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COMMENTARY

Aug 22, 2005

Victor's logic in hindsight

By Kiroku Hanai

Every August Japan is filled with prayers for the 3.1 million Japanese who died in the Pacific War and feelings of resentment against the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This August, which marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, Japanese media have done intensive reporting to...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Aug 21, 2005

All together now, as yesterday's no-no becomes the status quo

By Roger Pulvers

When I first arrived in Japan in the 1960s, I was friends with a Western sociologist who was genuinely frustrated. When he went around surveying public opinion, he said that he found Japanese people to be stubbornly reserved and conservative. Apparently, those who responded to his questions about social...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 20, 2005

Consolidating against conflict, disaster

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- Despite some initial difficulties, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations preserved its cohesion as a credible regional organization to end a weeklong series of annual meetings on a good note late last month in Vientiane:

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 20, 2005

Natural gas pipeline may energize peace

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

MADRAS, India -- It is being called the Peace Pipe. The natural gas pipeline running from Iran to India through Pakistan may be a reality in early 2006. Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Iyer made this announcement during his recent visit to Islamabad.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 20, 2005

Revisiting capital punishment

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- Recent statements on capital punishment by John Paul Stevens, a U.S. Supreme Court justice, to the American Bar Association could reignite the debate on this important issue. His statements followed several exonerations of death-row inmates through scientific evidence. He said these exonerations...

COMMENTARY

Aug 19, 2005

Tolerance can't be coerced

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- For some, the Iraq constitution-writing process has called to mind the founding of America or other democracies. But whether the Iraqi doc ument -- for which the original Aug. 15 deadline has been extended a week -- will deliver liberty remains tragically uncertain.

COMMENTARY

Aug 18, 2005

Double standards don't help

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Sixty years ago this month Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated by the first nuclear bombs. The effects of these bombs on the civilian populations of these cities are a horrific reminder of why all governments need to redouble their efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and to achieve...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 17, 2005

Viewing the United States from an Asian perspective

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- During a gathering of Asians and Americans in Honolulu, the Asians seemed ambivalent about the role of the United States in their region. As one put it, "We want the Americans to be on tap but not on top."

COMMENTARY

Aug 15, 2005

Energy myths and illusions

By David Howell

LONDON/OSLO -- People like to discuss whether the world is running out of oil and gas, and the big oil companies round the world have now joined in with warnings about energy shortages and the need to retool our economies on a more energy-efficient basis. And to emphasize their dire warnings, they are...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 15, 2005

Scholar troubled by Japan's direction

By Nobuko Hara

Few intellectuals in Japan today are as deeply committed to peace and democracy as Rokuro Hidaka is. The 88-year-old sociologist is a witness to Japan's aggression in China and, during the war, even went as far as proposing that Japan withdraw its troops from China, return its colonies and lay down foundations...

COMMENTARY

Aug 14, 2005

Reform mantra mesmerizes

By Gregory Clark

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to call a Diet Lower House election Sept. 11 solely on the question of post office privatization is curious.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Aug 14, 2005

Chiune Sugihara: His conscience gleams out of the darkness

By Roger Pulvers

Exactly 60 years ago, during the evening of Aug. 14, 1945, Emperor Hirohito recorded the speech of surrender to be broadcast to the Japanese nation the next day at noon.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.

What comes after 100?

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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