More Editorials Articles - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

EDITORIALS

Jan 6, 2007

Two nations bigger

With the arrival of 2007, Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, increasing its membership to 27 states. Simultaneously, Slovenia adopted the euro, Europe's single currency, becoming the first former communist state to do so and the 13th member of the euro-zone. The accession of Romania, with...

EDITORIALS

Jan 5, 2007

Solidarity to reproduce

A new forecast says Japan's population will drop by about 40 million from 2005 to about 89 million by 2055 and about 40 percent of the population will be at least 65 years old. The forecast by the health ministry's National Institute of Population and Social Security Statistics clearly shows that a population...

EDITORIALS

Jan 5, 2007

Clean process for governors

Last year saw 15 local government heads arrested in connection with corruption in the bidding process for public projects. Three of them were the governors of Fukushima, Wakayama and Miyazaki prefectures. The elimination of bid rigging will help local government heads regain the trust of local residents....

EDITORIALS

Jan 4, 2007

Deja vu in 2007

Readers should be prepared for a recurring sense of deja vu in the year ahead. Few of the problems that dominated international affairs in 2006 were resolved. The headline issues that absorbed decision makers will continue to demand time and attention in 2007. There is little hope for resolution as neither...

EDITORIALS

Jan 3, 2007

Wages of brute force

Saddam Hussein is dead. The former Iraqi dictator went to the gallows before sunrise Saturday morning in Baghdad, with a Quran in one hand, crying for justice. In death as in life, he divided his country: Shiites danced in the streets and fired guns in the air, while Sunnis mourned the passing of a martyr...

EDITORIALS

Jan 1, 2007

A political showdown year

Mr. Shinzo Abe's administration at first seemed to have smooth sailing. By visiting China and South Korea and holding summits with their leaders, the prime minister managed to improve Japan's relations with the two neighbors. The relations had soured as a result of his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi's...

EDITORIALS

Dec 31, 2006

Japan turns a corner

The year 2006 will go down in history as a turning-point year during which Japan experienced a resurgence in nationalist sentiment and felt a weakening in the influence of the lessons from its modern wars (1930s through 1945). As a result, concerns have mounted that the pillars of Japan's postwar democracy...

EDITORIALS

Dec 30, 2006

2006, politics and personalities

The year 2006 may best be remembered as a year when outsize personalities drove events -- rather than abstract political forces -- although there were, as always, lingering issues that defied resolution. In Pyongyang, supreme leader Kim Jong Il continued his brinkmanship, struggling to keep the world's...

EDITORIALS

Dec 29, 2006

Loose ends in fabrication scandal

Punishment at last has been meted out to now-disqualified structural designer Hidetsugu Aneha, the main player in the earthquake-resistance data-fabrication scandal that surfaced in November 2005. The Tokyo District Court Tuesday sentenced him to five years in prison, coupled with a 1.8 million yen fine,...

EDITORIALS

Dec 29, 2006

Narrowing the great divide

Japanese and Chinese scholars held their first meeting this week in Beijing on a joint project to study both countries' ancient and modern history. Launch of the project had been agreed to in October by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Hu Jintao during their summit in Beijing.

EDITORIALS

Dec 28, 2006

Trouble in Turkmenistan

President Saparmurat Niyazov was larger than life; in death, the forces rushing into fill that void risk destabilizing Turkmenistan, the country he ruled with an iron hand. There is the danger that instability unleashed by the struggle for power could spread beyond Turkmenistan's borders to other Central...

EDITORIALS

Dec 27, 2006

The U.N. votes, Iran ignores

The United Nations Security Council at long last voted to impose sanctions on Iran for its continuing pursuit of uranium enrichment in defiance of the international community. The Tehran government immediately dismissed the U.N. move and vowed to step up nuclear activities. The stage is thus set for...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports