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August 26, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2009
Reformatory violence
Four teachers at the Hiroshima Juvenile Training School were arrested June 9 on suspicion of using violence against residents. If the allegations prove true, their actions are extremely deplorable. The purpose of the school is to reform minors who have committed crimes so that they can become productive...
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2009
Japan Post faces the music
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Tsutomu Sato has approved the retention of Mr. Yoshifumi Nishikawa as president of Japan Post Holding Co. And now, with Prime Minister Taro Aso's endorsement of Mr. Sato's decision, the political turmoil over whether Mr. Nishikawa should remain in his position...
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2009
Guidelines on fiscal 2010 budget
Since the days of the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, financial reconstruction through reform of revenue generation and spending has been the core government policy. But the basic budget guidelines adopted by Prime Minister Taro Aso's administration represent a virtual scrapping of...
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2009
Truth behind false charge
The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday decided to retry a 62-year-old man who served 17 years of a life sentence until a new DNA test suggested he was innocent. Mr. Toshikazu Sugaya was arrested in December 1991 for the May 1990 kidnapping and murder of a 4-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture. Although...
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2009
Political clash in Iran
The situation in Iran is tense as security forces have clashed with protesters over the June 12 election whose results — announced within two hours after the polls closed — gave incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the win over Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi, the moderate reform candidate.
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2009
Admission of illegal donations
The hearing in the trial of Mr. Mikio Kunisawa, the former Nishimatsu Construction Co. president charged with violating the Political Funds Control Law, began and was concluded on the same day last Friday. Mr. Kunisawa, who was indicted on a charge of providing ¥5 million in illegal political donations...
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2009
Soccer team on a roll
Japan became the first team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup when it defeated Uzbekistan 1-0 on June 6. It will be its fourth consecutive appearance in the World Cup since its debut in the 1998 finals in France.
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2009
The foreign residents among us
The Diet is likely to enact bills to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law and the Residents' Basic Register Law during its current session. The revisions might improve public services for legally residing foreign residents while leading to tighter control of foreigners who have...
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2009
Criteria for radiation victims
Health and welfare minister Yoichi Masuzoe has announced that the government would not appeal to the Supreme Court the May 28 Tokyo High Court ruling that recognized 29 of 30 plaintiffs as sufferers of illnesses caused by radiation exposure from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Among...
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2009
Anti-piracy law
The Diet has enacted a law that will enable the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces for antipiracy missions at any time and anywhere in the world. Two Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter destroyers are now in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, joined by two P3C antisubmarine patrol planes. Their antipiracy...
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2009
New world order? Not yet
Bashing the United States remains a popular sport even after the departure of President George W. Bush from the White House. Criticism of Washington has intensified in the past year as the world grapples with an economic crisis that many believe was made in the U.S.
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2009
In Japan we trust
In a poll commissioned by the Foreign Ministry, a record 80 percent of the American public said Japan was a dependable country. The results of this poll, undertaken by the famed Gallup Organization and released in late May, showed a considerable shift in attitudes toward Japan.
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Man arrested in Kobe stabbing had been staying at hotel near victim’s home
Masashi Tanimoto arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman in Kobe, is sent to prosecutors on Sunday.
Tokyo releases AI-generated video of Mount Fuji erupting
A screenshot from an AI-generated video showing what could happen to Tokyo if Mount Fuji erupted
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
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.

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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