Morearticles

 
Menu
Search
 
May 17, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

More Editorials stories

EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2012
Balancing security and science
Scientists working on ways to detect and prevent the spread of the avian flu virus have suspended their work out of concern that it could either be used for bioterrorism or that it might escape the lab; either development could create a global pandemic and cost thousands, perhaps millions, of lives....
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2012
Power users on the hook
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Jan. 17 that it will seek an average 17 percent hike in electricity rates from April for some 240,000 enterprises having contracts for 50 kW or more. It hopes to raise some ¥400 billion annually through the hike and to use the revenue to finance part of the fuel costs of...
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2012
Criticism without originality
The Liberal Democratic Party on Jan. 22 held a party convention in Tokyo. LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki said that this year is the time to end the Democratic Party of Japan government. The problem is that while the LDP is strong at criticizing the DPJ government, it cannot clearly present its stance...
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2012
Tax plan ill-timed and ill-thought
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made a policy speech before the Diet on Tuesday as it started a regular session for 2012. His main theme was a raise of the consumption tax and he called on opposition parties to take part in consultations on the matter with his ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2012
At loggerheads over tolls
The Honshu-Shikoku expressway system links Honshu and Shikoku via three routes. But its tolls are higher than other expressways because the expressway system includes many bridge crossings over straits, where construction costs were high. Tolls for its land sections are 1.1 times higher and those for...
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2012
Difficult case tests lay judges
At the Saitama District Court on Jan. 10, six lay judges — three men and three women — together with three professional judges started to deal with not only three murder cases but also with seven other cases involving the defendant, Ms. Kanae Kijima — fraud, attempted fraud and theft.
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2012
Economic policy key to job creation
In October 2011, a new system started to help job seekers not covered by unemployment insurance. Under this system, unemployed people who have registered themselves with public employment security offices (PESOs) and meet certain conditions can join job training courses for up to two years while receiving...
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2012
Akashi policing on trial
The criminal trial of Mr. Kazuaki Sakaki, former deputy police chief of Hyogo Prefecture's Akashi police station, started Jan. 19 at the Kobe District Court. Acting on a January 2010 vote by Kobe's No. 2 prosecution inquest committee (an 11-member citizens' panel), court-appointed lawyers have charged...
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2012
All parties should debate tax hike
Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi on Thursday requested that opposition parties take part in consultations with the DPJ over a planned increase of the consumption tax and reform of the social welfare system. But the opposition parties have declined.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2012
Shaping a human rights panel
The Justice Ministry in mid-December made public an outline of a bill to set up a human rights protection committee. In 2002, the Liberal Democratic Party government submitted an earlier version to the Diet, but it was eventually quashed mainly because it contained a clause to control mass media concerning...
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2012
Protesting nuclear power
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Yokohama the weekend of Jan. 14-15 to show their support for a nuclear power-free world. Organizers of the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World claimed 6,000 participants from some 30 countries on the first day and 5,500 on the second. Newspaper...
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2012
Keep casinos out of Japan
Agroup of lawmakers is now considering a bill that would allow resorts to combine their hotel, shop and restaurant complexes with gambling. If the bill passes, casinos could become a Japanese industry worth several trillion yen.
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
Rich Japanese still fear yen crash, wealth manager says
The yen slumped more than 2% on Monday alone, nearing ¥150 to the dollar, after the U.S. and China temporarily lowered tariffs, triggering a reversal of bearish dollar bets.
Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
Irresponsible climbing prompts debate over who should pay for Mount Fuji rescues
Mount Fuji fills the skyline above a bridge connecting stores at a popular outlet shopping center in the city of Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in November 2024.
Akazawa's dilemma: no tariff deal or a half-baked deal
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and his delegation in the Oval Office of the White House in April. Since then, Japan's trade negotiations with the U.S. have produced no tangible results.
For his first feature film, director Ryuya Suzuki created a masterpiece
"Jinsei," which follows its protagonist over a century, probes themes of identity and societal issues with a dark comic touch. The director, however, says he created the story without knowing where it would lead.
Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet
Onosato (left) battles Abi on Day 3 of the Summer Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Podcast

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

Longform

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

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER