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COMMENTARY

Jun 16, 2006

Is Japan set to stumble after Koizumi?

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- China is like the relatively new baby on the block that the neighbors fawn over, mostly ignoring any negatives, acting as if it's the perfect child as the other children are unceremoniously pushed into the background. Overlooked, the others occasionally fling their rattles out of the playpen...

COMMENTARY

Jun 15, 2006

Soccer, flags and nationalism

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- All over England, on houses, cars and vans, you will see the cross of St. George waving in the wind. Prime Minister Tony Blair has been persuaded that the English flag should be flown at his residence on days when the English team are playing in the World Cup.

COMMENTARY

Jun 15, 2006

Reformers edge ahead in Chinese debate

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- Since Deng Xiaoping began the process of reform and opening up almost 28 years ago, China has repeatedly had internal debates, often heated, as to whether changes had gone too far.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 15, 2006

Japan bashing then, China bashing now

By Ronald Mckinnon

LONDON -- Pressure on China today to push up the value of the yuan against the dollar is eerily similar to the pressure on Japan 30 years ago to make the yen appreciate. Back then, "Japan bashing" came to mean the threat of U.S. trade sanctions unless Japan softened competitive pressure on American industries....

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 15, 2006

Breaking the Iran stalemate

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- The conclusions of a study led by former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix are important to overcome the present stalemate with Iran. According to the independent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, "the first line of defense against the spread of nuclear weapons is to make states...

COMMENTARY

Jun 12, 2006

A tenable vision of efficiency

By Keizo Nabeshima

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms for creating a "simple, efficient government" have entered the final phase. In late May, the Diet enacted the administrative reform promotion law and four related bills aimed at continuing Koizumi's reform programs after he steps down in September...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 12, 2006

Arms race widening in Southeast Asia

By Hideaki Kaneda

Southeast Asia's return to prosperity since the financial crisis of 1997 has brought a regionwide splurge on new weapons. Most Southeast Asian countries are, indeed, now busily modernizing their armed forces. So far, most have done so without compromising their autonomy in security matters. But with...

COMMENTARY

Jun 12, 2006

Needed: new energy sources

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough used to be skeptical about how far climate change could be ascribed to human actions. He has now declared he is convinced that what we are doing or failing to do has had seriously damaging effects on the climate, and he has been demonstrating...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Jun 11, 2006

Can art be judged apart from its creator?

By Roger Pulvers

Last month the Comedie Francaise, France's sole state theater, made a momentous decision. "Voyage to the Sonorous Land, or the Art of Asking" by Austrian playwright Peter Handke had been scheduled for production in January 2007 at their second venue in the Latin Quarter. But in early May, theater administrator...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 11, 2006

Ready for global discussion on migrants

By Kofi A. Annan

NEW YORK -- Ever since national frontiers were invented, people have been crossing them -- not just to visit foreign countries, but to live and work there. In doing so, they have almost always taken risks, driven by a determination to overcome adversity and to live a better life.

COMMENTARY

Jun 10, 2006

China's buildup is no wonder

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- There has been an unsettling discordance about U.S. policy toward China that was brought home anew by Donald Rumsfeld, recently at the annual IISS Asia Security Summit in Singapore. Why this discredited man with his failed Iraqi policies remains U.S. secretary of defense is a profound...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 10, 2006

Intolerance to the arts is growing in India

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

MADRAS, India -- The recent anger against director Ron Howard's latest film, "The Da Vinci Code," reminds us that intolerance against artistic freedom is growing in a world that we thought was past caring about such issues.

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

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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