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May 01, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY
Jul 2, 2001
A more active Japan would benefit Asia
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES -- Alarm bells will start sounding across Asia in August. That's when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to visit Tokyo's most famous Shinto shrine, Yasukuni, which honors not only Japan's war dead since the 19th century but also, inconveniently, convicted war criminals, including wartime...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2001
French success has economists wondering
By Gwynne Dyer
LONDON -- For Americans who work long hours, get only two weeks holiday a year, and live under a system that defines job security as a socialist vice, the apparent success of the French experiment is a puzzle and an affront.
COMMENTARY
Jul 2, 2001
Japan's roadblock to reform
By Gregory Clark
Is there something wrong with the Japanese mentality? Is it, as some have suggested, unable to coordinate details with overall strategy, to realize that the contradictions between "tatemae" (guiding ideals) and "honne" (real intentions) or approving ideas in general while objecting to minutiae ("soron...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2001
The real backbone of Japan
By Hajime Karatsu
Japan pays about 2,000 yen for each ton of iron ore it imports. Sheet iron made from the ore sells for 50,000 yen a ton and automobiles built with the sheet iron sell for 1 million yen a ton. The Japanese economy thrives by creating added value in the manufacturing of industrial products from raw materials....
COMMENTARY
Jul 1, 2001
U.S. confronts high hurdles in Kashmir
By Brahma Chellaney
NEW DELHI -- The United States has tried hard over the past five decades to mediate an end to the conflict between India and Pakistan. Lack of success has prompted it more recently to switch from an overt to a quiet, behind-the-scenes role as a peace broker.
COMMENTARY
Jul 1, 2001
Tanaka should think twice before speaking
By Ryuichiro Hosokawa
Calm does not seem to prevail in the words and deeds attributed to Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka. She caused a considerable controversy when she expressed the view that Japan should join hands with European countries to persuade the United States not to go ahead with the missile-defense initiative....
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2001
Koizumi: a new type of leader
By Kenzo Uchida
Two months have passed since the inauguration of the popular administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Thanks to the prime minister's enormous popularity, the Liberal Democratic Party easily triumphed in this week's election for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, which was the first test for...
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2001
NATO errors led to Macedonian disaster
By Doug Bandow
WASHINGTON -- Leave it to NATO to turn a problem into a crisis. Two years ago, America spurred ethnic Albanian separatism by kicking Serbian forces out of Kosovo. Today NATO is fomenting civil war in Macedonia by its maladroit intervention.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2001
India and Pakistan both stand to gain
By Caf Dowlah
The sudden invitation extended by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to attend a summit talk in New Delhi might have taken some observers by surprise but in reality it is a calculated move based on South Asian geopolitics.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2001
OECD policy equals fiscal imperialism
By Christopher Lingle
There has been a lot of noise over the issue of tax laundering and tax havens. While much of the focus of publicity will be on stopping money-laundering associated with criminal activities, the subtext of it all will be to restrain tax competition. Despite the initial aim to limit "harmful tax competition,"...
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2001
Time for a strategic dialogue
By Ralph Cossa
HONOLULU -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will have a lot to talk about with U.S. President George W. Bush when the two meet for the first time at Camp David this weekend. High on the agenda should be the initiation of a strategic dialogue aimed at redefining the U.S.-Japan security relationship....
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2001
Bush's Korea policy: old wine, new bottle
By Ronald Meinardus
SEOUL -- "Things have begun moving slowly," South Korea's President Kim Dae Jung recently said in reaction to the Bush administration's announcement it will open negotiations with Pyongyang. No doubt, the government in Seoul is trying hard to sound upbeat. Foreign Minister Han Seung Soo added, "Bush's...
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami
A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
Shohei Ohtani's example could change Japan's views on paternity leave
Shohei Ohtani and Mamiko Tanaka announced the birth of their first child on April 19.
Nearly half of workers in Japan engage in ‘quiet quitting’
"Quiet quitting" is most common among the younger generation, with 46.7% of respondents to a survey in their 20s identifying with the practice, reflecting a less-motivated workforce more focused on work-life balance.
Delta routes new Airbus plane to Tokyo to sidestep Trump tariffs
Delta Air Lines signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on April 9. The airline is flying a new Airbus SE plane through Japan to skirt U.S. import tariffs.
High levels of PFAS found in blood of Osaka factory workers
The levels of a type of "forever chemical" found in seven current and former employees at Daikin Industries' Yodogawa plant in Osaka Prefecture were about 38 times those for nearby residents, according to a survey conducted by a team including Kyoto University.
Could this be Japan’s year at the Kentucky Derby?
Christophe Lemaire rides Admire Daytona, who was bred in Japan, during the UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on April 5.
Counting the reasons why there are so few American cars in Japan
Tesla's store in Tokyo's Shibuya district. While sales of American cars in Japan appear to be shrinking, Tesla's presence in the country is growing.
Shohei Ohtani's example could change Japan's views on paternity leave
Shohei Ohtani and Mamiko Tanaka announced the birth of their first child on April 19.
Nearly half of workers in Japan engage in ‘quiet quitting’
"Quiet quitting" is most common among the younger generation, with 46.7% of respondents to a survey in their 20s identifying with the practice, reflecting a less-motivated workforce more focused on work-life balance.
U.S. secretary of the navy weighs ‘dual-use’ shipbuilding with Japan
John Phelan at a Senate confirmation hearing for U.S. secretary of the navy in Washington in February

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami
By Alex K.T. Martin

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