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August 28, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Sep 16, 2006

ASEM, a mere addendum?

The Europe-Asian Meeting, better known as ASEM, has the potential to be an important international forum. Its 38 members -- 25 from the European Union and 13 from Asia -- represent 40 percent of the world's population, 50 percent of global GDP and 60 percent of world trade. Their respect and preference...

EDITORIALS

Sep 15, 2006

Mr. Ozawa on the offensive

Just as the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election campaign is making headlines, Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan, formally announces his candidacy in the No. 1 opposition party's leadership race and discloses his platform. By emphasizing the need to rectify what some...

EDITORIALS

Sep 14, 2006

Beware the dangers of drunk driving

The recent deaths of three young children in Fukuoka in a car accident caused by a drunk driver has highlighted Japanese society's misplaced tolerance toward driving under the influence of alcohol and the lack of awareness among drivers that it is illegal to drive after ingesting alcohol. Even worse,...

EDITORIALS

Sep 13, 2006

Rebels return to haunt LDP

An aftereffect of the legislative battle over postal service privatization a year ago now vexes the Liberal Democratic Party leadership. It is how to treat Diet members who rebelled against the party by voting against the privatization bills.

EDITORIALS

Sep 13, 2006

MSDF must run a tighter ship

On the evening of Sept. 5, the Vulcan 20 mm machine gun on a Maritime Self-Defense Force high-speed missile boat was accidentally fired at the Ominato base in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture. At least one of the 10 rounds hit a tree a mere 12 meters from a house. Only through sheer good luck were injuries or...

EDITORIALS

Sep 12, 2006

War on terror side effects

Five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the global war on terror initiated by the world's only superpower is still in a dark tunnel, and no ray of hope has yet appeared. In October that year, the U.S. started war in Afghanistan to put down Taliban Islamic fundamentalists....

EDITORIALS

Sep 10, 2006

Tears for the Crocodile Hunter

The curious phrase "crocodile tears" might need redefining in the wake of the death of Australia's famed "Crocodile Hunter," Steve Irwin. Shakespeare coined the term, an allusion to the Romans' belief that crocodiles weep as they eat their prey, to describe an insincere display of grief, false tears....

EDITORIALS

Sep 9, 2006

Mr. Horie gets his day in court

Mr. Takafumi Horie, once the high-flying president of the Internet service firm Livedoor Co., who was known for his T-shirt-and-slacks attire, appeared in public this week in a suit and tie. This time he was in Tokyo District Court charged with violating the securities law. Reflecting not only public...

EDITORIALS

Sep 9, 2006

Maintain fiscal discipline

With the passing of the deadline for budgetary requests from government ministries and agencies, work to compile the fiscal 2007 budget is now in full swing. The new budget is important because it will be the first under the government's program calling for spending cuts of 11.4 trillion yen to 14.3...

EDITORIALS

Sep 8, 2006

Japan joins the Great Game

Acentury ago, Russia and Britain contested for influence in Central Asia in a competition known as the Great Game. One hundred years later, Central Asia remains a vitally important region, and the governments fighting for influence have increased, and now include Japan.

EDITORIALS

Sep 7, 2006

Congratulations to the Imperial Family

Princess Kiko, the wife of Prince Akishino, the second son of the Emperor and Empress, has given birth to a baby boy. We congratulate the couple, the Emperor and Empress and the entire Imperial family on the birth of the boy, who is third in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne after the Crown Prince and...

EDITORIALS

Sep 7, 2006

Companies and parents, be vigilant

Injuries and deaths caused by appliances for daily home use have made headlines in recent weeks. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry may have had lapses in its efforts to prevent such accidents. Successive disclosures of such incidents must have made both the ministry and manufacturers conscious...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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