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Reader Mail
Oct 25, 2007

Teaching staff needs diversity

Regarding the Oct. 13 article "Aussie Nova teachers to be helped by consulates": It's interesting to hear of (English-conversation school) Nova's problems due to management. I taught in Japan from 1999 to 2004 for various companies and as an independent teacher. I applied twice to Nova (once in Japan...
Reader Mail
Oct 25, 2007

The will of the Korean people

Ralph Cossa's Oct. 22 article, "Potential for Korean progress," is arrogant because it implies that South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and his administration are naive and that they need to follow Cossa's advice. It is biased because it reveals Cossa's disgust with the democratically elected Roh government...
Reader Mail
Oct 25, 2007

Missing name weakens report

In the Oct. 20 Kyodo article "Tokyo trader probed over procurement of U.S. night vision goggles," the Tokyo trading house was never mentioned by name. Yet, other parties -- none of whom were under suspicion of misconduct -- were named, including Japan's Defense Ministry and Northrop Grumman.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2007

Lower House takes up new MSDF bill

The Lower House began deliberating a bill Tuesday to enable the Maritime Self-Defense Force to continue refueling naval ships in the Indian Ocean engaged in counterterrorism operations.
Reader Mail
Oct 23, 2007

Missile defense funds a waste

Regarding the Oct. 16 article "Russia opposes Japan missile defense": Japan should also voice its opposition. Why squander more money on a protective scheme that may or may not work?
Reader Mail
Oct 23, 2007

Nakatani aping Bush's logic

Regarding the Oct. 16 article "LDP's Nakatani calls foes of MSDF mission 'terrorists' ": I found the logic of security panel head Gen Nakatani similar to that used by the Bush administration in leading the charge into the muck of war in the Middle East with the catchphrase "You're either with us or...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 23, 2007

Ships out at sea or troops in a war zone?

The special antiterrorism law that expires Nov. 1 is the hottest dispute in domestic politics and could even determine the fate of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and his administration.
COMMENTARY
Oct 22, 2007

Let MSDF refueling law die

Late last month a gathering in Yokohama remembered the victims of a U.S. military jet crash in a residential area 30 years ago. I was stunned to learn that a Japanese Self-Defense Force helicopter that had rushed to the scene of the crash flew away with two slightly injured U.S. servicemen without looking...
Reader Mail
Oct 21, 2007

Bad month to start a new job

Regarding the Oct. 17 article "Unions want Nova, president indicted over payroll delays": My son arrived in Japan in early September after assurances from the U.K. end of the Nova (conversation school) organization that there were no real problems. He has not been paid the signing bonus he was promised...
Reader Mail
Oct 21, 2007

Training trumps escalator design

Regarding the Oct. 17 article "Boy's head gets trapped between escalator, wall": Although I can sympathize over this tragedy, when is the real problem -- children riding escalators/elevators with no training or adult supervision -- going to be addressed? You can engineer safety into these things to...
Reader Mail
Oct 21, 2007

Charity begins at home

I was very interested in Yuri Tomikawa's article. This summer I had a chance to see "The Annunciation" by Leonardo da Vinci at the National Art Museum in Ueno, Tokyo. On my way to and from the museum, I noticed a line of people near the place. Many years ago, in December, I remember that some volunteers...
Reader Mail
Oct 21, 2007

Revisionist nonsense unfurled

Regarding Hisahiko Okazaki's Oct. 12 article, "Fukuda could resolve Yasukuni issue by visiting": Okazaki sounds like someone who clearly has no understanding of what the Yasukuni issue actually is. Many of the men commemorated at Yasukuni Shrine were undoubtedly responsible for murder, torture and...
Reader Mail
Oct 21, 2007

Yasukuni visit not foreordained

In his Oct. 12 article, Hisahiko Okazaki writes that the time is ripe for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to visit Yasukuni Shrine because Beijing has no choice but to restrain itself from provoking Chinese people into anti-Japanese demonstrations. Reading Okazaki's argument, one cannot help feel that Okazaki...
Reader Mail
Oct 21, 2007

Taking a walk on the wild side

Regarding Michael Hoffman's Oct. 14 translation ("Senior citizens go mad, rampage through Japan") of a recent Shukan Bunshun article: I enjoyed this story so much. I have mixed feelings about this topic -- funny, sad, sympathetic, distaste.
Reader Mail
Oct 18, 2007

Like a vassal state of old

Regarding the Oct. 8 article "U.S. wants more base funds": So America's military racketeers want Japan to fork up more money for protection, eh? Japanese taxpayers might do well to ask, "Protection exactly from whom?"
Reader Mail
Oct 18, 2007

Acquittal demands compensation

Regarding the Oct. 11 article "Court acquits man but kept lid on forced confession": It is good that Hiroshi Yanagihara finally was acquitted of rape charges five years after his conviction. Yet, an apology from the judge seems way too little in return for the years Yanagihara lost in the process. It...
Reader Mail
Oct 18, 2007

Korean leaders deserve respect

Regarding Tom Plate's Oct. 11 article, " 'Silly (Korean) summit' produced serious results": If one ignores Plate's reprehensible mockery and blatant abuse -- an apparently congenital and incurable feature of smug American punditry on global events -- of the two Korean leaders, his views on the recent...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2007

Feeling low exacts an extremely high cost

PRAGUE — Depression is, according to a World Health Organization study, the world's fourth worst health problem, measured by how many years of good health it causes to be lost. By 2020, it is likely to rank second, behind heart disease. Yet, not nearly enough is being done to treat or prevent it.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2007

Ruling bloc's MSDF bill is given to Diet

The ruling coalition Wednesday submitted to a divided Diet a special bill to enable the Maritime Self-Defense Force to continue providing logistic support in the Indian Ocean for U.S.-led antiterror operations in and around Afghanistan.
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2007

Where are the spotless streets?

In his Oct. 9 article, "The vanity in 'green' virtues," David Howell says roads and streets in Japan are spotless except for cigarette butts. As a longtime volunteer garbage collector in our neighborhood in a typical city of the Tohoku region, I cannot agree with him.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 16, 2007

How long can Fukuda last?

In forming his Cabinet, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda surrounded himself with "heavyweights" of his Liberal Democratic Party — powerful figures who head their respective intraparty factions. Although Fukuda is older than most of them, there is no denying that his lower level of experience makes him look...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 16, 2007

From ants to antiques

Insect infestations A concerned reader writes: "We live in a traditional Japanese house, and have noticed with some alarm that the step into our "genkan" (hallway) is being eaten away. The wood is crumbling into dust from the inside and spreading. Any idea what might be the problem?"
Reader Mail
Oct 14, 2007

Society must de-commercialize

David Howell's Oct. 9 article, "The vanity in 'green' virtues," was good to read: Japan has made a beginning. But cleaning up one's own space and throwing the garbage outside a neighbor's door will not help society as whole.
Reader Mail
Oct 14, 2007

A typhoon by any other name

Jun Hongo's Sept. 18 article, "Typhoons more predictable but still deadly," states that Japan and 13 other Asian countries use a list with some 140 names to name typhoons. I found one mistake: The writer wrote that "Damrey" means "elephant" in the Thai language. That's wrong. Damrey means elephant in...
Reader Mail
Oct 14, 2007

Hazy educational standards

Regarding the Sept. 20 article "Education spending renders Japan second to last in OECD": Japan has few clear national education standards for teacher education requirements, teacher certification and re-certification standards, student subject-matter learning standards, or student subject-matter testing...
Reader Mail
Oct 14, 2007

Koizumi deserves more credit

Regarding Gregory Clark's Oct. 8 article, "Getting Japan's politics wrong": Clark makes some good points and he may well be right that the press consistently misrepresents the true character of Japanese prime ministers. But he is more than a little unfair to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi....
Reader Mail
Oct 14, 2007

Enough with the cockroach humor

Not following the sound advice of family and friends who warn me against becoming stressed and aggravated, I occasionally monitor Amy Chavez's column.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 13, 2007

Mammograms — with a little bit of sunshine

My neighbor Kazu-chan came over to my house for dinner the other night and while she was here said, "Amy, zannen. The hospital boat was just at the island next door giving free mammograms to women." We will have to go all the way to the mainland to get ours.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2007

Fukuda could resolve issue over Yasukuni by visiting

I believe it would be good for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to visit Yasukuni Shrine during the annual autumn festival. I am very well aware that the prime minister himself is extremely cautious about the visit. But, objectively speaking, the time is getting ripe to resolve the Yasukuni problem.

Longform

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