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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 17, 2008

Supreme Court place of last judicial resort

In 1889, Japan took its first step toward forming a modern constitutional state by promulgating the Meiji Constitution, dividing power among the legislature, or Diet, the executive branch, or Cabinet, and the judiciary, with the Supreme Court at the top.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2008

Russia disappointed in Dushanbe

SEATTLE — In the wake of the Russian military incursion into South Ossetia and Georgia in early August, the Russian government has looked far and wide for support. As Russia's European neighbors discussed economic sanctions and both U.S. presidential candidates spoke of naked aggression, Russian leaders...
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2008

End the yearlong gridlock

First of all, I would like to express my respect to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda for his swift decision to step down. My view on Prime Minister Fukuda since he came into office is that his strongest point lies in his humility.
Reader Mail
Sep 14, 2008

Same word for English, Spanish

The Sept. 10 article "JICA textbook project helps kids learn 'Guatematica' " states that matematica is the Spanish word for arithmetic. That is incorrect. Matematica means math (mathematics). In Spanish, arithmetic is aritmetica. The words in both English and Spanish have the same Latin and Greek origins....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 14, 2008

Feed, don't fight, Afghanistan

The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping and killing of Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito in Afghanistan last month remain unclear. In the web journal Japan Focus, Michael Penn conjectures that Ito's death resulted from a "botched effort to abduct him, not . . . premeditated murder." The gunshot wounds...
Reader Mail
Sep 11, 2008

Spotty coverage of manga summit

Regarding the Sept. 8 article "Manga viewed as vibrant info conduit": I guess I should be happy to see any kind of story regarding manga appearing in The Japan Times, but the coverage of the recent 2008 Manga Summit left a bad taste in my mouth. Why weren't there any images of manga artists at the summit?...
Reader Mail
Sep 11, 2008

Indian waiver good for the world

Regarding the Sept. article "Hiroshima, Nagasaki leaders hit India nuke waiver": As an Indian residing in Japan for the past eight years, I can understand the resistance many Japanese people have toward the nuclear deal between the Nuclear Suppliers Group and India. It must be noted, though, that India...
Reader Mail
Sep 11, 2008

Postwar treatment good enough

Regarding the Sept. 6 article "Occupiers favored with postwar plenty": Yes, the U.S. military and others stationed in Japan right after World War II did live better than most. Then again, what did Japan expect after attacking the United States? Was the U.S. supposed to starve its own personnel, and pay...
Reader Mail
Sep 11, 2008

Shortsighted approach to hazard

It is claimed in the Sept. 6 article "Maker admits using non-edible rice in food" that the health ministry "said there have been no reports of health hazards" in connection with the situation. But isn't the health ministry being a little shortsighted? If any of these products contain carcinogens, as...
Reader Mail
Sep 7, 2008

Job training for care workers

Regarding the Sept. 2 article "Students shun nursing care": Having worked for four years in nursing care with no prior training, I can say that for general carers, which make up the bulk of the care sector, most of the job does not require any formal training beyond a grasp of common sense, and that...
Reader Mail
Sep 7, 2008

The effects of fear and mistrust

Thanks for the Aug. 20 article "Internment camp relics hide in open." I spent six years in Japan and grew up in southern Idaho, only a few miles from the internment camp in the Hunt area. I remember going to church in one of the old barracks. They're scattered everywhere. I have always thought that...
Reader Mail
Sep 7, 2008

Real barriers to foreign nurses

The Sentaku magazine article published in The Japan Times on Sept. 1, "Japanese nurses blocking skilled help from overseas," appears to give a very one-sided view. While the Japan Nursing Association may have objections to the introduction of foreign nurses, job protection does not seem to be the reason....
Reader Mail
Sep 7, 2008

'Biomimicry' has a history

I have read the Aug. 24 article by Winifred Bird, "Natural by design" -- about "biomimicry" -- with great interest, but was somewhat surprised that the author seems to believe this field of research is relatively new. Not a single reference is made to its more traditional name: bionics (bionik, bionique)....
Reader Mail
Sep 7, 2008

Strength in cultural differences

Debito Arudou's assertion in his Sept. 2 article, "The 'gaijin' debate: Arudou responds," that there is any sort of comparison between the words "n--ger" and "gaijin" are strained, pathetic, and causes more harm than good because, at the root, his argument is tawdry and facile.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 7, 2008

