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Reader Mail
Aug 12, 2007

If others had had the A-bomb

Both Arnie Hove's letter, "An apology from one American," and Thomas Blatt's "Unlimited self-righteousness," both published Aug. 5, make some interesting points about why America may have reason to apologize for some of its actions in World War II. However, one thing worth considering is what I recently...
Reader Mail
Aug 12, 2007

Shame on the sumo world

My heart bleeds for poor Asashoryu! What wrong did he do in playing soccer with children back in Mongolia in the cause of charity? His excuse for returning to his native country was his need to rest from the ardor of sumo in Japan. A perfectly just excuse. Come on! For a sumo champion, playing soccer...
Reader Mail
Aug 12, 2007

Wrestlers deserve independence

With the latest shenanigans in the sumo world, isn't it about time to consider free agency for sumo wrestlers, or the creation of an independent sumo league without the supervision of the almighty Japan Sumo Association and outdated stable masters? I recently read that there had been very little interest...
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2007

Summer recuperation

The famous psychologist William James once said, "We learn to swim in winter and skate in summer." What he meant was that relaxing downtime is essential for unconsciously processing the lessons from busier times. James never experienced the heat and humidity of a Japanese summer, but if he had, he might...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 12, 2007

Foreign players showing the way among stats leaders

Don't look now, but foreign players could possibly sweep the six offensive titles in Japanese baseball this season. Through games of Aug. 10, non-Japanese names were on top of four of the categories and right behind in the other two.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2007

India set to enter Africa as a competitor

LONDON — China's increasing influence in Africa has attracted great attention in recent years. But Asia's other rising power, India, is also becoming more active on this front, as its economic links are moving beyond its traditional partners in the British Commonwealth.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 12, 2007

Lauded in the West, ignored in the East

Sessue Hayakawa: Silent Cinema and Transnational Stardom, by Daisuke Miyao. Duke University Press, 2007, 380 pp., with 23 illustrations, $23.95 (paper) Kintaro Hayakawa (1886-1973), born in modest circumstances in Chiba, went on to have an extraordinary and unexpected life elsewhere. Now renamed Sesshu...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 12, 2007

Forsake not the elderly, for they bear a great bounty

They are remodeling the station near where I work in Tokyo, and I marvel at the diligence of the security guards directing pedestrians inconvenienced by the building work. Virtually all the guards are seniors, most likely retirees from other forms of employment. I usually arrive at my station by 6 a.m.,...
Reader Mail
Aug 12, 2007

Hypocrisy of the nuclear powers

Regarding Brad Glosserman's July 30 article, "Ending the nuclear threat": This article is misleading, supercilious and biased toward the United States. Neither the Proliferation Security Initiative (2003) nor United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) has been very effective.
Reader Mail
Aug 12, 2007

Fortuitous courtesy on a train

Roger Pulvers' July 29 Counterpoint article, "Erring voyager roots for Japanese courtesy that can't be beat," could not have been more timely. I read it within 48 hours of experiencing the same brand of uniquely Japanese courtesy of which Pulvers writes so admiringly. On the way to Tokyo Station on...
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 12, 2007

Japan's Paradise Lived

It's a strange world we're about to enter.
Events
Aug 12, 2007

KANSAI: Who & What

English tour takes in Koyasan temple town
Reader Mail
Aug 12, 2007

Ridiculous rebuke of Asashoryu

The Aug. 4 editorial, "A grand champion is rebuked," makes me skeptical of the writer's sporting expertise. In my experience, one can still participate in relatively low-contact sports like soccer even with injuries if it is just for fun. Asashoryu was playing in a charity soccer game, which is not...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 12, 2007

A dark dissection of Tokyo at war

Tokyo Year Zero by David Peace. London: Faber, Aug. 2007, 355 pp., £16.99 (cloth); New York: Knopf, Sept. 2007, $24 (cloth). Aug. 15, 1945 — Emperor Hirohito broadcasts Japan's acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, and the body of a woman is found in the flooded basement of Dai-Ichi...

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’