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August 04, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY
Dec 24, 2006
Next to the Iraq catastrophe, minor dramas marked 2006
By Gwynne Dyer
LONDON -- In hard news terms, it's been one of the slower years: no great events, few surprises and no real shocks. But as the little events accumulated during 2006, the shape of the future gradually became clearer in three important dimensions.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 24, 2006
Ongoing Vietnam tragedy revives ghosts of a Christmas past
By Roger Pulvers
Christmas brings to mind many wonderful memories for most of us. But history has bequeathed to some of us a most awful little two-word phrase blackening those memories like a stain. That phrase is "Christmas bombing."
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2006
Postpone the full operation of Rokkasho
By Tadahiro Katsuta
December 18 was the 50th anniversary of Japan's affiliation with the United Nations. At the ceremony Secretary General Koffi Annan called on Japan to stick to its ban on nuclear weapons. His message seems to have been prompted by the nuclear-arms argument in Japan that has emerged since North Korea's...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2006
No payoff in dialogue with Iran, Syria
By Ammar Abdulhamid
PRAGUE -- Despite frequent claims to the contrary, the fundamental problem in the Middle East is not intervention by the West but rather the apparent inability of the Western powers to conduct either war or dialogue. This leaves everyone in the region at the mercy of the Middle East's oppressive regimes...
COMMENTARY
Dec 22, 2006
New base for reconciliation
By Kazuo Ogoura
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China in early October was important for several reasons. In the short term, it represented a significant contribution to easing tensions between Tokyo and Beijing. From a long-term perspective, it helped to lay the foundations for a stronger bilateral relationship....
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2006
Fresh leadership at the United Nations
By Tom Plate
NEW YORK -- The world has no sure idea of what it may be getting with its newly designated United Nations secretary general. Ban Ki Moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, is more or less an enigma except to a small population engaged in international diplomacy.
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2006
Kremlin fears for its Far East
By David Wall
LONDON -- I don't suppose you read the piece in the Russian newspapers about customs officials' activities in the Russian Far East, at the Poltvaka customs checkpoint in Oktyabrsky County in southern Primorski krai on the Chinese border? It was a very interesting article about how a truck, which had...
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2006
Al-Jazeera English: the plot is thickening
By Ramzy Baroud
LONDON -- The launch of Al-Jazeera English, the English arm of Al-Jazeera Satellite Television, on Nov. 15 was a notable addition to the growing global efforts aimed at counterbalancing American-European domination over world media.
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2006
Warming to carbon rations
By Gwynne Dyer
LONDON -- Here's the plan. Everybody in the country will get the same allowance for how much carbon dioxide they can emit each year, and every time they buy some product that involves carbon dioxide emissions -- filling their car, paying their utility bills, buying an airline ticket -- carbon points...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2006
ECB tools for assessing price risks work
By Otmar Issing
STRASBOURG, France -- In October 1998, just before the start of the European Monetary Union, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) adopted a stability-oriented monetary policy strategy comprising three elements. The first was a commitment to the primary goal of the ECB -- safeguarding...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2006
Pigs, calves and democracy in America
By Peter Singer
PRINCETON, New Jersey -- Amid all the headlines about the Democrats gaining control of the U.S. Congress in the November elections, one big election result was largely ignored. Although it illuminated the flaws of America's political system, it also restored my belief in the compassion of ordinary Americans....
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 17, 2006
McSato et al prompt mastication over whose 'real' is really real
By Roger Pulvers
I've been running around lately like a headless chicken -- and the simile is more literal than you might think. I have been spending my evenings going around Tokyo restaurants, doing a survey strictly in the interests of scrupulous journalism.
Japan's jobs-to-applicant ratio falls to 1.22 in June
Japan's seasonally adjusted effective job-to-applicant ratio dipped to 1.22 in June, down 0.02 point from the previous month, according to the labor ministry.
Why did such a powerful earthquake produce such a weak tsunami?
A person records images of waves following a tsunami advisory generated by local authorities after an earthquake struck off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, prompting warnings and evacuations stretching across at the South Pacific, in Vina del Mar, Chile, on Wednesday.
Japanese students struggle with description-type tests
The average correct answer rate for description-type questions in the Japanese-language section of the fiscal 2025 national achievement test for third-year junior high school students was as low as 25.6%, according to the education ministry.
Junglia brought dinos back to Okinawa. But will it bring tourists?
At Panorama Dining, one of Junglia’s two proper restaurants that also doubles as the rooftop Inifinity Terrace overlook, guests can pay extra to sit in balcony tables made to look like birds’ nests overlooking the park grounds.
Last soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army have a warning for younger generations
Kunshiro Kiyozumi, 97, who was the youngest crew member of the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 in World War II, on his way to a restaurant to have lunch in Matsuyama, Japan, on April 29.
Junglia brought dinos back to Okinawa. But will it bring tourists?
At Panorama Dining, one of Junglia’s two proper restaurants that also doubles as the rooftop Inifinity Terrace overlook, guests can pay extra to sit in balcony tables made to look like birds’ nests overlooking the park grounds.
From Osaka to the NHL: Jordan Spence hopes to inspire young Japanese hockey players
Ottawa Senators defenseman Jordan Spence helps lead the Dreamskate Japan hockey camp in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, on July 5.
Coordination office marks first step in U.S. Forces Japan’s shift to ‘warfighting’ command
U.S., Japanese and Australian staff work in the JJOC Cooperation Team office at the U.S. Army’s Hardy Barracks in central Tokyo in this image posted to the Australian Embassy's X account on July 25.
GTN takes a chance on newcomers to Japan
Hiroyuki Goto, president of GTN. The company started after Goto personally co-signed leases for around 20 non-Japanese people, including some friends and friends of friends.
Artist Chiharu Shiota weaves a hidden marvel on Teshima
“Memory of Lines” is Chiharu Shiota’s second art installation on Teshima as part of the Setouchi Triennale.

Podcast

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

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
By Jason Coskrey

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