Dear President Obama,
I write to you from a Bahraini jail cell, and this message was never meant to go beyond its walls. Even though I have never advocated for violence nor harmed another living soul, I have spent 28 of the last 36 months in a Bahraini prison for actions that can only be counted as crimes in a nation that stifles free expression and criminalizes open assembly. I have documented my government’s use of torture. I have reported on civilian casualties in Yemen. I have held a different opinion than that of a king. In retaliation, I may spend the next ten years of my life in jail.
While my government punishes me for demanding an end to its assault on civil and political rights, other GCC states, especially Saudi Arabia, subject human rights defenders to harsher abuse....
Lifestyle
Dear Minister,
I am writing on behalf of Amnesty International and the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) to register our grave concern at the executions of four prisoners (Hidaka Hiroaki, 44, Hiroshima; Fukuoka Michio, 64, Osaka; Akiyama Yoshimitsu, 77, Tokyo; Fujinami Yoshio, 75, Tokyo) which took place on 25 December 2006.
This retrograde step runs counter to the universal protection of human rights and is at odds with the international trend away from the use of the death penalty. Very few countries currently carry out executions: provisional figures compiled by Amnesty International indicate that only 20 of the United Nation's 193 member states carried out state killings in 2006.
These executions in Japan, after a 15 month hiatus, will send a discouraging signal to...
2,560
Dear Friends in Japan,
As you are aware, the Islamic Republic continues to openly arrest, torture and execute political activists within its borders. What you may not be aware of is that the Islamic regime has been seeking international assistance in capturing and silencing anti-regime activists living abroad. In a move that has surprised many of us, we have learned that the Japanese government is supporting the Islamic Republic’s efforts by initiating deportation procedures against prominent Iranian dissident and human rights activist Jamal Saberi (Jalal Amanzadeh Nouei), a resident of Japan for the past 20 years.
Japan’s effort to forcibly return an Iranian political activist constitutes a violation of the international principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits forcibly...
2,229
Dear Mrs. Obama,
As the father of an 11-year old son, I fully appreciate your efforts to improve school lunch programs.
Montgomery County, where my son attends school, has tried hard to provide kids a variety of appealing, quality, nutritious school meals in a cost effective and efficient manner. According to the County's Public School website, it has successfully eliminated artificial trans-fat from its menu items; increased the availability of fresh fruit, vegetables and salad choices; and modified recipes to reduce fat and sodium content.
However, despite these achievements, I still feel uneasy about the school lunch program. It is not only because my son complains that the variety of dishes is poor and that bland frozen food items still dominate the menu.
I am sure you...
2,290
Dear editor,
I have a comment about your editorial "Another Attempt to Deny Japan’s History" on January 2. As Ms. Hiroko Tabuchi at NYT Tokyo bureau recommended, I send this as a "letter to the editor". As I publish this as an open letter here and Agora in Japanese, you don't have to publish this.
I was one of the first journalists who covered "comfort women" when I was working for NHK TV station in August 1991. When we interviewed Kim Hak-soon, the first woman who came out as a comfort woman, she said that she was sold by parents to Korean brothels and transferred to military brothels in China by private agents.
But in January 1992, Asahi Shimbun ran a story about a military document of comfort women. It was a document to prohibit private agent's kidnapping of women, but Asahi...
2,654
Dear Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:
You no doubt observed the Fukushima disaster on March 11, 2011, with terror and worry: what would another nuclear disaster mean for state relations, especially in your home region of East Asia? Fortunately, it seemed, the effects were largely kept to Japan’s islands and were less than many experts anticipated. Within weeks the stories dissipated if not disappeared from the major media outlets, only to be resurrected with personal interest stories of a hero or an especially tragic case of a lost loved one.
But the crisis is not over. Today, Martin Fackler reported in the New York Times that radioactively polluted water is leaking out of the plants and that the site is in a new state of emergency. Mitsuhei Murata, Japan’s former ambassador to...
2,354
Dear Sir,
With my experience and of many other Indians with Nissan India, it is hard to believe that it is the same Nissan company which was reputed for its devotional work to make all kinds of vehicles including the heavy vehicles for Military since last 80 years.
Nissan India is cheating people on the name of selling good cars. I booked one such car (Nissan Micra) on 24.07.2010 with the written date of delivery between 30-45 days with an advance of 50,000 Rs. They did not deliver the car, nor did they respond to my telephone calls and numerous emails of enquiry until November from the dealer Nath Nissan, New Delhi. Then I contacted the Head office of Nissan India and got a reply that someone will contact me from Nath Nissan which they did not do. By this time, I was so fed up of your...
2,426
Dear Chairman Baucus, Chairman Camp, Senator Hatch, and Congressman Levin:
Japan’s announcement that it is seeking to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations underscores the TPP’s growing importance as a path to strong and fair trade rules throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Admitting Japan to the TPP talks would add the economic heft of Japan’s $4 trillion economy to these groundbreaking trade negotiations, and would offer the prospect of significant new export opportunities for the United States and American workers.
America’s globally competitive manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, and service providers have incredible opportunities to export to a rapidly growing Asia-Pacific—a market that will add over 1 billion new middle class consumers and trillions of dollars in...
2,384
Dear Japanese Fishermen of Taiji,
I understand how you must feel about the one-sided-ness of the West to be angry at your traditional capture and slaughter of Dolphins. But that tradition was made only when the world, and Japanese Fishermen did not know what it meant to do harm to the Dolphins. I'm sure you have heard so many speeches in which all of these things have been discussed. So I will not bore you with it.
But I think you should think of this situation from the point-of-view of the big picture. Japan has gone through such hard times lately. And we need the sympathy and help of the rest of the world. It will give an excuse for big countries and their children in China, India and Russia to speak ill of Japan when we should be communicating our strong love for peace, not...
2,321
Dear President Francois Hollande,
I want to start by thanking you for caring enough about women’s wellbeing to make changes in France’s policies. Banishing pro-anorexia websites and not allowing anorexic models to walk your nation’s runways could help minimize the epidemic of body-hate and responsive self-harm that runs so rampant. I’m also grateful for the conversations your campaign to stop anorexia has spurred, and feel compelled to offer my own thoughts.
I realize I’m one voice amid countless, and it’s likely this won’t even reach you. For this reason, I’m sharing this letter publicly, with hopes its message might make a positive difference—if not for a country or industry, then for someone.
These issues are dear to my heart. I modeled for years, and nearly died of anorexia...
2,041