Consumption tax raise misdirected

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirms that the government will raise the sales tax from 5 to 8 percent beginning in April. But will the tax hike lead to an economic ...

Acquittal of JR West presidents

The acquittal of three ex-presidents of JR West in the 2005 Amagasaki train derailment that killed 107 people does not absolve the corporate culture thought to have led to the ...

Sep 29, 2013

Worries over fate of Japan hands

n a sign that China's leadership is trying to strengthen its control of speech to increase its ideological grip, the government has detained a Chinese professor who teaches in Chiba.

Sep 29, 2013

Female cops given a boost

It is commendable of the Metropolitan Police Department to urge male officers to change their outdated perceptions of female colleagues and to wipe out prejudicial attitudes.

Sep 28, 2013

Rally against hate speech

Last week's march in Shinjuku, a rebuke to recent anti-Korean rallies, reasserted Japan as a country whose values include tolerance and a general desire to eliminate discrimination.

Sep 28, 2013

Where's the sense of duty?

Amid reports of track repairs left untended for up to a year, one wonders whether employees of JR Hokkaido have a clear sense of duty to protect the lives of passengers.

Sep 27, 2013

Moving forward with Iran

Although Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani did not meet U.S. President Barack Obama at the U.N. this week, each man signaled a desire for a rapprochement.

Sep 26, 2013

Ms. Merkel triumphant

The victory of Germany's conservative coalition in Sunday's elections was a rousing affirmation of the popularity of a wily chancellor whom Germans have come to call "mummy.

Sep 25, 2013

Drop antidemocratic secrecy bill

A proposed bill aimed at protecting state secrets that the government deems vital to national security would strongly limit people's access to relevant information.

Sep 25, 2013

Preparing for Paralympics

Tokyo's hosting of the Paralympics, besides the Olympics, in 2020 hopefully will raise people's interest in and support for sporting events performed by disabled people.

Sep 24, 2013

'To infinity and beyond!'

Earlier this month, scientists confirmed that the Voyager 1 probe, launched nearly four decades ago, has left our Solar System and has reached interstellar space.

Sep 23, 2013

Monetary easing lifts land prices

It appears that the monetary easing pushed by the Abe administration through Bank of Japan's purchasing operations is gradually raising land prices in some urban areas.

Sep 23, 2013

Launch of the Epsilon rocket

JAXA's successful Sept. 14 launch of the Epsilon, Japan's first new rocket in 12 years, represents the culmination of Japan's solid-fuel rocket technology.

Sep 22, 2013

Protecting kids from disaster

In the first ruling of its kind, a Sendai court orders a kindergarten to pay compensation for the deaths of four children in a school bus engulfed by the March 11, 2011, tsunami.