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May 18, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 2008
Tough lessons in drug use
Until recently, Japan has not needed much of a drug policy, but recent headlines about "university pot busts" indicate one is overdue. Outside of Japan, marijuana arrests no longer even get space in newspapers, since access and use of marijuana is an everyday reality, unhealthy and questionable as it...
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 2008
Recession at the people's level
Admitting trouble has never been a strong point of the Japanese government, nor has planning ahead, but the failure to promptly and directly confront the current recession will have serious long-term effects. As news from abroad pours in, it is equally clear that Japan, one of the world's largest economies,...
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2008
Disturbing rise in geriatric crime
Despite frequent headlines reporting heinous crimes, the Justice Ministry's 2008 white paper on crime provides somewhat assuring figures. The number of crimes, excluding traffic-related offenses, declined for five consecutive years. But Japanese society faces a new problem. Crimes committed by elderly...
EDITORIALS
Nov 21, 2008
Drunk driving deadly serious
Recent traffic incidents show that some people are not aware of the serious nature of drunk driving. While the use of marijuana among university students has been in the public limelight recently, drunk driving — an infinitely more common problem with far deadlier results — should be the subject...
EDITORIALS
Nov 21, 2008
Possible terror attacks
A former health and welfare vice minister and his wife were found dead on the morning of Nov. 18, and the wife of another former health and welfare vice minister was seriously injured when stabbed by a man on the evening of the same day. Mr. Takehiko Yamaguchi and his wife Michiko were found murdered...
EDITORIALS
Nov 20, 2008
Out of Iraq at last?
Ater months of delays, the United States and Iraq have agreed on a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Equally important, the accord sets limits on those forces' freedom of action, giving the Baghdad government more authority over them.
EDITORIALS
Nov 19, 2008
Students and marijuana
Arrests of university students in connection with growing, possessing or selling of cannabis have continued. Students apparently have much lower inhibitions to the use of cannabis than to other narcotic or stimulant drugs. They might think that smoking marijuana is not very different from smoking tobacco...
EDITORIALS
Nov 19, 2008
The latest recession
Japan's economy has contracted for two consecutive quarters — for the first time since the three straight quarters of negative GDP growth through December 2001. Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano admitted that the economy is in a recessionary phase.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2008
The G20 rises to the challenge
In retrospect, last weekend's meeting of world leaders to deal with the global economic crisis was fated to succeed. While such gatherings usually produce stale rhetoric and mere exhortations to take substantive action, this meeting produced an 11-page document with enough content to qualify as a genuine...
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2008
Heavy burden for disabled people
Twenty-nine disabled people and one parent of a disabled person from eight prefectures — Tokyo, Saitama, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka — filed lawsuits Oct. 31 with district courts in their prefectural capitals contending that a law designed to help disabled people violates the...
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2008
Revising the list of kanji
A panel of the Council for Cultural Affairs is working to revise the official list of Chinese characters in common use (joyo kanji). The final proposal is expected in February. The revision should draw the attention of not only Japanese but also foreigners interested in Japanese culture.
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2008
Deviant thinking on defense
Prime Minister Taro Aso in an Upper House session Thursday said it was "extremely inappropriate" for Mr. Toshio Tamogami, the recently dismissed Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff, to write an essay that contradicted the government's official view on Japan's war-making in the 1930s and '40s.
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.
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.
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.
Nissan to solicit early retirements while eyeing plant closures in Japan
Nissan's Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, may be closed as part of the struggling carmaker's streamlining efforts.
Closing the gap between what you learn and what you say in Japanese
A few tweaks to the conversations you learn in your Japanese class will help you sound like a native when you step out the door.
In Nintendo’s backyard, foreign indie game devs are thriving
Kyoto's gaming landscape is dominated by Nintendo's headquarters, but a contingent of foreign-born indie developers is also working in the gaming giant's shadow.
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.
Nissan hoping to electrify home crowd as Formula E returns to Tokyo
Nissan's Oliver Rowland drives during qualifying for Miami E-Prix at Homestead Motor Speedway in Homestead, Florida, on April 12.
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.

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

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Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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