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Reader Mail
Jan 1, 2012

Four-by-six room feels happy

I totally agree with the sentiments of Kaori Shoji's Nov. 10 article, "Six-mat chic: Small spaces suit us just fine." A house with many unused spaces feels cold and empty without family members. Although I am from Indonesia, I understand what Shoji is saying. I have lived in a 4-by-6-meter room with...
Reader Mail
Jan 1, 2012

Missing the old-time bookstore

I found Gianni Simone's Dec. 24 article, "Tokyo's bookworms find readers' paradise in used bookstores," very interesting. When I lived in Kofu (Yamanashi Prefecture), I did not have a local used bookstore with English books. It would have been a great comfort to me and would have felt like home.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 1, 2012

Mayumi Kagita: A fusion of cultures revealed in dance

On Nov. 19, the Pit hall of the New National Theatre, Tokyo, in Shibuya, was filled with hundreds of eager theater-goers. They had come to see a performance of "Onna Goroshi Abura no Jigoku" ("The Women-Killer and the Hell of Oil"), a play written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) — Japan's greatest...
Reader Mail
Jan 1, 2012

Socially conscious global model

I love Amy Chavez's Dec. 24 Japan Lite column, "" How wonderful it would be if the whole world were to behave like many Japanese as a social norm.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 30, 2011

The year of tough guys worth swooning over

Cinematically speaking, 2011 was the Year of the Guy. By this I mean the genuine article, the "you can't kill 'em, you can't live without 'em" variety. Here are the 10 films of the year that feature the most distinctly provocative males in the most appropriate vehicles. All are handsome in suits or cargo...
Reader Mail
Dec 29, 2011

Gutless delivery is no wonder

Regarding the Dec. 27 Kyodo article "Futenma impact report to be mailed to Okinawa": This is exactly what one of my students and I were talking about the other day. He remarked that he would bet that the central government would not hand-deliver its findings to the Okinawa Prefectural Government. I countered...
COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2011

North Korea's Khrushchev

Scenes of Pyongyang citizens wailing the death of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il remind us how easily dictatorships can manipulate public opinion. But are the rest of us so immune to similar manipulation?
Reader Mail
Dec 29, 2011

Just a few more who care more

Christopher Johnson's Dec. 18 Timeout article, "Lone holdout's first nuclear winter looms in Tohoku," is a very poignant and provocative story. It's good The Japan Times continues to run stories about Fukushima, reminding the world that the tragedy is far from over. It is a travesty that the government...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 27, 2011

Readers' views: Do foreigners deserve a fairer shake in Japan?

Some responses to the Nov. 6 Just Be Cause column by Debito Arudou headlined "For the sake of Japan's future, foreigners deserve a fair shake":
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 26, 2011

Postal execs crack the whip

Japan faces disarray in its mail delivery service as post offices, especially those in major cities and the Tokyo metropolitan area, struggle with mounting workloads following the dismissal of a large number of nonregular employees by Japan Post Service Co. (JPS) since September. And the situation could...
Reader Mail
Dec 25, 2011

Ridiculous antinuclear claims

What Japanese actor Taro Yamamoto — the subject of the Dec. 22 Kyodo article, "Actor uses lessons learned overseas to fight nuclear energy" — ignores is that, in Germany, children are indoctrinated to hate nuclear energy. German children don't become interested in politics at a young age; they are...
Reader Mail
Dec 25, 2011

As mysogynistic as monotheism

In his Dec 19 article, "Why are monotheisms so sexually obsessed?," writer Gwynne Dyer seems to make the common mistake of comparing Western monotheistic religions, with which he is familiar, with less familiar Asian traditions.
Reader Mail
Dec 25, 2011

Misconceptions about college

Takamitsu Sawa's Dec. 19 article, "Motivation for college study," shows us what is wrong with the educational system in Japan. The comments made by a university president that are not based on knowledge or statistics are quite shocking. I started out hoping to learn more about motivation and ended up...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 25, 2011

When will the Japanese media stop avoiding antinuke sentiment?

