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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 17, 2013

U.S. left gravitates toward 'scourge of Wall Street'

Not many political "rock stars" inspire audience members to knit, but, even by Washington's sedate standards, the darling of America's new left is a quiet revolutionary.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 17, 2013

Labour MP aims to be first black mayor of London

Labour member of Parliament David Lammy has declared his interest in becoming the first black mayor of London during a fact-finding mission to several U.S. cities.
Reader Mail
Nov 16, 2013

Who worked the Burma-Thai rails?

In Roger Pulvers' Nov. 10 article, "Prisoners of fate forget and forgive" [a book review of Richard Flanagan's "The Narrow Road to the Deep North"], Pulvers claims that the Asians who labored on the Burma-Thailand railway were "prisoners of war." This characterization is plain wrong.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 15, 2013

Lamborghini sets up shop at NITech

Nagoya Institute of Technology in Aichi Prefecture has teamed up with Lamborghini SpA on finding a way to mass produce carbon fiber-reinforced plastic so the light yet durable material can be applied to products other than cars and planes.
Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2013

Sri Lanka's political leadership

I wish to state that much of the information in The Observer article published in The Japan Times on Oct. 27, titled "Rajapaksa: Sri Lanka's affable authoritarian?," is based on hearsay and unfounded information. It is baseless propaganda provided by supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam...
Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2013

India aims for a moon lander

Regarding the Nov. 11 AFP article "Indian rockets aim for space market": India is planning to test a crew module on the GSLV Mark III, which will take off in April.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Nov 13, 2013

Real 'labor cops' also deserve to get the star treatment

The show 'Dandarin' says a great deal about Japanese office politics and corporate practices that are long overdue some serious scrutiny.
Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2013

For a more opaque government

Regarding Yuriko Koike's Nov. 9 article, "Abe's security bill aims to shutter 'spy's paradise' ": What utter nonsense! Koike acts like Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's most obedient lapdog.
Reader Mail
Nov 13, 2013

An energy future with thorium

Regarding Pankaj Mishra's Nov. 10 article, "Nuclear power: India shouldn't buy what Japan is trying to sell": In 1974, India began receiving nuclear plants and related technologies from the Soviet Union. Since 1992, it has gotten them from Russia and, to a limited extent (just one power plant), from...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Nov 11, 2013

Deer a pest said best served as local delicacy

To reduce the damage done to the environment by birds and other animals, major security company Alsok began a monitoring service this summer in which people helping hunters are notified by email when something lands in their traps.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 9, 2013

'Specialness' shrouds stories of minorities

As predicted four months ago in this column, in September the Supreme Court ruled discriminatory and unconstitutional the Civil Code stipulation that says children born out of wedlock are entitled to only half the inheritance of legitimate offspring. The government is expected to revise the law accordingly,...
Reader Mail
Nov 9, 2013

Some choosing work over sex

Regarding Jake Adelstein's Nov. 3 article, "Can Japanese really be such cold sushi in the sack?": I don't feel that long working hours are the real cause of sexlessness. Rather, some people perhaps are choosing to spend longer hours at work because they have lost interest in intimacy, sex, family, dating...
EDITORIALS
Nov 8, 2013

NSC and secrecy bills pose dangers

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policy of 'proactive pacifism' must be stopped before it destroys the Constitution's war-renouncing principle and Japan's traditional defense-only posture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 8, 2013

Top aficionado plans contest to test the best spinners

Yoshihito Fujita, the man managing the Japan Spinning Top Museum from his own home in Nagoya, has standardized the names of different spinning styles, which vary depending on region, and has also established a ranking system.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Nov 7, 2013

White House mulls separate leaders for NSA, Cyber Command

The Obama administration is considering ending a controversial policy that since 2010 has placed one military official at the head of both the nation's largest spy agency and its cyberoperations command, U.S. officials said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 7, 2013

Collecting organizations try to give credit where it's due, don't always succeed

It's not uncommon for companies to incorrectly report credit information.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 6, 2013

Wrestling with Verdi's 'foul truth'

Women wearing flashy East-meets-West dresses and men in dark suits frolic drunkenly in a hotel lounge. Behind them can be seen the ends of the hallways for each floor of guest rooms. Couples slip away from the group from time to time, disappear down a hallway and into a room. The whole set is a cylindrical...
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2013

Don't undermine inheritance bill

After weeks of foot-dragging within the conservative ranks, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party finally endorses a bill to strengthen inheritance rights for children born out of wedlock.
Reader Mail
Nov 6, 2013

Living costs drift relatively lower

Regarding William Pesek's Oct. 29 article, "The lust beneath Japan's sex drought": I agree with Pesek's myth-busting analysis that Japan's low birthrate is the result of the economy — not the lack of sexual desire. That said, I would like Pesek to reconsider another myth: that the cost of living in...
Reader Mail
Nov 6, 2013

Diminishing returns of the palate

Regarding the Oct. 31 Kyodo article "More restaurants tied to food fraud": Why would someone want to pay extra for something that he cannot distinguish — by taste, appearance, size, smell — from something less expensive? Is just spending money desirable?
Reader Mail
Nov 6, 2013

The deadly side of job hunting

Regarding Tomoko Otake's Oct. 18 article, "Job hunt stressing students, making them suicidal (poll)": Is that true? It is beyond tragic that an estimated 149 young people in their early 20s took their own lives because of job-hunting frustrations.
Reader Mail
Nov 6, 2013

Lawmaker's brave public action

Regarding Reiji Yoshida's Nov. 1 article, "Lawmaker under fire for letter to Emperor": Upper House lawmaker Taro Yamamoto's action in giving a letter about the health of Japanese children suffering the effects of radiation was a necessary act. It was also brave in a country where such an action is thought...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 4, 2013

Diet reform paralyzed by hypocritical habits

Indecision is a much-criticized feature of Japanese politics. Diet sessions are rife with unproductive wrangling as the ruling and opposition camps dispute the timing of the submission of bills while avoiding constructive discussions on them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Nov 4, 2013

Warming up for the winter chill

In 2000 we moved into an apartment in Tokyo run by the semi-public housing corporation UR. It was new and had a natural-gas heating system. Unlike other gas systems we'd used in the past, however, this one heated water that was then circulated to outlets in different rooms in the apartment. Direct gas...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2013

Can America's military learn from its mistakes?

After the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army soberly examined where it had fallen short. No such intensive reviews appear to be under way today after a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 3, 2013

Increased women's power in the police

The Metropolitan Police Department has worked out guidelines in an effort to provide a good working environment for women so that women's abilities and viewpoints can be utilized, and has started to consider concrete measures to tackle this problem.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2013

Indulge in 'Morning English' seminars with breakfast

What better way to start the morning than with a plate of eggs Benedict — made from organic eggs, of course — a cup of coffee and a copy of the new Japan Times/International New York Times?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 2, 2013

Shunga secrets bared between the covers

It looks like a classic coffee-table book, a hefty hardback of more than 500 pages and almost as many color illustrations — but be careful who you ask round for coffee if you're displaying the latest volume from the British Museum. That's because it's the lavish accompaniment to its new exhibition,...

Longform

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