search

 
 
Reader Mail
Oct 11, 2007

Romaji could ease the problem

I was amused and pleased by Shinichi Terada's Oct. 2 article, "Kanji, kana trip search engines." I called attention to similar problems in my 1987 book "The Fifth Generation Fallacy" (Oxford University Press) and more recently in "Ideogram: Chinese Characters and the Myth of Disembodied Meaning" (University...
Reader Mail
Oct 11, 2007

Staggering blow to sumo

Regarding the Oct. 6 article "Sumo stable boss axed for death": The unanimous decision by the Japan Sumo Association executive committee to sack stable master Tokitsukaze (following the death of a teenage wrestler) has somewhat assuaged the heavy damage to the reputation of this traditional Japanese...
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2007

Osaka mayor expected to prevail despite policy, financial snafus

OSAKA — Osaka Mayor Junichi Seki is expected to be re-elected when voters go to the polls Nov. 18, despite public anger over the city's problematic assimilation assistance policy for descendants of the feudal outcast class, failing public works projects and a lack of appeal among his peers, even in...
COMMENTARY
Oct 11, 2007

Six-party talks make progress

HONOLULU — The joint declaration from the recently concluded round of six-party talks in Beijing points to a significant step forward, provided Pyongyang follows through as promised with a significant series of denuclearization steps between now and the end of the year. As has often been the trend...
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2007

Reuters boss upbeat on bid from Thomson

Reuters Chief Executive Officer Thomas Glocer said in Tokyo Wednesday he is optimistic that European Union antitrust regulators will clear Canada-based Thomson Corp.'s $17.6 billion bid to acquire the British news agency.
EDITORIALS
Oct 11, 2007

Darfur deteriorates

After years of genocidal attacks, many thought the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan could not get worse. But a raid on African Union (AU) peacekeepers was proof that things could indeed deteriorate further. The bold attack threatens to derail international efforts to bring peace to the shattered...
Reader Mail
Oct 11, 2007

'Capitalism' not the only recipe

(University of California professor) Gregory Clark, in his Oct. 3 article, "Wealth related to the culture of nations" provides a false economic history to justify his strange theory. Massive amounts of money coming to Britain due to colonization of Bengal in 1757, in addition to profits from the slave...
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2007

Murderer-for-insurance gets 25 years, DVD confession or no

The Tokyo District Court sentenced a man to 25 years in prison for murder Wednesday in a case that drew national attention for allowing a recorded interrogation to be used as evidence for the first time.
COMMENTARY
Oct 11, 2007

'Silly summit' produced serious results

LOS ANGELES — It sure opened up as one big oddball of a summit.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2007

Fukuda admits his chapter switched names on 112 receipts

In an ironic twist, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda admitted Wednesday in the Diet that a Liberal Democratic Party chapter he heads in Gunma Prefecture changed the names on 112 receipts worth ¥9.5 million.
Reader Mail
Oct 11, 2007

Where is Japan going?

I have a difficult time understanding why the Japanese government torments itself so much over the thought of shouldering more costs than it has already allocated for U.S. military bases, especially in areas where it does not even have jurisdiction. If Japan exists in the the promise of a "no-military"...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2007

Videotaping interrogations worth a look?

When the Toyama Prefectural Police announced in January they had found the real culprit in two rape cases in 2002 — for which 40-year-old Hiroshi Yanagihara had already been convicted and served time — it was no surprise to legal experts.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2007

Boston law firm buys New Tokyo

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) Bingham McCutchen, a 1,000-lawyer firm based in Boston, has acquired the 22-lawyer New Tokyo International Law Office.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2007

Afghan SDF mission constitutional, Ozawa says

Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan, said Wednesday the Self-Defense Forces' participation in NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan would not violate the Constitution, contrary to the claims of the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition, which...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’