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August 25, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Jul 30, 2012
Governors' view of revival
At their annual conference held in Takamatsu on July 19 and 20, the governors of Japan's 47 prefectures adopted an interim report on their Japan Resuscitation Plan, which presents their view on Japan's overall direction in future economic development and ways to cope with expected massive disasters....
EDITORIALS
Jul 29, 2012
Billionaire's tax to help the poor
In searching for new sources of funding, the United Nations this month called for a tax on billionaires to raise money for poor countries. According to the assessment in the U.N. World Economic and Social Survey, an annual tax on the world's super-rich would yield almost $400 billion a year.
EDITORIALS
Jul 29, 2012
Japan as No. 25
Japan has fallen to 25th place in a world ranking of innovation — down five places from 2011 — according to a study conducted by INSEAD, an international graduate school and research institution concerned with innovation in countries around the world. Japan's economy, still the third-largest in the...
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2012
Justice for all Minamata victims
An important date is approaching for people who are not officially recognized as victims of Minamata disease but have symptoms of the disease, Japan's worst industrial pollution-induced disease caused by methyl mercury contained in waste from Chisso Corp.'s factory in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, and...
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2012
The joy of the Olympic Games
Queen Elizabeth II opens the 2012 Olympics on Saturday Japan time (Friday local time). This is the third time that London hosts the Olympics. This year's Olympic Games mark the 30th modern Olympics since the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896.
EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 2012
Reducing Tepco's costs
Trade and industry minister Yukio Edano, consumer affairs minister Jin Matsubara and Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura on July 20 decided to let Tokyo Electric Power Co. raise its electricity rate for households by an average 8.47 percent from Sept. 1. On Wednesday, Mr. Edano eventually set the...
EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 2012
Suspicious geological faults
The trade and industry ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) on July 18 ordered Kansai Electric Power Co. (Kepco) and Hokuriku Electric Power Co. to carry out geological surveys, including boring, at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture and the Shika nuclear power plant in...
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2012
Obsession with a safety myth
The government-commissioned panel charged with investigating the nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant submitted its final report to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday. The report made clear that obsessed with the myth of nuclear safety, both Tepco and the...
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2012
Merits of electronic interrogations
In March 2011, public prosecutors offices located in 13 major cities started electronically recording interrogations of suspects on a trial basis. The Supreme Public Prosecution Office's July 4 report on the experiments cites both merits and demerits of the electronic recording reported by public prosecutors...
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2012
Equalizing pension benefits
There has been criticism that public servants have been receiving advantageous treatment in retirement allowances and pension benefits, compared with corporate workers.
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2012
Osprey's arrival foments distrust
Twelve MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were unloaded from a transport ship at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Monday amid protest from Iwakuni's conservative Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda and local residents. After confirming its safety, Tokyo and Washington plan to start...
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2012
Female temp ranks rising
More than half of all women working are employed on a non-regular basis, according to the labor ministry's new report released this month. Of the total 22.37 million women in the Japanese workforce, 11.88 million, or 54.7 percent, were non-regular employees. This is a startling contrast to the corresponding...
Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
As farm minister, Koizumi is held ‘hostage’ by Ishiba
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. Locking Koizumi into the Cabinet is Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s way of turning a potential rival into a team player, according to one expert.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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