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Reader Mail
Apr 25, 2007

Worst aspect of a death sentence

Regarding the April 18 Timeout section article, "Japan's way of injudicial killing": Death by hanging must be one of the most unpleasant ways to die. For any condemned inmate on Japan's death row, the worst aspect of such a sentence is the almost sadistic dread that he must suffer every morning. How...
Reader Mail
Apr 22, 2007

Australia-Japan pact welcome

Gregory Clark delivers another, predictable anti-Australia rant in his April 12 article, "Australia's anti-China pact," which is full of hypocrisies and a barely concealed loathing for his former country.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2007

'Don of Roppongi' seeks peace in East Asia

It's a rum kind of shop. But then Takeshi Maki -- who, while regarding himself as a member of Japan's silent majority, is nicknamed the Don of Roppongi -- is a rum kind of bloke.
Reader Mail
Mar 25, 2007

Nazis worried Roosevelt more

While in transit at Narita, I came across Mike Lidgley's March 18 letter about Pearl Harbor, "Winning the geopolitical game?," and the Feb. 24 article that it referred to, "Telling the truth at Yasukuni," by Hisahiko Okazaki. I was so shocked by the article that I referred it to a distinguished colleague....
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 4, 2007

What is becoming of my grandfather's wisdom?

These days it's tough to be a journalist. This may sound like a whinge, but whinges may sometimes reflect a real situation. Oh, it's fine if you agree with the line of thought acceptable to governments, religious organizations or interest groups. But if you dare hold up a mirror to them, you may run...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2007

Koreans sue Yasukuni to get names delisted

A lawsuit was filed Monday against Yasukuni Shrine by 11 South Koreans seeking to have their names or the names of their relatives struck from the list of war dead, saying their inclusion is "an insult" that causes intolerable pain.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 26, 2007

Eastwood didn't idealize Kuribayashi

NEW YORK -- Isn't the Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Clint Eastwood's film "Letters From Iwo Jima" idealized? That was a question my poet friend Geoffrey O'Brien asked on New Year's Eve. A dedicated student of film, O'Brien had remembered a poem about the general that I translated three decades ago. Written...
Reader Mail
Feb 25, 2007

Apologies without conviction?

Regarding the Feb. 16 article "Former 'comfort women' tell Congress of ordeal": It is absolutely amazing that the "comfort women" issue is still being reported on in 2007. Then again, perhaps not -- when a Japan Times article runs comments such as: "Japan reckons its leaders have repeatedly apologized."...
Reader Mail
Feb 25, 2007

Senseless dolphin slaughter

Thank you for publishing Boyd Harnell's Feb. 14 article, "Eyewitness to slaughter in Taiji's killing coves," the account of the dolphin killings in Wakayama Prefecture. Animal cruelty occurs worldwide, but few things are as horrifying as the mass slaughter of the one of the world's most intelligent,...
Reader Mail
Feb 25, 2007

Two 'ways' of intelligent design

In his Feb. 16 article "Unintelligent designs on real evolution," Edward Humes justly posits two theories of evolution -- the scientific and the popular "straw-man image of evolution." Sadly, he is less than just in positing only one contrasting theory, which he calls "an upstart movement" ("intelligent...
Reader Mail
Feb 18, 2007

Lack of Islamic expertise shows

In Dinesh D'Souza's Feb. 5 article, "Bin Laden, America's left and the hysterical reaction to the 'The Enemy at Home' (D'Souza's book)," D'Souza argues that "Bin Laden isn't upset that there are U.S. troops in Mecca" -- since there are no troops in Mecca. This is technically true, but Osama bin Laden...
Reader Mail
Feb 11, 2007

Redrawing the battle line

Regarding the Feb. 2 article by George P. Fletcher, "Declining tolerance of dangerous words": I began the article with an open mind, but it is still unclear from what angle Fletcher was writing his piece, although this may in itself have been its angle. What I take issue with are his comments about...
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2007

'I Just Didn't Do It' questions court system

, who stars in "Soredemo Boku wa Yattenai" ("I Just Didn't Do It") and Masayuki Suo, the film's director, face reporters Thursday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo. SETSUKO KAMIYA PHOTO
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2007

Will a murder help Turkey?

The assassination of Turkish journalist Hrant Dink has forced Turks to face their past. Mr. Dink was killed because he had called the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century a genocide. While his rhetoric angered many Turks, his death appears to have prompted many more of them to think twice...
Reader Mail
Jan 28, 2007

Humane alternative to abortion

Regarding the Jan. 14 article "The birds, bees and the Japanese" (Mark Schreiber's commentary on a survey published in the Jan. 21 edition of Yomiuri Weekly): I got the impression that many Japanese people feel that there are only two solutions to an unwanted pregnancy -- abortion or raising a child....
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 28, 2007

More than money was found wanting in 'the lost decade'

Last week in this column, in an attempt to trace the roots of the nationalism now becoming a mainstream political force in Japan, I discussed the currents that characterized this country in the 1980s. This week I will look at the 1990s, to see how the social euphoria of the '80s led to what has come...
COMMENTARY
Jan 23, 2007

U.S. presence vs. the public will

A tense atmosphere prevails in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, during its centennial this year due to the planned deployment of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2007

Unshackling Japan's defense

On Jan. 9 the Defense Agency was upgraded to full ministry status. At a ceremony marking the change, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it was a major step from the "postwar regime" toward a foundation for national rebuilding.
Reader Mail
Jan 17, 2007

Setting up a target for China

In a recent article, we are informed that the United States and Japan are making contingency plans in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan. The article stresses Japan's contributions to any such conflict as "rear-area support for U.S. forces," and also various humanitarian tasks.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2007

Foes of female reign bask in prince's birth

"It's a boy!" The news spread like wildfire on red-letter Sept. 6 with the birth of Prince Hisahito, the first male born into the Imperial family in 41 years.
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2006

Molding children by design

Legislation to revise the Fundamental Law of Education, which the ruling bloc has just pushed through the Diet, will drastically change the direction of the nation's postwar education system. It will lead to more direct control of education by the central government, which could result in stifling creative...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 10, 2006

SMAP's Kimutaku a different breed of idol

Six years ago this month, the public learned that Japan's most popular male showbiz personality, Takuya Kimura, was set to marry former singing idol Shizuka Kudo, already pregnant with his child at the time.
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2006

Upgrading SDF's overseas activities

Bills to upgrade the Defense Agency to a ministry and revise the Self-Defense Forces Law are likely to be enacted in the current Diet session. The revisions could change the character of the SDF, which has operated under a strict "defense only" policy. Inasmuch as they are closely related to the workings...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 26, 2006

Time to sink or swim for TV fish pundit Sakana

In September, the TV personality known as Sakana-kun was appointed to the position of guest assistant professor by the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.

Longform

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