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Reader Mail
Jan 14, 2007

Overcoming decades-long disaster

Grant Piper's contention in his Jan. 3 letter, "Revolution was good for Cuba," is preposterous. He thinks the communist revolutions in Russia and China were also the best things to happen to those countries. Piper ignores the tens of millions of Chinese and Soviet citizens who died at the hands of...
Reader Mail
Jan 14, 2007

Shades of emperor worship

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hakubun Shimomura is a perfect example of the sort of people that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stacked his Cabinet with: ultra-nationalists who would like to take Japan back to the kind of country it was during World War II.
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2007

ETA's fatal miscalculations

When is a ceasefire not a ceasefire? When it is punctuated by bombings. Yet, even after taking responsibility for a blast that killed two people, the Basque separatist group ETA claims that it is adhering to a permanent ceasefire declared in March.
Reader Mail
Jan 14, 2007

Return to traditional uniforms

I have been watching with interest the recommendations made by the educational reform committee, and would like to make a suggestion that would, I think, really make an impression on all who became involved with its implementation. My suggestion is that all school uniforms be changed back to the kimono...
Reader Mail
Jan 14, 2007

Wrong motive to study English

I agree with Gregory Clark's idea in his Dec. 30 article, "English should be an elective." Nowadays we often hear of the importance of English education in primary school. But I don't think we should attach great importance to it. Certainly, children can learn languages faster than adults, but in...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 14, 2007

Get out of this world

Forget Hawaii, Hong Kong, Bali, Britain or Paris -- before too long your family vacation choices will include staying at space hotels or taking a 10-day spin around the moon.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 14, 2007

Japan keen to keep up with the killing of prisoners

The fall of Saddam Hussein was supposed to lead to a bright new era of democracy for Iraqis, but so far all it's led to is anguish and bloodshed. Similarly, his trial at the hands of his own people was supposed to be an example of real justice, but it was little more than a sad piece of theater.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 14, 2007

It's high time for Japan to ride the space-tourism wave

The United States and Europe are finally, albeit slowly, paving the way for space tourism to become a revolutionary source of new business -- some economists even believe it could save the stagnating world economy.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 14, 2007

Perish the thought that Japan may have god on its side

'The Japanese are, it is true, commonly said to be an irreligious people. They say so themselves. . . . The average, even educated European strikes the average educated Japanese as strangely superstitious, unaccountably occupied with supra-mundane matters. The Japanese simply cannot be brought to comprehend...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 14, 2007

Nissan breaks ground on Yokohama HQ

Nissan Motor Co. held a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday in Yokohama for its new head office building scheduled to be completed in 2009.
Reader Mail
Jan 14, 2007

Cuba can deal with crisis

Please allow me to register my agreement with Grant Piper. No other country has built such an internally cohesive society capable of coping with the most extreme external shocks as Cuba has. We have much to learn from it in how we should prepare to cope with the external shocks that we are about to...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 14, 2007

Asia's shift in global importance

Chasing the Sun: Rethinking East Asian Policy, by Morton Abramowitz and Stephen Bosworth. New York: A Century Foundation Book, 2006, 165 pp., $15.95 (paper). Slowly but surely, the United States is waking up to the profound changes afoot in the structure of global power. The rise of China is one sign...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 14, 2007

Once in keeping with some of the best company

In the Company of Men: Representations of Male-Male Sexuality in Meiji Literature, by Jim Reichert. Stanford University Press, 2006, 282 pp., illustrations XI, $60.00 (cloth). The search for modernity in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) involved not only the discovery of some new subject matter but also the...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 14, 2007

Japan's pioneers of new space age

So what kind of people will be Japan's first space tourists?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2007

Aceh peace pays off for election victor

BRUSSELS -- After the second anniversary of Aceh's tragic tsunami, peace seems to have finally come to the troubled province. Official results of the Dec. 11 provincial elections came with the new year. They confirmed a landslide victory for one faction of the former rebels.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 14, 2007

Bullet train straight to the heart of Japan

Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan, by Christopher P. Hood. Oxford: Routledge, 2006, 266 pp., $125 (cloth). The needle-nosed bullet train racing past the base of Mount Fuji is one of the most enduring images of Japan, a postcard mix of high-tech and traditional beauty. This retains...
BASKETBALL
Jan 13, 2007

Ayer, Ellis pace Oita in win

Oita big men Chris Ayer and Andy Ellis scored 23 and 21 points, respectively, to guide the HeatDevils to a 94-81 victory over the Saitama Broncos at Beppu Arena in Oita Prefecture on Friday night.
SUMO / Basho reports
Jan 13, 2007

Asashoryu rolls countryman

Grand champion Asashoryu overwhelmed his Mongolian compatriot Kyokutenho on Friday to remain one win off the lead at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2007

Likely more of the same

On Wednesday night in Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush delivered the most important speech of his presidency -- his long-awaited "new strategy" for Iraq. In fact, much of its key provisions had been leaked to the press. And upon close examination, it is difficult to see where the strategy heralds...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji