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COMMENTARY

Feb 2, 2001

End of the line for Mori?

By Minoru Tada

Late last year Japan and the United States were buffeted by political turbulence. After briefly stirring fears of prolonged trouble, the chaos has died down.

COMMENTARY

Feb 1, 2001

Resist the revisionist impulse

By David Howell

LONDON -- Digging up the past has become politics, not archaeology. All round the world, whether in dusty archives or beneath sand-covered mounds, new "facts" are being uncovered, half-forgotten outrages reanalyzed, old myths debunked, old grievances exhumed and apologies or compensation, or both, demanded....

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 31, 2001

What will sanctions do to Afghanistan?

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- A news release from the U.S. State Department explaining the possible consequences of this month's U.N. Security Council sanctions against Afghanistan was mainly concerned to set the record straight.

COMMENTARY

Jan 29, 2001

'Real' deregulation is a powerful idea

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- There's no better place to spend Christmas in the United States than San Diego. Amid the warmth and sun you see snow only on television. No high heating bills here.

COMMENTARY

Jan 29, 2001

'Bubble' ethics cripple Japan

By Takamitsu Sawa

Chaos prevailed at some of the coming-of-age ceremonies held across the nation on Jan. 8. Youngsters who had joined the ranks of adults behaved like rogues, swilling sake from king-size bottles, throwing firecrackers at a mayor, or shouting "go home" to a governor. These and other acts of gross incivility,...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Jan 29, 2001

Was Pearl Harbor really a surprise?

By Hiroaki Sato

My young colleague at work, Donald Howard, comes to me and wryly asks: Why is this Japanese office having a Christmas party on Dec. 7? Impressed by his historical acuity, I only manage: Well, from the Japanese perspective, the Pearl Harbor assault didn't take place on Dec. 7, but on Dec. 8 in the predawn...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 29, 2001

Banks untouched by evolution

By Ramesh Thakur

After three years here, I believe the essence of the difference between Japan and India can be summed up thus: In India, nothing works, but everything can be arranged (for a consideration, of course); in Japan, everything works, but nothing can be arranged. One of the surprising aspects of life in Japan...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jan 28, 2001

A return to chillier times?

By Constantine Pleshakov

The Cold War is dead, long live the Cold War. Such seems to be the mood in the corridors of power in Moscow. Many Russians believe the inauguration of U.S. President George W. Bush may initiate a new period of tension between Washington and Moscow

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 28, 2001

Challenges for South Korean democracy

By Ronald Meinardus

SEOUL -- Nov. 28 was a black day for local autonomy in South Korea. On that date a group of lawmakers introduced a bill in the National Assembly, aimed at abolishing the democratic election of lower-level mayors. The 42 lawmakers from different political parties who presented the bill argued that the...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 28, 2001

Back to the future with George W. Bush

By Bruce Stokes

WASHINGTON -- When the new Bush Cabinet sat down for its first meeting after the inauguration, the only person missing was actor Michael J. Fox, because there's no doubt about it, this remake on the Potomac is definitely "Back to the Future: Part Four." And while nostalgia may be boffo in Hollywood,...

COMMENTARY

Jan 27, 2001

KSD places Mori in peril

By Kenzo Uchida

Dark clouds hang over Japanese politics. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been jolted by allegations that some of its leading members took payoffs from the mutual-aid organization KSD. The scandal came after Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori reshuffled his Cabinet last month and the restructured central...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 27, 2001

GOP keeps its faith in the Confederacy

By Rick Mercier

President George W. Bush's nominee for attorney general, John Ashcroft, must wonder why he's gotten so much heat for comments he made about the Confederacy. After all, in the ultra-conservative circles he frequents, there's nothing taboo about his unreconstructed opinions -- even his likely future boss...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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