More Commentary Articles - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

COMMENTARY

Jun 30, 2001

Koizumi: a new type of leader

By Kenzo Uchida

Two months have passed since the inauguration of the popular administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Thanks to the prime minister's enormous popularity, the Liberal Democratic Party easily triumphed in this week's election for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, which was the first test for...

COMMENTARY

Jun 30, 2001

NATO errors led to Macedonian disaster

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- Leave it to NATO to turn a problem into a crisis. Two years ago, America spurred ethnic Albanian separatism by kicking Serbian forces out of Kosovo. Today NATO is fomenting civil war in Macedonia by its maladroit intervention.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 30, 2001

India and Pakistan both stand to gain

By Caf Dowlah

The sudden invitation extended by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to attend a summit talk in New Delhi might have taken some observers by surprise but in reality it is a calculated move based on South Asian geopolitics.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 30, 2001

OECD policy equals fiscal imperialism

By Christopher Lingle

There has been a lot of noise over the issue of tax laundering and tax havens. While much of the focus of publicity will be on stopping money-laundering associated with criminal activities, the subtext of it all will be to restrain tax competition. Despite the initial aim to limit "harmful tax competition,"...

COMMENTARY

Jun 30, 2001

Time for a strategic dialogue

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will have a lot to talk about with U.S. President George W. Bush when the two meet for the first time at Camp David this weekend. High on the agenda should be the initiation of a strategic dialogue aimed at redefining the U.S.-Japan security relationship....

COMMENTARY

Jun 29, 2001

Bush's Korea policy: old wine, new bottle

By Ronald Meinardus

SEOUL -- "Things have begun moving slowly," South Korea's President Kim Dae Jung recently said in reaction to the Bush administration's announcement it will open negotiations with Pyongyang. No doubt, the government in Seoul is trying hard to sound upbeat. Foreign Minister Han Seung Soo added, "Bush's...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 29, 2001

Musharraf feathers military's power nest

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

NEW DELHI -- Everybody had expected Pakistan's chief executive, Pervez Musharraf, to appoint himself president. When that happened on June 20, most of the world -- barring the United States, which made a big noise -- accepted Musharraf's new title without batting an eyelid.

COMMENTARY

Jun 28, 2001

The right to collective defense

By Keizo Nabeshima

WASHINGTON -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is scheduled to meet U.S. President George W. Bush June 30 at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. Most likely Koizumi will receive an enthusiastic welcome amid expectations that Japan will change.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 27, 2001

Is Canberra doing right by its refugees?

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- Nowhere was the poignancy of World Refugee Day on June 20 felt more acutely than in Australia. Here, the plight of thousands of refugees held in detention camps gnaws at the national conscience.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 26, 2001

Is Japan moving to the right?

By Tadae Takubo

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in a discussion with U.S. experts on Asian problems. Several of the U.S. participants stated that the new junior high-school history textbook issued by Fuso Publishing Co. was a "swing to the right." Since Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka has said publicly...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 26, 2001

Justice takes a step backward in Texas

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry's decision to veto legislation that would have banned the execution of mentally retarded criminals is a setback to the elimination of a barbaric policy that has almost universal repudiation. This decision comes at the same time as the release from prison -- where he...

COMMENTARY

Jun 25, 2001

Another blast from Mr. Bix

By Sam Jameson

To more than 80 percent of Japanese voters, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi looks like a populist reformer. But to the American winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction, Koizumi is a "rightwing nationalist."

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

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports