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May 17, 2024
 

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Takamitsu Sawa

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Takamitsu Sawa
For Takamitsu Sawa's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY
Feb 7, 2005
Bet on the sustainable option
In the 20th century, science and technology was aimed at contributing to economic development and growth. In the 21st century, though, it must seek to promote sustainable development.
COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2005
Aim for change, not utopia
The 20th century was an era of utopias. Until the mid-1970s, many young Japanese believed that a socialist society was a utopia. While I was a student at a prefectural high school in Kyoto in the late 1950s, a classmate of mine with North Korean parentage returned to his homeland, which he thought was...
COMMENTARY
Nov 29, 2004
Know what reform can't do
It looks as though Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is determined to push through postal privatization as the ultimate goal of his structural reform efforts.
COMMENTARY
Nov 1, 2004
Universities lack will to reform
Half a year has passed since Japan's national universities gained corporate status. The aim of the incorporation, initially at least, was to make university management efficient. What has changed, or has not changed, in substance? How much progress toward efficiency has been made, or is likely to be...
COMMENTARY
Sep 27, 2004
Global weather warnings
Weather in Japan this year has shown unusual patterns. In fact, what has happened in various parts of the country defies our common knowledge. Take typhoons. Aside from a record number that hit this summer, one of them -- No. 18, or Songda -- continued unabated. After landing Kyushu, it traveled northeast...
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2004
Blame it on the cell phones
The continuing doldrums in the Japanese economy began with a slowdown more than 13 years ago -- in May 1991. The slump stems from sluggish consumer spending, which accounts for 60 percent of the gross national product, and bad loans plaguing Japanese commercial banks. Let's consider the reasons for sluggish...
COMMENTARY
Aug 2, 2004
Thirsting for just a trickle
John Maynard Keynes established a theory about why a government's fiscal and monetary policies of manipulating the official discount rate, tax rates and public works investment were a highly effective means of economic management.
COMMENTARY
Jul 5, 2004
Genuine educational reform
As part of the government-proposed trilogy of reform, a review will be made of having the national treasury pay the costs of compulsory education. Present plans call for transferring some government revenues generated by the consumption tax and other sources to local autonomies and abolishing various...
COMMENTARY
May 31, 2004
Recovery needs new markets
The Japanese economy is finally showing signs of recovery after remaining in the doldrums since May 1991, according to media reports. For example, stock prices are rising, corporate performance is improving, exports are expanding and capital spending is growing.
COMMENTARY
Mar 29, 2004
Environment tax can work
On Nov. 18 the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Nippon Keidanren) issued a statement opposing a proposed environment tax. Keidanren noted that it had set its own fiscal 2010 targets for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions generated by the industrial and energy-conversion sectors below 1990 levels,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 9, 2004
Perilous drop in readership
One long-standing trend in Japan has been the "shift away from print" -- an aversion to serious reading. For example, in the past four years, book sales have continued to decline. Compared with other countries, the books being read woefully lags in quality and quantity.
COMMENTARY
Feb 10, 2004
'Next big thing' key to growth
During Japan's bubble-economy years of fiscal 1987-1990, consumer spending grew at an annualized 5.5 percent in real terms. But during the Heisei recession of fiscal 1991-2001, consumer-spending growth slowed to an annualized 1.0 percent. Most experts agree that the slowdown in consumer spending, which...
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2004
Pro-U.S. stance on the line
U.S. political scientist Francis Fukuyama once predicted that the end of the Cold War would usher in an age when economic power would be the source of national strength. It seems his prophesy was off because of the policy stance of the Bush administration.
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2003
LDP's diminishing appeal
In the Nov. 9 Lower House election, the governing Liberal Democratic Party lost 10 seats while the opposition Democratic Party of Japan gained 40. New Komeito added a few seats thanks to its cooperation in the election with the LDP, its ruling-coalition partner. The Social Democratic Party and the Japan...
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2003
Creating more jobs that pay
Despite reports that the Japanese economy is on a recovery track, the nation's unemployment rate still exceeds 5 percent. Let me make some proposals for increasing employment opportunities on a long-term basis.
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2003
Japan's priority: offsetting pull toward jobless recovery
U.S. President George W. Bush's military unilateralism has destabilized the world order to such an extent that, facing a dearth of low-risk, high-return investments, Western investors have descended on the Japanese stock market.
COMMENTARY
Sep 1, 2003
Merger of opposition parties may bring grand reform era
On July 24, lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party approved an agreement for the two opposition parties to merge before the end of September. Some pundits criticized the scheduled merger as "unprincipled," but I disagree. I believe it has major significance for the nation.
COMMENTARY
Aug 5, 2003
How the reforms have failed
"Market fundamentalism" describes the view that it is desirable to leave all economic activity to a free market. This is because a free, competitive market is "efficient" or, more exactly, "cost-efficient," say advocates of this theory.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2003
Little gain but lots of pain
Ever since his administration took power in April 2001, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been asking the Japanese public to endure the pain associated with structural reform. This request is justified only when all Japanese equally share the pain.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2003
'Soviet-style' reforms won't improve national universities
The Upper House of the Diet is debating legislation aimed at turning national universities into "independent agencies."
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Kishida defends planned rule to revoke foreigners' residency
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting of the Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Human bone-like objects found at Nippon Steel plant’s molten iron pot, with one worker missing
Police believe it’s highly possible that human bones found in a molten iron pot at Nippon Steel's Oita factory belong to a missing male employee.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Man suspected of using smart glasses to cheat on Waseda University exams
The Waseda University campus in Tokyo. An 18-year-old male test-taker is suspected of using smart glasses to cheat during the university's entrance exam.
Japanese rap creates its mecca in Pop Yours
Tokyo-based artist Jumadiba says he forgoes the label of simply “rap” for his music because the Japanese rap scene isn’t confined to a particular sound.
Who’s toughest on China? Biden’s tariff tactic ups ante as election looms.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about new actions to protect American workers and businesses from China's "unfair" trade practices, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Ishin struggles to set itself apart from other parties
Nippon Ishin no Kai Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita (right) speaks beside Yui Kanazawa, the party's candidate in the Tokyo 15th district by-election on April 28. Nippon Ishin lost in this by-election as well as another in Nagasaki held on the same day.
In Japan, 68,000 people over 65 projected to die alone at home this year
As Japan grapples with its population's rapid aging, supporting people who live and age alone is looming larger on the policy agenda.

Podcast

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