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November 07, 2025

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COMMENTARY

Mar 31, 2000

Obuchi heading for trouble

By Minoru Tada

The sun may be setting on the administration of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. Recent polls indicate that the Obuchi Cabinet's approval ratings have fallen sharply while its disapproval ratings have risen. The phenomenon is generally blamed on the continuing recession, a growing public-debt burden stemming...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 31, 2000

Sharpening Japan-U.S. strategic ties

By Akihisa Nagashima

U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen's recent visit to Tokyo demonstrates the immaturity of the U.S.-Japan alliance, particularly from a strategic point of view.

COMMENTARY

Mar 30, 2000

For Taiwan and China, patience is key

By Ralph Cossa

BEIJING -- Now what? Since Taiwan has elected Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party as its next president, despite heavy-handed Chinese efforts to discourage this outcome, what does Beijing do next?

COMMENTARY

Mar 29, 2000

Cut red tape to boost business

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Consumers everywhere are demanding deregulation. Most competitive businesses also want red tape and unnecessary regulation eliminated. Only the inefficient and uncompetitive, who believe that they are protected by rules restricting competition, are against the deregulation of their businesses....

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 28, 2000

No stopping the IT revolution

By Eisuke Sakakibara

Most economic experts seem to agree that the information-technology revolution will bring profound changes to the global economy, and to the Japanese economy as well. Some people still believe that the revolution and the development of multimedia communications technology are only a bubble. However,...

COMMENTARY

Mar 27, 2000

Election reform isn't the cure

By Keizo Nabeshima

The ruling coalition and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan have worked out a bill to correct defects in the existing election system. If approved by the current Diet, the proposed changes to the Public Office Election Law will apply to the next Lower House.

COMMENTARY

Mar 26, 2000

All eyes on nuclear energy

By Gregory Clark

It is axiomatic that any group in Japan -- doctors, dentists or candlestick makers -- will want to turn itself into a tightly bound community, closed off from the outside world. It will be concerned almost entirely with its own survival and prosperity.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 25, 2000

Ethanol: a green opportunity for Japan

By Dan Considine

Bad things can sometimes yield good. Loss of the Saudi Arabian oil-producing contract and the rise in the price of oil from $10 to $30 a barrel in the past year should therefore be a wakeup call to Japan to follow the United States' lead in investing in research and development of alternatives to petroleum-based...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 24, 2000

Election aftershocks rocking Taiwan

By Rick Mercier

TAIPEI -- Taiwan continues to feel the aftershocks of the political earthquake that hit last Saturday, when Democratic Progressive Party leader Chen Shui-bian's presidential victory rocked the foundations of party politics on an island that has been ruled by the same party for more than half a century....

COMMENTARY

Mar 24, 2000

Police resisting vital reform

By Kiroku Hanai

The Japanese police have long enjoyed a high reputation both at home and abroad, due partly to their efficiency in apprehending criminals. Today, however, the Japanese police system is suffering from a breakdown of ethics, caused in part by its insular nature.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 23, 2000

Economic doomsayers are off the mark

By Yasukichi Yasuba

The government's projection for Japanese economic growth is 0.6 percent for fiscal 1999 and 1 percent for fiscal 2000. Both are based on unrealistic assumptions about the present and future state of the economy. The projection appears to have been verified by the negative GDP growth recorded in the last...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 23, 2000

No more Indian idealism

By Brahma Chellaney

NEW DELHI -- U.S. President Bill Clinton's weeklong tour of South Asia has caused an outbreak of Clinton-mania in the region, generating bloated expectations. In the Indian cities on his itinerary, streets have been cleaned, signposts washed or repainted, and tree branches cut back. The Great White Messiah...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.

The second life of Japan's net cafes

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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