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Reader Mail
Jun 5, 2008

God's-eye view of irrelevance

I am saddened but not surprised at Barrett Balvanz's June 1 letter, "Reality of life without a god" -- concerning the controversy surrounding Peter Singer's May 19 article. What saddens me is Balvanz's indiscriminating response to what he calls the "backlash" of letters provoked by the article. He sees...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 1, 2008

Generic drugs? Brand-name drugs? Any old drugs will do

On April 1, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare notified local governments that from now on welfare recipients entitled to free medical care must only use generic pharmaceuticals rather than more expensive brand-name drugs. Almost immediately the plan was attacked in the media, which implied that...
Reader Mail
May 25, 2008

Overcoming the food crisis

With reference to the May 17 article "Import-dependent Japan fears food crisis": As a researcher (human health, environment and rice) and fellow citizen, I am deeply concerned about the "import-dependent" Japan food crisis. Japan has the land, technology and human resources (albeit aging) to offset this...
Reader Mail
May 25, 2008

Let the SDF deploy overseas

Craig Martin's May 21 article, "Permanent SDF overseas deployment law endangers democracy," was an extreme pleasure to read, although I do not agree with everything in it.
Reader Mail
May 22, 2008

The bond that all humans share

In response to the article "If there is a god, then why is there suffering?," I would say not only does God exist but also that he is all-good, all-powerful and all-knowing.
Reader Mail
May 11, 2008

Winners in war remain hidden

The April 30 article about Raymond "Hap" Halloran, "War trauma leads to efforts to reconcile," brought tears to my eyes. Not so much the part about his being displayed as a war prisoner at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in 1945, but the very end of the article, where Halloran declares that he has no answer as to what...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 11, 2008

The authorities gain complete control of the stories

Prior to the recent retrial of a man who was eventually sentenced to death by the Hiroshima High Court for killing a woman and her 1-year-old child in 1999, the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization complained about the coverage of the case. The BPO said that media outlets concentrated...
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2008

A chance for Beijing to take a stand on health

LOS ANGELES — As matters now stand, accredited, professional journalists from Taiwan are once again being denied press passes by U.N. authorities to cover the annual World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization. This year's event takes place in Geneva on May 19. The topic is "A Safer Future:...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 4, 2008

Japan's media plays nursemaid to nation's immature democracy

A major Japanese newspaper publishes an article denouncing the prime minister. Reporters hold a rally to criticize his Cabinet. The government responds by banning sales of the edition of the newspaper that carried the article, indicting its author for violation of the Newspaper Law. Rightwing agitators...
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2008

Oricon wins suit against writer

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday ordered a freelance journalist quoted in a magazine article to pay ¥1 million in damages to Oricon Inc. for stating that its music charts are fixed and inaccurately rank the tunes.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 21, 2008

Is Japan's bureaucracy still living in the 17th century?

The roots of both the Japanese and French bureaucratic systems can be traced to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who as controller general under "the sun king" Louis XIV was instrumental in ushering in mercantilism to Europe and exerted great influence over the government control of the private sector.
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2008

Pets deserve better food

Regarding the April 4 article "Be wary: It's a dog-eat-dog food world out there:" This article on pet food indicated that in previous years pets such as dogs and cats were fed on scrap food. As a result of being fed on remnant food, pets live relatively short lives. But scientists have since developed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 18, 2008

How Cheap Trick put the Budokan on the map

The first pop group to ever play Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo was The Beatles in 1966, a concert that caused quite a scandal because of the auditoriums' semisacred status as Japan's premier martial-arts venue. Rightwingers protested the show but in the end the prerogatives of capitalism prevailed.
Reader Mail
Apr 10, 2008

What makes Taiji's economy tick?

On reading your March 30 article on the annual Taiji dolphin hunt ("A HREF="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080330x1.html">Secret film will show slaughter to the world"), I could not stop wondering from what point does healthy journalism unafraid of telling things that other papers do not...
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2008

April 1 proves readers no fools

Barack Obama's half brother, Barracuda Obama, is doing well in Japan and wishes the Illinois senator luck in his quest for the U.S. presidency, the Tokyo Shimbun reported Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2008

Under fire, ruling bloc passes the '08 budget

Ignoring a rejection by the opposition-controlled House of Councilors, the Diet Friday evening passed an ¥83 trillion state budget for fiscal 2008, which starts Tuesday.
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

No merit to legalized prostitution

The Los Angeles Times article "Enough already: decriminalize prostitution," which The Japan Times printed March 20, prompted me to write. My mother was born during the Meiji Era in a poor fishing village near Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. I remember what she said: In those days the only work for women...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 25, 2008

Fukuda's pain is Aso's gain

The focal point in Japanese politics has been shifting from when Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will call general elections to who will replace him.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 25, 2008

Animals, wives, togs, renovation

Foreign brides Regarding the " 'gaijin' lady thinking of marriage to her Japanese guy" (March 3), LGK is surprised we didn't direct her to the Association of Foreign Wives of Japanese ( www.afwj.org ), which boasts a membership of 500.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 16, 2008

Car industry hitting the bumps as wheels lose their cachet of cool

Anew TV commercial for insurance company Tokyo Kaijo Nichido features two newborns lying next to each other in a hospital maternity ward, telepathically discussing the "pleasures" that await them in life.
Reader Mail
Mar 11, 2008

iPhone sales may surprise

Regarding the March 6 article "Warm reception may not await iPhone in Japan": The iPhone may be a big hit anyway. Why? Because the reasons cited in the article are based on logic, and consumer behavior in front of such a toy is anything but logical. If you consider the electronic music market, you could...
LIFE / Language
Mar 11, 2008

Smart tips for avoiding those 'White Day' blues

This coming Friday, March 14, is Howaito Dei (White Day), when males follow the custom of reciprocating the Valentine's Day chocolates (or other gifts) they received a month earlier.
Reader Mail
Mar 11, 2008

NATO states need straight talk

Regarding the March 6 article by former defense chiefs of staff for five NATO countries, "New times require a new NATO strategy": This so-called new strategy should rest on old common virtues -- honesty and transparency in an overdue public debate. But what the writers (including Klaus Naumann, former...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2008

Bolstering U.S.-ASEAN Cooperation

BANGKOK — The strategic presence of the United States in Southeast Asia takes two forms, both of which are interrelated: The relationship is institutionalized through the Pacific Command in Honolulu and then formalized through various hub-and-spoke agreements with member states of the 10-member Association...
Reader Mail
Mar 2, 2008

Fear of foreigners holds Japan back

Regarding the Feb. 27 article (from Sentaku magazine) "Wanted: world's best minds": The writer evidently believes that Japan is largely unable to attract the best young minds from abroad for studies and employment because politicians and bureaucrats have been unwilling to institute the necessary measures,...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 27, 2008

Wanted: world's best minds

With further globalization of economic strategies among the industrially advanced nations, fostering and securing "brains" in the scientific and technological fields has become of utmost importance to every country.
Reader Mail
Feb 24, 2008

Critique of culinary culture

I am a food barbarian. The Feb. 21 article "Tokyo's samurai chefs devoted to their craft" got me thinking more about the wasted concern that restaurants, hotels and food professionals afford their Michelin ratings. There are only three things important to me about food: (1) is it delicious? (2) can...

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?