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COMMENTARY / World

Dec 4, 1999

In Britain now, 'tis the season to be silly

By Sarah Benton

Not with a bang but a whimper, last month Britain's hereditary lords slid out of their ermine robes and off the scarlet-padded benches and retired to their country seats. A line of continuity from feudalism has finally been broken.

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Dec 4, 1999

The buzz in Washington: New Millennium parties and would-be new presidents

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- I experienced some interesting feelings as I typed in the date on this piece. We writers and pundits will have an emotional ride during the next few weeks as we put pen to paper -- or fingers to keyboard -- for the last time in this century and millennium. The temptations are rife: to be...

COMMENTARY

Dec 3, 1999

Bully politics back in vogue

By Kenzo Uchida

Many important bills are pending in the current extraordinary Diet session that closes Dec. 15, and the government and the ruling tripartite coalition no doubt are considering an extension of the session. The three opposition parties, meanwhile, are gearing up to quash the bills and present a no-confidence...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 1, 1999

'Trade is better than aid'

By Kofi A. Annan

In one month's time, we shall leave the 20th century behind. The first half of it saw the world almost destroyed by war -- partly as a result of its division into rival trade blocs. The second half has seen an unprecedented expansion of world trade, which has also brought unprecedented economic growth....

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 28, 1999

Global cop or rogue power?

By Robert A. Manning

WASHINGTON -- Completely unnoticed by most Americans, the Washington elite has become ensnared in a yet another false, narcissistic foreign policy debate. Yet when French President Jacques Chirac stood side-by-side with Chinese President Jiang Zemin recently and denounced U.S. nuclear and antiballistic...

COMMENTARY

Nov 27, 1999

Tough times again for Ozawa

By Minoru Tada

While I was away from Japan on a recent overseas trip, the nation was plunged into political confusion following Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa's threat to leave the ruling three-party coalition. Ozawa suggested that his party could quit the alliance -- which also includes the Liberal Democratic Party...

COMMENTARY

Nov 24, 1999

Japan's Middle East role

By Kiroku Hanai

In January 1996, I was dispatched by the Japanese government to observe the election of the Palestine Council and the president of the Palestinian Authority. Because Palestine was still under Israeli occupation, it was not a sovereign state: Sending international observers to such a region was unprecedented....

COMMENTARY

Nov 24, 1999

New Luddites at the gates

By David Howell

LONDON -- Ned Ludd was the leader of a mob, circa 1815, who went around smashing up new textile machinery in factories. Ludd calculated, correctly, that traditional jobs would be lost and familiar ways of life destroyed for thousands, even millions of British workers if the machines prevailed.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 20, 1999

Australia's republic: If not now, when?

By Myint Zan

Australian Prime Minister John Howard recently had an "audience" -- as some Australian media described it -- with Queen Elizabeth II at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Durban, South Africa. During the meeting, the prime minister of Australia personally informed the queen of the United...

COMMENTARY

Nov 20, 1999

Heading for a showdown

By Kenzo Uchida

Nov. 9 marked the 10th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which led to the end of the Cold War. The international situation, liberated from ideological confrontations, has changed a great deal since then.

COMMENTARY

Nov 17, 1999

Japan on the verge of change?

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- A three-week visit to Japan in October left me somewhat more optimistic about the Japanese scene than I was six months or a year ago. Why? There seemed to be a greater recognition that Japan had to change if its economy were not only to deliver continued prosperity to the Japanese people but...

COMMENTARY

Nov 13, 1999

End of the House of Lords?

By David Howell

LONDON -- In the broader scheme of things, it is only a small incident. The final removal last week of 656 hereditary dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts and lords from the law-making machinery of the British Parliament can hardly be described as earth-shattering. Nor is it a surprise, having been long...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.

What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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