More Commentary Articles - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

COMMENTARY

Oct 30, 2006

Even nuclear talk detracts

By Keizo Nabeshima

Some influential Japanese politicians have called for debate on whether the nation should adopt nuclear arms, causing repercussions at home and abroad. Since 1967, Japan has upheld the three-point policy of not possessing, making or allowing the entry of nuclear arms, while remaining under the U.S. nuclear...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Oct 30, 2006

Erosions of a shaky moral high ground

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- To choose the most bewildering action of George W. Bush since he became U.S. president in 2001 is tough. Is it starting a war without cause? Is it creating a dubious court and prosecuting a man for mass killings while committing even greater mass killings? Or is it concocting legislation...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 28, 2006

International role of NPOs

By Kazuo Ogoura

All over the world, culture is being pushed to the sidelines. I am not referring here to commercialized, globalized culture produced purely for entertainment. By "culture," I mean the provision of culture as a public good, such as through foreign-language education, intellectual exchange or groundbreaking...

COMMENTARY

Oct 27, 2006

Crisis boosts U.S.-China ties

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- North Korea's nuclear test Oct. 9 may have created a crisis atmosphere in the world but, at the same time, it has greatly improved China's relations with the United States as the two countries work closely together to put pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear-arms program.

COMMENTARY

Oct 26, 2006

No good exit strategy from Iraq for U.S.

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON -- Landlubbers usually get maritime analogies wrong. "Changing course" is not cowardice; it's the sensible thing to do if the ship is headed for the rocks. "Cutting" (the anchor cable) "and running" (before the wind) is what you do when the storm is raging, the anchor is dragging, and the ship...

COMMENTARY

Oct 26, 2006

Antidepressant drug raises new hopes

By Cesar Chelala

The news that Dallas Cowboys football player Terrell Owens had attempted to commit suicide because of depression alarmed sports fans worldwide, for whom he is one of the game's biggest stars. However, recent information on the uses of a drug with positive effects on depressed patients raises hopes that...

COMMENTARY

Oct 26, 2006

Revisionists damaging Japan

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has the reputation of being a tough nationalist. So far, however, he has shown himself to be a pragmatist in foreign-policy issues. His early visits to China and South Korea demonstrated that he wants to improve bilateral relations, which have soured in recent years....

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 26, 2006

Lower corporate taxes can fuel recovery

By Christopher Lingle

BANGKOK -- It is a hopeful sign that professor Masaaki Honma of Osaka University has been set to be appointed chairman of the tax panel that briefs the prime minister. This would be a happy departure from the position of the current chairman of the tax panel, Hiromitsu Ishi, who consistently advocated...

COMMENTARY

Oct 26, 2006

N. Korea: Who's to blame?

By Ralph Cossa

SEOUL -- "It's all Bush's fault!" "No, it's all Clinton's fault!" Has anyone engaged in this increasingly counterproductive debate over who should be blamed for North Korea's nuclear test ever stopped to consider that it might actually be Kim Jong Il's fault? . . . and that North Korean's "Dear Leader"...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 24, 2006

The rising wealth of nations

By Robert J. Shiller

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut -- The new Penn World Table, Version 6.2, comparing standards of living across countries, has just been released. The latest figures are for 2004, and, because of data lags, not all countries are included. Yet these numbers are valuable because they are of exceptional quality and...

COMMENTARY

Oct 23, 2006

Waves build against carrier

By Kiroku Hanai

The mayor of the city of Yokosuka and the governor of Kanagawa Prefecture have expressed willingness to accept the deployment of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base, stirring optimism among central government officials that a controversial issue is about to be solved....

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 23, 2006

U.S. should heed Suez lesson

LONDON -- If you're an imperial power, your troops often end up in places that most of your citizens cannot even find on the map: Mesopotamia for Roman soldiers, for example, or Afghanistan for the British. It looks foolish, viewed with the long perspective of history, and yet lots of people fall for...

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

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports