| Jul 26, 2001

Environmentalist on the stump

Despite the sky-high popularity of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, suspicion remains that his Liberal Democratic Party has simply cloaked its wolfish heart in a soft perm. Many environmentalists fear that after Sunday’s election the LDP will step up efforts to stimulate the economy by ...

| Jul 12, 2001

Tokai nuke incident still shows afterglow

Hisashi Ouchi died Dec. 21, 1999, less than three months after he and two colleagues set off a criticality accident at JCO Co. in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture. Masato Shinohara died seven months later, also a victim of lethal radiation exposure. The ...

| Jun 14, 2001

When a little profit exacts a high price

Public-works projects, such as the bungled reclamation of Isahaya Bay in Kyushu and Tokyo’s ill-conceived Ken’odo ring road, exemplify the bureaucratic myopia that is razing Japan’s natural heritage. But the destruction is not always on a grand scale, nor solely the handiwork of public ...

| Apr 26, 2001

New land law still ignores public voice

Owning property in Japan is a constitutional right, but it has its limits. The government can take private property for uses that advance the public welfare. Expropriating property takes time, though, and the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry (formerly the Construction and Transport ministries) ...

| Mar 26, 2001

Bush ignores experts on climate change

The rubber has met the road and we now know that U.S. President George W. Bush is driving under the influence, his judgment impaired by fossil fuel lobbyists. In a letter to Republican senators dated March 13, Bush said he would not impose “mandatory ...