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Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

Discrimination doesn't teach much

I tend to disagree with the assumptions made by Paul de Vries in recent articles (including his Feb. 3 Zeit Gist article, "What would the locals do?") that tell readers how non-Japanese people should learn from the Japanese idea of "group accountability." De Vries has tried to explain this idea with...
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

Why limit worldwide broadcasts?

Regarding the Feb. 3 article "NHK goes global with all-English broadcasts": As has been the case with all articles concerning this subject, we are told that "The broadcasts will not be aired in Japan." Am I the only one to ask, "Why not?"
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

U.S.-centric view of engagement

Regarding the Feb. 5 article "Why can't Japanese kids get into Harvard?": I agree that the Japanese education system holds back many students with talent, particularly in terms of creativity and in the pursuit of anything outside the normal curriculum. But to suggest that only an education from an Ivy...
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

Fear serves as the glue that binds

Although Paul de Vries manages to encapsulate Japan in a somewhat rosy light, his article frames an us-vs.-them slight — or the gratingly hackneyed individual-vs.-group polemic. We all know Japan is a safe and generally hospitable place in comparison to a myriad of others. Few would truly disagree....
Reader Mail
Feb 8, 2009

Britain's fixation on euro bondage

In his Jan. 30 article, "Dreaming of a pound floor," David Howell predicts that Britain is unlikely to "replace the pound with the euro." The question is: Why?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 8, 2009

New law may backfire on victims

In December, a new law went into effect allowing victims of crimes and their families to participate in trial proceedings. Previously, victims were virtually shut out of criminal courts unless they were called on to provide testimony. Under the new law, they may sit next to prosecutors during trials,...
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2009

Fighting spirit is greatest lesson

Edward R. Howe's Jan. 27 article, " 'Marathon' ritual must change," criticizes the focus on wins and high rankings. Howe mentions his son's humiliating experience of being ranked, and why school marathons should not concentrate on winning. In my opinion, ranking and treating students differently just...
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2009

Caregiving comes from the heart

Regarding the Jan. 30 article "Indonesian caregivers start work at nursing homes": I am a caregiver myself, having taken the "level 2" lessons. I have two grown boys, live with my husband, and have lived in Japan for more than 20 years. I have never learned the language, but can read hiragana and write...
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2009

Kabuki-za deserves better fate

Regarding the Jan. 29 article and photo titled "Kabuki-za to be reincarnated in form of commercial high-rise": To destroy the beautiful Kabuki-za building and replace it with this monolithic eyesore is a travesty of anything resembling "art." I am very saddened that yet again in Tokyo a beautiful, historic...
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2009

High road to physical fitness

Regarding the Jan. 27 Hotline to Nagatacho article " 'Marathon' ritual must change": While I understand the author's intent in asking for change, I must respectfully disagree with him on the "need" for things like his son's "marathon" to be discontinued. I myself was much like the author's son. As a...
COMMENTARY
Feb 5, 2009

What's wrong with the way English is taught in Japan

The good news is that Japan's education bureaucrats realize that despite six years of middle and high school study many Japanese are still unable to speak English well. The bad news is that the bureaucrats plan to solve this problem by giving us more of what caused the problem.
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2009

Simple logic for getting ahead

Regarding the Jan. 31 article "Cabinet Office to aid foreigners caught in recession trap": I am an American who came to Japan over 10 years ago without speaking a word of Japanese. I consequently studied on my own, with the help of a language program, and got myself into a dental school in Japan after...
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2009

Japanese thinker from the Gulag

On Aug. 9, 1945, the Soviet Army started invading Manchukuo, a puppet state of the Japanese military in today's Northeast China, violating the Japan-Soviet Neutrality Pact. Many Japanese, both civilians and soldiers, perished there and the Soviet Union took many Japanese to labor camps in Siberia and...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Feb 3, 2009

Home-seeking headache; Americans' burden

A new low in Tokyo I appeared in the article by Jenny Uechi headlined "Prejudice among obstacles facing non-Japanese tenants," (Zeit Gist, Nov. 18). I would like to report a recent event that may interest you.
Reader Mail
Feb 1, 2009

Reckless way to handle money

Regarding the Jan. 28 article "Extra budget with cash handouts passed": Considering the cost of collecting all of this cash from taxpayers combined with the cost of redistributing all of it back to taxpayers, I seriously question the thought processes that went into passing the program.
Reader Mail
Feb 1, 2009