Hoshino still getting skewered over Olympic failure

The Beijing Olympics is history, but the debate continues over Japan's showing. Last week, Fuji TV's Sunday night newsmagazine, "Sakiyomi," held a discussion on whether or not the government should increase its budget for Olympic athletes. Three of the four celebrity guests in the studio thought that...
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2008

It's deja vu, all over again

Here we go again. Less than a year after Shinzo Abe stunned supporters with a sudden resignation from office, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has decided to do the same. Fukuda blamed a divided Diet, plummeting approval ratings, and a desire to avoid a political vacuum for his decision to step down....
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2008

Blame game by Afghanistan

The statement carried in the Sept. 1 article "Afghan official accuses Pakistan intelligence in aid worker's slaying" is an outrageous slander. The government of Pakistan and its people condemn the murder of aid worker Kazuya Ito as well as deplore all such acts of violence. But this is not the first...
COMMENTARY
Sep 4, 2008

Fukuda hounded out of office

Japan's PR-vulnerable public and lightheaded media have done it again. Between them they have got rid of yet another of Japan's better prime ministers. I have no brief for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's policies. On two key issues I think he was wrong. One was his determination to force through legislation...
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2008

'Gaijin' to Japanese eyes

Regarding the Sept. 2 article "The 'gaijin' debate: Arudou responds": Debito Arudou's claim that the word "gaijin" is racist not only borders on whining but also smacks of something that could only be brought up by a white person. I'm part Japanese and part black, and I'll tell you right now that I would...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 1, 2008

Japanese nurses blocking skilled help from overseas

The Japanese Nursing Association is doing more harm than good to the nation's health care as it steadfastly puts up barriers to nurses and care workers from other countries wishing to work in Japan. What's worse, the association is supported by the health ministry.
Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2008

Imagination trumps knowledge

Is being able to solve formulas in academic math, or write fabulous essays without a single grammatical mistake, the most important thing in life? Some students my age trying to get into Harvard University might say, "Of course, it is."
Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2008

Deeper roots for instant noodles

Regarding the Aug. 26 article "Nisshin marks Chicken Ramen's first 50 years," which described Osaka as the birthplace of instant noodles: When I was a student in Hong Kong (1930-1941), together with my teenage friends, we used to frequent a small noodle house named Bak Gut ("One Hundred Good Fortunes")...
Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2008

The language of discrimination

Regarding the Aug. 26 article "Japan defends steps to end discrimination": A country that makes it hard for foreigners to obtain permanent residence speaks its own language of discrimination, don't you think?
Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2008

Making do when GDPs level off

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Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2008

Attacks on McCain misfire

While I sympathize with the editorial goals of Yoshi Tsurumi in his Aug. 28 article, "McCain aims to win by pandering to bigotry" -- about U.S. Sen. John McCain's attacks on Sen. Barack Obama -- I feel that Tsurumi crosses the line from legitimate complaint and analysis into hysterical and inaccurate...
Reader Mail
Aug 28, 2008

Russia overreached in Georgia

In his Aug. 23 article, "Payback time for Russia," Ramesh Thakur gives way too much credit to Russia in its invasion of Georgia, and ignores the actual results. Russia's action will accelerate the expansion of NATO into former Soviet Union states as they look for protection from Russian bullying and...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2008

Japan defends steps to end discrimination

OSAKA — In a new report to the United Nations, the government outlines the situation of ethnic minorities and foreign residents in Japan, claiming it has made "every conceivable" effort over the past several years to eliminate racial discrimination.
Reader Mail
Aug 24, 2008

Name for what Filipinos speak

Regarding the Aug. 20 article "Kawasaki's Filipinos form support base," I would like to clarify that the appropriate term for the language spoken by Filipinos is Filipino, per se, and not Tagalog. Tagalog pertains only to the original language of the people from the Tagalog region on the island of Luzon....
Reader Mail
Aug 21, 2008

Food crisis born of distribution

I am puzzled that The Japan Times would have an economist comment on agricultural science and the natural environment, as in Takamitsu Sawa's Aug. 18 article, "Natural enemy of warming." Sawa argues that drought in Australia, spiraling food prices, biofuels and their consequences are driving companies...

Longform

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