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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 13, 2007

Memories of fortresses and clouds

Watching on television as the second plane hit the World Trade Center in 2001, Japanese sculptor Masayuki Nagare's thoughts were not with his most famous sculpture, "Cloud Fortress" (1975), which was located at the base of the towers. The then 78-year-old was recalling a time 58 years earlier when, as...
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Character can't stave off disaster

Tom Plate's comments on Thai vitality and resilience in his Aug. 28 article, "Thai character trumps flaws of politics," were, in my opinion, spot on. He went on to say that due to this national character, Thailand would never become a "gloomy" Myanmar or North Korea. But if one looks deeper, Plate seems...
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Plenty to do in EU's backyard

Regarding the Thai prime minister's refusal of the EU offer to oversee the forthcoming Thai election, Surayud Chulanont might just be on to something. There are elections and referendums within the European Union that would provide lots of work for the EU's Electoral Commission, except that they won't...
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2007

Cops not told of pension embezzlement

method from now on and consider ways to prevent similar incidents." On Tuesday, however, he said it is impossible for the government to file criminal complaints against the embezzlers now because of a seven-year statute of limitation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2007

Japan enters orbit of nations exploring the moon

The moon has languished in the shadows of space exploration since the heyday of manned missions in the 1960s and 1970s, eclipsed by projects focused on Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, not to mention the U.S. space shuttle and the International Space Station.
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Realities belie national boast

Bhutan, which pompously boasts of its gross national happiness index, has some realities worth considering. For example, 20 percent of the total population still lives a nomadic animal-herder life with attire made of animal hides. Can this be an indicator of happiness or is it the struggle for...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2007

Twilight of Pervez Musharraf's career

PRAGUE — It is said that political power in Pakistan flows from the three A's: Allah, the army, and support from America. Of the three, it is the army leadership that has the clearest means of ridding the country of Pakistan's president in uniform, Pervez Musharraf. And that's the main reason any power-sharing...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2007

Nuclear steps undermine global peace

PRAGUE — By abandoning many of the nuclear arms agreements negotiated in the last 50 years, the United States has been sending mixed signals to North Korea, Iran and other nations with the technical knowledge to create nuclear weapons. Currently proposed agreements with India compound this quagmire...
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Living with the 'Sea of Japan'

Regarding the Aug. 29 article "Despite Korean efforts, geographic conference backs Sea of Japan name": The Koreans need to get over it and move on. Hasn't the name "Sea of Japan" been in use for at least two centuries? It would be more intelligent to move on to more progressive issues, such as creating...
Reader Mail
Sep 12, 2007

Pursuit of happiness in Bhutan

In his Aug. 30 article, "Happiness can't be legislated," David Howell writes that "It is not for state authorities to determine which kind of happiness (people) should pursue." He then criticizes the Kingdom of Bhutan for "outlawing television," insisting that everyone wear national dress, and confining...

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’