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August 24, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2012
Exporting 'Japanland'
The government's Cool Japan strategy of promoting the country abroad has taken another step as the trade ministry plans to recreate trendy districts of Tokyo in cities across the globe. The plan is aimed at promoting Japan and encouraging exports by organizing areas for Japan-style shops, restaurants...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2012
Disappointing Baghdad talks
The most recent round of nuclear negotiations with Iran began with optimism. The previous round of talks appeared to make headway and there was hope that a breakthrough could be achieved when the seven parties — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council or P5 states (Britain,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2012
Building a nation of green growth
The Noda Cabinet on May 29 endorsed the 2012 white book on the environment. It calls for promotion of electricity power generation through renewable energy sources in the Tohoku region. Given the effects of the March 11 disasters and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear crisis, this is a reasonable approach....
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2012
Lessons from the Battle of Midway
Seventy years have passed since the Imperial Japanese Navy was severely battered by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of Midway on June 4-7, 1942. With the loss of four fleet aircraft carriers, many aircraft and its most experienced air crews, Japan lost its dominance and strategic initiative in the Pacific,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2012
Not a minute too soon
On April 25, a government panel proposed ways to improve the management of government documents after it had reflected on a deplorable omission on the part of the government — the failure to take minutes from a series of meetings held to cope with the 3/11 quake and tsunami and the subsequent Fukushima...
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2012
New class of vehicles
The government plans to promote a new category of "microcompact" vehicles, the first new category of vehicle to be established under the Road Transport Vehicle Law since 1963. These new cars will likely appeal to elderly people and others who will use them for shopping or visiting places near their homes....
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2012
Cabinet reshuffle for convenience
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reshuffled his Cabinet Monday — the second in nine months. His aim is clear: removing obstacles — Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka and infrastructure and transport minister Takeshi Maeda — to facilitate negotiations with the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito...
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2012
A failure to protect workers
A gas explosion occurred May 24 inside a tunnel under construction in Niigata Prefecture, killing four workers. It is known that the workers were not carrying explosive gas detectors. The police must carry out a thorough investigation of the contractor, Sato Kogyo Co.
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2012
The Houla massacre
The situation in Syria continues to worsen. While accurate information is difficult to acquire, all indications are that the country hovers on the brink of a civil war. The most recent atrocity is a massacre in the town of Houla that left at least 108 people dead. On Saturday, 89 deaths were reported...
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2012
Married women want to work
Married women want to work, according to a government survey that will form the basis for a 2012 white paper on children, child rearing and mothers. The survey results, released early, show an astounding 86 percent of women want to continue working after having children, though most find it almost impossible...
EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 2012
Quickstep to restarting reactors
The union of nine local governments in Kansai — the Shiga, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Wakayama, Tokushima and Tottori prefectures plus Osaka and Sakai cities — on Wednesday softened its opposition to the restart of the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s (Kepco's) Oi nuclear power plant...
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2012
Things that Mr. Noda should heed
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and former Democratic Party of Japan chief Ichiro Ozawa met on Wednesday to discuss Mr. Noda's plan to raise the consumption tax from the current 5 percent to 8 percent from April 2014, and to 10 percent from October 2015.
Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
Women-only communities flourish in China
Chen Yani (right), nicknamed "Keke," eats lunch with friends and guests in a female co-living space she founded called "Keke's Imaginative Space" in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang province, on July 14.
JR East cancels luxury train run over crew's boozing
East Japan Railway said Thursday that it will cancel one trip of a luxury overnight sleeper service, which was originally scheduled to depart from Ueno Station in Tokyo on Aug. 30, after crew members were found to have been drinking alcohol on duty.
Man arrested over deadly stabbing of woman in Kobe
Masashi Tanimoto, 35, the suspect in the deadly stabbing a 24-year-old woman, is taken into custody in Kobe on Friday night.
Japanese city proposes two-hour daily limit for smartphone use
The Toyoake Municipal Government in Aichi Prefecture is planning to enact an ordinance to urge all smartphone users in the city to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school.
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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