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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:
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008
Fukuda's low-carbon society 'vision' needs to shorten its sights, include medium-term target
On June 9, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda released his "vision" for creating a low-carbon society in a determined bid to fulfill his responsibility as chairman of the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in Toyako, Hokkaido.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2008
A shift in priority to 'happiness'
Per capita gross domestic product is a highly valued as yardstick for measuring the degree of "affluence" enjoyed by the citizens of each nation. The figures of various countries are usually converted into U.S. dollars to determine how countries rank internationally.
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2008
Economics studies suffer as math focus diminishes
There has been a sharp decrease in the number of students who major in natural sciences in their undergraduate years and then take up economics in postgraduate courses. I will attempt to identify the reasons.
COMMENTARY
Apr 7, 2008
Starving the emissions beast
The focus of the debate on climate change has shifted drastically in the past several years. The Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997 on the assumption that climate change and global warming were being caused by emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 2008
Get set for emissions trading
The year 2007 marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Kyoto Protocol; the 20th anniversary of the release of the report "Our Common Future" by the World Commission on Environment and Development, headed by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland (the expression "sustainable development"...
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2008
The afterlife for bureaucrats
For years the phrase "from the public sector to the private sector" has been used in the context of politics and the economy. In April 1985, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corp. and Japan Monopoly Corp. were privatized, becoming NTT and Japan Tobacco respectively. In April 1987, Japanese National...
COMMENTARY
Jan 14, 2008
Public's will to bear the cost
Most Japanese industry executives contend that the proposed environment tax should not be introduced on the grounds that it would slow the growth of gross domestic product. In my opinion, this argument is totally mistaken.
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2007
The graduate school fiasco
Amid the controversy over Japanese students' falling scholastic standards, the most serious concern stems from the poor abilities of graduate students. This problem arose from the mistaken policy, introduced in 1990, of expanding graduate-school education.
COMMENTARY
Nov 19, 2007
Feasible cuts in emissions
Debate is raging over the pros and cons of the proposed target of halving global greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. The goal, initially proposed last June by then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was supported by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders at the Group of Eight summit at Heiligendamm,...
COMMENTARY
Oct 8, 2007
Save cramming for college
On Aug. 30, the elementary-school group of the Central Education Council published a draft report to the education minister that included these points:
COMMENTARY
Sep 11, 2007
Off the nuclear mainstream
On July 16, a magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck Niigata Prefecture, causing widespread damage and an emergency shutdown of four of the seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. (The remaining three reactors were undergoing regular checks.) The Chuetsu-oki Earthquake touched off a fire...
COMMENTARY
Aug 14, 2007
Why test just the teachers?
Medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses, jurists and certified public accountants are among the professionals who have had to pass national licensing examinations to get started. As professionals, they must have specialized knowledge and skills.
COMMENTARY
Jul 9, 2007
Next stage of emission cuts
Speaking at the 13th International "Future of Asia" conference in Tokyo May 24, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a set of comprehensive strategies for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2007
School tinkering that hurts
The education ministry is pushing university reform based on a U.S. model. As I wrote in April, the ministry in 1990 introduced a policy of sharply expanding graduate school admission quotas. In the next year, it relaxed undergraduate restrictions in graduate-level liberal-arts programs, allowing even...
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2007
Groom Japan's gifted students
On April 11, the public broadcaster NHK's program "Close-up Gendai (Current Affairs)" took up the issue of the International Science Olympiads (ISOs) for middle- and high-school students. The competition tests knowledge in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, astronomy and other areas...
COMMENTARY
Apr 9, 2007
Redundant higher education
In the 1990s, the education ministry announced a policy of making graduate schools the center of education and research at what had traditionally been undergraduate universities. At about the same time, restrictions on a liberal arts education for undergraduates were relaxed, allowing even freshmen students...
COMMENTARY
Mar 13, 2007
Dealing with climate change
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, and the 20th anniversary of the publication "Our Common Future," by the United Nations Brundtland Commission, the landmark report that called for "sustainable development" -- meeting the needs of the present without compromising...
COMMENTARY
Feb 12, 2007
Still the clean-growth model
In terms of economic development, Japan, South Korea and China have achieved in two or three decades what it took Western countries more than a century to accomplish.
COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2007
Unwise gantlet for teachers
Certain professionals must pass state examinations to obtain licenses for their jobs. They include medical doctors, dentists, jurists, certified public accountants, architects, pharmacists and registered nurses, as well as primary, middle and high school teachers. Amid the severe employment situation,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 20, 2006
Viable post-Kyoto approach
The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol covers the five years from 2008 to 2012. Now is the time to start discussing the international framework for the second commitment period, which begins in 2013.
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.

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