Gerald Segal - The Japan Times

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Gerald Segal

For Gerald Segal's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 18, 1999

High price of blood politics

You see it in Kosovo and you see it in Taiwan -- indeed it is everywhere. International disputes are shaped by disputes about blood. Sometimes, as in Kosovo, the argument is that Serbs and Albanians cannot live together because they are deeply divided by blood and resulting ethnicity. Sometimes, as in the China-Taiwan dispute, the appeal from one side is that unity is imperative because of blood ties. But no matter the form, this is a dangerous and increasingly antiquated way to settle disputes. People who put blood first stand much less chance of prospering and living at peace in the modern world.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 10, 1999

Tasting the politics of food

LONDON -- There are international trade disputes about steel or telecommunications, but as the gathering debate about trade in genetically modified food makes clear, there is nothing quite as intense as an argument about food. Similarly, there are domestic political scandals about money or sex, but as the food contamination problems in Belgium, Britain, Hong Kong or Malaysia have shown, food can become high politics. Why is food so contentious?

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 13, 1999

Keeping the U.S. honest

LONDON -- Americans...Don't you just love to hate them? They preach to you about the virtues of an open trading system and then they slap a bizarre set of sanctions on trade rivals before the World Trade Organization makes its report. They lecture the world about the virtues of the rule of law and when their air force is responsible for the death of 20 tourists in Italy, U.S. military courts set the culprits free. But as infuriating as such behavior undoubtedly is, the rest of the world has no choice but to get along with the world's single superpower. The ability to get the United States to behave better in fact is in the hands of America's most frustrated allies.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.

For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on

By Lance Henderstein

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

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