When more than 5,000 nonregular workers at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ were allowed to join its labor union, it marked a first for nonregular workers at a major Japanese bank.

More than 100 supermarkets and convenience stores in the Tokyo metro area are recording and sharing images of suspicious shoppers' faces as part of antishoplifting measures. That certainly wasn't the intent of the Personal Information Protection Law.

The Abe government's new Basic Energy Plan fails to set a clear direction for the nation's energy policy, which has been clouded by safety concerns ever since three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant melted down in March 2011.

Israelis and Palestinians had better assess their dwindling options after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's latest Mideast peace efforts hit a wall, and acknowledge that a negotiated settlement is much better than their unilateral options.

The government and power companies should not dismiss the concerns of muncipalities that could be impacted by nuclear accidents but have no say in their operations.

Sadly, 20 years after the start of the genocide in Rwanda, in some African countries conflict and suppression of human rights are all too commonplace.

The question of whether the minimum voting age for participating in Japan's referendums should be lower than the voting age for other elections remains unsettled.

A student-led occupation of the Taiwanese government's legislature to protest a cross-strait trade agreement — which is the centerpiece of President Ma Ying-jeou's political and economic agenda — enters its third week.

The Abe administration must consider whether its new policy that relaxes Japan's long-standing prohibitions against weapons exports could increase tension with other countries and thereby reduce national security.

Police in April started increaseing cooperation with Internet service providers to help contain the distribution of child pornography in and from Japan, which has long been criticized for not taking strict enough measures,

Japan ranks far behind other countries in conducting clinical trials for new drugs. The problem is not the size of Japan's population.

The government should take the International Court of Justice's ruling against Japan's Antarctic whaling activities as a cue to work out ways to balance declining consumer demand for whale meat with the desire of some to preserve the nation's whaling tradition.