On Dec. 15, freelance journalist Tomohiko Suzuki held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan about his new book, "Yakuza and Nuclear Power," which describes Suzuki's stint as a worker on cleanup detail at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear reactor last summer. Though the book...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 23, 2011

Auto-correct: Police getting more serious with parking scofflaws

Police are finding new ways to get traffic violators attention.
Reader Mail
Dec 22, 2011

Settle 'comfort women' claims

Regarding the Dec. 15 Kyodo article "Statue of 'comfort woman' erected outside Japanese Embassy in Seoul": Japan did compensate South Korea with a lump-sum payment in 1965. At that time, comfort women were not on the political agenda. Now they are and the issue is for Japan to do the right thing and...
Reader Mail
Dec 22, 2011

Comparison mania muddies issue

As far as I can tell, Donald Feeney, in his Dec. 15 letter, "Arguments that invite criticism," has failed to explain what is hypocritical about Hiroaki Sato's Nov. 28 article on American immigration policies. Hypocrisy is the espousal of an ethical standard that is contrary to one's own behavior. If...
Reader Mail
Dec 22, 2011

Doubts about a declared miracle

Regarding the Dec. 18 article "Daunting tasks await despite declaration of cold shutdown": The declaration of safety by various authorities is merely a matter of timing and saving face. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's optimistic declaration of nuclear plant stability has angered people both at home and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 20, 2011

Gaba 'contractor' status under fire from staff, courts

As an 8-year-old in Indiana, William first became curious about Japan when he made friends with a Japanese guy called Hideki who introduced him to Super Mario and the magical world of Japanese video games.
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2011

Motivation for college study

These days we often hear that there are two signs that the Japanese people, especially youths, have become inward-looking: The number of Japanese students going overseas for study has declined sharply, and far fewer employees in the public and private sectors are willing to take up posts outside the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 18, 2011

You can't get there from here: Railway tries to bust "orikaeshi" riders

Train lines would like to crack down on commuters who 'double back.'
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2011

Shame on the whale killers

Regarding David McNeill's Dec. 11 article, "Tohoku ¥ for whales?": I was in tears for the Japanese tsunami victims, and I donated a large amount of money that I could not really afford because their suffering was unbearable.
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2011

'West' is not a gauge for Japan

Regarding Philip Brasor's Dec. 4 Media Mix article, "Mass media not clean in soap-allergy controversy": Truth in advertising is not as strict a concept in Japan as it is in the West, and most viewers here won't necessarily believe that the stars they see on TV use the products they are selling, since...
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2011

Better value for medical care

Regarding the Nov. 28 article reprinted from Sentaku magazine, "Existential fear stalks M.D.s": To promote high-quality and cost-effective care, Japan needs to set clear targets for cost efficiency in health care services. A fee-for-performance reimbursement system could make the current universal system...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 18, 2011

Wrestling with the serious issue of rape

After two-time Olympic champion Masato Uchishiba was arrested Dec. 6 on suspicion of raping a female member of a university judo team, Japanese TV personality and the former first lady of Indonesia, Dewi Sukarno, defended the gold medalist on her blog. She personally called the National Police Agency...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Dec 18, 2011

How The Japan Times saved a foundering battleship, twice

Mikasa! The name of the mighty Japanese battleship will be as familiar to the world's naval historians as it is now to viewers of NHK's Sunday evening drama "Saka no Ue no Kumo" ("Clouds Over the slope"). It was the Mikasa that all but decided the fate of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, when it led...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2011

Australians recall POW ordeals

Former Australian prisoner of war Alfred Ellwood can vividly recall being interrogated and at times tortured by the Imperial Japanese Army's notorious military police after he was captured in East Timor, an experience that scarred him most of his life.
Reader Mail
Dec 15, 2011

Whale hunt sure to put off donors

Regarding the Dec. 10 front-page AP article "¥2.3 billion for Tohoku diverted to whale hunt": I truly regret ever donating money for restoring individuals' lives in the quake/tsunami devastated areas of the Tohoku region. It is shocking to learn that the fisheries agency is so detached from reality...
Reader Mail
Dec 15, 2011

Public will foot bill as always

Regarding the Dec. 10 front-page Kyodo article "Tepco mulls 10% rate hike tied to '13 Niigata reactor restart": Is this 10 percent figure based on the government's intended consumption tax hike to 10 percent? The figure makes it even harder to distinguish between those government officials who have been...
Reader Mail
Dec 15, 2011

Credibility of government limits

Regarding the Dec. 11 front-page Kyodo article "Meiji ignored tipoffs on cesium in formula": I wonder what the purpose is of establishing cesium levels in baby formula if a detected amount that is one-sixth of the "acceptable" level causes Meiji Co. to do a massive recall. Is the level expected to be...

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Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat