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July 19, 2024
 

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COUNTERPOINT

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 1, 2009
Obama please note: Those who fail to 'master the past' are guilty, too
In "Guilt About the Past," based on guest lectures that Bernhard Schlink gave at Oxford University last year, the University of Berlin law professor describes the "long shadow" cast by the perpetrators of war crimes on their descendants.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 22, 2009
Shiftless apathy to the victims makes all Japanese guilty for the past
"When we speak of guilt about the past, we are not thinking about individuals, or even organizations, but rather a guilt that infects the entire generation that lives through an era — and in a sense the era itself.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 22, 2009
Shiftless apathy to the victims makes all Japanese guilty for the past
"When we speak of guilt about the past, we are not thinking about individuals, or even organizations, but rather a guilt that infects the entire generation that lives through an era — and in a sense the era itself.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 15, 2009
Do Japanese yet realize that culture's acquired, not in the blood?
There's no doubt that Japanese people's attitudes toward foreigners, and the ways they relate to them, have changed markedly in the 40-odd years since I first arrived here. But is this change we can believe in?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 8, 2009
In an 'Era of Decline,' let's look to youth to quell 'panic of the mind'
"We are living in extremely hard times. . . . I have been reading news- papers for 60 years, and I can't recall any era when the local news pages have appalled me more."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 8, 2009
In an 'Era of Decline,' let's look to youth to quell 'panic of the mind'
"We are living in extremely hard times. . . . I have been reading news- papers for 60 years, and I can't recall any era when the local news pages have appalled me more."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 1, 2009
The day the music died America's apple-pie order began to crumble
A long, long time ago . . . I can still remember How that music used to make me smile. I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride, But something touched me deep inside The day the music died.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 25, 2009
Her poems speak sublimely of Akiko Yosano's life of many passions
Her hair at twenty Flowing long and black Through the teeth of her comb Oh beautiful spring Extravagant spring! My skin is so soft Fresh from my bath It pains me to see it covered By the fabric Of an everyday world
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 18, 2009
Dialing up the decider one last time before he leaves the Oval Office
With only days left in office for the 43rd president of the United States of America, George W. Bush, I decided, on a lark — or a duck, if you will — to Skype the soon to be ex-commander in chief to find out what preoccupies his thoughts as he bids us a solemn farewell. I want to share this...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 11, 2009
Egg-on-face bloopers can make a yolk or worse of any translation
Many readers will be familiar with the infamous guarantee said to have been spotted on the menu of a Hong Kong restaurant: "All the water used in our soups has been personally passed by the chef." Some may also have heard of that creepy assurance printed in the catalog for an art exhibition during the...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 4, 2009
A nation adrift cries out for new visions fired by anger and sorrow
Every era in the life of a country begs for creators to define it and give it momentum for its society to progress. Politicians, economists and bureaucrats seem to believe that culture rides on the wave of the economy — but the opposite is true. It is on progressive waves of culture that economic...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 28, 2008
'The noise of time' ensures that art's unbowed spirit is heard
We live apart from our land Our words dying at 10 paces And anything put edgewise Concerns the Kremlin backwoodsman His coarse fingers are thick, like worms His statements trusty, like the weights on a scale Cockroaches smile on his upper lip And the rims of his shoes blind He is surrounded by a flock...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 21, 2008
To conform at times is neither a Japanese diktat nor a sellout of self
Let's talk education.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 14, 2008
Japan's prime minister isn't choosy about who his gaffes target
Way back in 1977 there was a famous war film called "A Bridge Too Far." Now, perhaps somebody should make a movie starring Prime Minister Taro Aso titled "Osugita Shitsugen (A Gaffe Too Many)."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 7, 2008
Past events' bloodstained light casts a long and lasting shadow
On Dec. 7, the day of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 in Hawaii, the thoughts of many turn to wars, how they begin and the course they take.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 30, 2008
Every Japanese is party to their state's 'barbaric' legal murders
The death penalty brutalizes everyone connected with it: Judges and juries who pass it down, politicians who turn an evil or a blind eye to it, jailers, executioners, and more than anyone, the person whose life is extinguished by it.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 23, 2008
Judging Japanese architecture as the epitome of environmental art
"We sense the natural in things that form a happy link with their surroundings. . . . A natural architecture is architecture that creates this propitious connection."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 16, 2008
The expatriate whiner: fond of the homeland but lost abroad
E xpatriates can be the source of many positive things. They are contributors to the welfare of their host nation. They are often agents of trenchant criticism, perceiving things in their new nation that natives either do not, or refuse to, see. They educate and enrich.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 9, 2008
What a world of difference that one momentous day could make
The stunning victory of Barack Obama in last Tuesday's election is a cause of great joy not only for Americans but for people all over the world.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 2, 2008
Pondering the process of filling in the final page of a person's life
In the late 1980s, the mother of a close female friend of ours in Tokyo went into hospital for a hysterectomy. This is major, if fairly routine, surgery.
Triple whammy takes Japan bankruptcies to decade high
More Japanese firms have gone bankrupt in the first half of this year due to soaring costs, labor shortages and the end of pandemic-related support.
With eye on China, Japan deepens ties with Pacific islands at Tokyo summit
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the Cook Islands' Prime Minister Mark Brown shake hands during 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting on Thursday in Tokyo.
Say cheese: Japanese scientists make robot face 'smile' with living skin
A researcher at the University of Tokyo shows a face mold covered in human skin tissue at its lab.
Rainy season ends in Tokai and Kanto regions
The streets of Tokyo's Ginza district on Thursday. The rainy season appears to have ended in the regions of Tokai and Kanto, including Tokyo, on Thursday, according to the Meteorological Agency.
India’s envoy in Japan calls for boosted supply chain and defense cooperation
Indian Ambassador Sibi George says one of his main tasks in his post is to boost Japanese public and private investments the South Asian powerhouse.
After Tokyo Olympic disappointment, Nadeshiko Japan look for redemption
Japan's Hikaru Kitagawa dribbles past a defender during an Olympic qualifying match against North Korea at National Stadium in Tokyo in February.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

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