Former ASDF chief still in denial

Regarding the Jan. 28 article "Tamogami out of ASDF, not out of range": It irritates me that the former chief of staff (retired Gen. Toshio Tamogami) of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force can get away with (the sort of comments that led to his ouster). Why should we give legitimacy to his arguments?...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 1, 2009

Popularity's dead! Rebellion against brands starts now

Recently I ran into a friend who works at a TV station in Tokyo. The conversation turned to Johnny's Jimusho, the most powerful talent agency in Japan, whose stable of male singers has dominated television for almost two decades. When I asked her if she had run into any of Johnny's stars, she said she...
Reader Mail
Feb 1, 2009

Overcoming a discouraging word

According to the Jan. 25 Associated Press article "Discrimination claims die hard in Japan," politician Hiromu Nonaka pulled out of the 2001 prime minister race after Taro Aso, now the prime minister, allegedly referred to Nonaka's roots as a "burakumin," a descendant of former outcasts.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 1, 2009

Chizu Saeki: Beauty's more than skin deep

Skincare guru Chizu Saeki's expertise is such that her abilities have been compared to those of a fortuneteller. She can, for example, determine people's physical and mental health condition, the key experiences that have influenced them, and even their outlook on life, merely by running her fingers...
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2009

Right to protect one's business

I don't agree with Gregory Clark's Jan. 15 article, "Antiforeigner discrimination is a right for Japanese people," but I think it was the Otaru, Hokkaido, bathhouse owner's right to use all means to protect his business — even by putting up a sign that excluded all foreigners from the bathhouse. A...
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2009

Give values a freer rein

Regarding the Jan. 27 article "Dolphin slaughter film a hit at Sundance": I hope the Japanese continue to politely defy the morally hysteric finger-wagging. Some Japanese, in keeping with very old fishing traditions, kill dolphins and whales. From most Western perspectives, mine included, it's pretty...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 28, 2009

Can Japan afford the DPJ?

With the Aso administration's approval rating continuing to plunge, there appears to be a growing likelihood that the No. 1 opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, will defeat the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the next general election and take the reins of government under the leadership...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2009

Tamogami out of ASDF, not out of range

Based on his controversial essay that blamed Franklin D. Roosevelt for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, one would expect retired Gen. Toshio Tamogami to be a hardcore rightist unwilling to allow a counterargument in edgewise.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2009

Recalling the one who mixed politics, poetry

NEW YORK — At a time when we plainly see the negative effects of politics and greed in the life of nations, it is important to remember Pablo Neruda, a Chilean writer whom Gabriel Garcia Marquez called "the greatest poet of the 20th century — in any language." He was an artist who knew very well...
Reader Mail
Jan 25, 2009

Companies don't see the value

The Jan. 12 editorial "English taught in English" is on point with the insight that individual schools around Japan are implementing very successful English-language programs. The article is also correct in that a change of attitude is necessary. However, it should have added that a change of attitude...
Reader Mail
Jan 25, 2009

Outrages of the bullhorn kind

It is difficult to effectively catalog the outrages that Gregory Clark's article has presented. First, he justifies the racist Japanese belief that non-Japanese will cause greater damage to apartments than Japanese tenants, and then condemns non-Japanese for living in "gaijin ghettoes." Apparently Clark...
Reader Mail
Jan 25, 2009

Whitewash of xenophobia

I was with Gregory Clark through the first few paragraphs of his Jan. 15 article, "Antiforeigner discrimination is a right for Japanese people." Whingeing foreigners here often seem the norm and not the exception. Thus I understand his frustration with many of his fellow expatriates. I too have little...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2009

Soft power beckons as time comes for academia to act sustainably

As I am for the most part an optimist, it seems only right to kick off 2009 with an upbeat column and, as an educator, one area I believe offers great promise is education.
Reader Mail
Jan 22, 2009

Insulting depiction of foreigners

What a load of hot air! I have lived in Japan for over 10 years and have greatly enjoyed the (bathhouses) and many other benefits of living in a safe modern society. Gregory Clark However, it is also a racist and xenophobic society and to paint non-Japanese as having an allergy against discrimination...

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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?