LONDON — On Thursday, at the Japanese Embassy in London, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and the Nippon Foundation announced a series of new grants designed to further the development of Japanese studies in Britain.
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

Media pressure helped instructors

Regarding Hikaru Maeda's Sept. 30 letter, "English school has been good to us": The writer's comment that "it is a shame that Nova has been so criticized by the media" is very naive. As a Nova "Titled Instructor," I can affirm that all Nova teachers were relieved when the media finally brought the nonpayment...
EDITORIALS
Oct 7, 2007

A gamble in Pyongyang

It is too early to tell whether South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun can call his trip to North Korea last week a success, but North Korean leader Kim Jong Il must be happy with the visit. The summit choreography appeared to confirm his status as the senior leader on the Korean Peninsula, and the summit...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 7, 2007

The first and last foreigner to see Laotians as they were

TRAVELS IN LAOS: The Fate of the Sup Song Pana and the Muong Sing (1894-1896), by Dr. E. Lefevre, translated with an introduction by Walter Tips. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1995 (orig. edition), 224 pp., with contemporary photos and map, 725 Bahts (paper) During that late 19th-century feeding frenzy...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 7, 2007

Disparate values may still a democracy make

US President Lyndon B. Johnson used to say of people, "Once you've got 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow."
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

Domestic stand doomed Abe

In his Sept. 20 article, "Decline of the Liberal Democratic Party," Gwynne Dyer blames the downfall of Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration on its continuation of Japan's post-World War II subservience to the United States in matters of foreign policy. He boldly proclaims that the "deeply...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 7, 2007

Pivotal seasons for Alex Ramirez & Marc Kroon

Neither of their teams made the Central League Climax Series, but the 2007 season has been a pivotal one for Yakult Swallows slugger Alex Ramirez and Yokohama BayStars reliever Marc Kroon. The contracts of both expire at the end of the current dragging out season, and there is doubt whether either club...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Oct 7, 2007

Nahoko Yamazaki: Off-stage woman stars in men's theater world

Just as in the realm of politics, in the arts world — and here, particularly regarding the performing arts — different countries adopt different policies depending on their historical and economic circumstances.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 7, 2007

Clueless policy persists as Japan burns the unburnables

Last month, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara traveled to Fiji and Tuvalu on a fact-finding mission. Since the trip cost Tokyo taxpayers more than ¥15 million, the press was interested in just what sort of facts the governor would find in the South Seas and how they could be applied to one of the world's...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 7, 2007

Foreign celebrity talk show, teen sitcom, recycling tips

In the 1960s and '70s, no foreign celebrity was more popular in Japan than the French actor Alain Delon. His name was synonymous with the idea of the perfect-looking man, and because he was popular in an era that was not as media-saturated as our own, he seemed even more unreachable. He was also the...
Reader Mail
Oct 7, 2007

Thank-you remark cuts deep

At an inaugural news conference, new Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said, "Japan's independence and world peace are guaranteed because of, and thanks to, Okinawa's hosting of the U.S. bases." His way of saying it sounded as if Okinawa were not part of Japan. U.S. Defense Secretary Bob Gates has said...

Longform

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