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EDITORIALS

Jun 28, 2006

Supreme Court sidesteps issue

A banner that a plaintiff held up outside the nation's top court on Friday aptly summed up a ruling made the same day. It read: "Supreme Court avoids deciding on the constitutionality (of the issue)." The issue is Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 13,...

EDITORIALS

Jun 28, 2006

Justice for hepatitis victims

On June 16, the Supreme Court ruled that government-sponsored inoculations were responsible for infecting five people with the hepatitis B virus. It ordered the government to pay 5.5 million yen to each in compensation. Separately, on June 21, the Osaka District Court ordered the state, a drug maker...

EDITORIALS

Jun 27, 2006

Think about it and vote again

One year after French and Dutch voters rejected the proposed European Union constitution in referendums, EU leaders have agreed to extend the "period of reflection," setting the second half of 2008 as a deadline for deciding what to do about the bloc's moribund document. The conclusion of the EU leaders'...

EDITORIALS

Jun 26, 2006

Keeping an eye on the beef

Japan agreed last week to lift its ban on imports of American beef after the United States accepted Tokyo's demand for stricter safety checks. Imports will resume only after Japanese experts have checked the 35 U.S. meatpackers authorized to process beef for export to Japan. Even after imports resume,...

EDITORIALS

Jun 26, 2006

Manual is no substitute for ethics

A court ruling handed down earlier this month on a botched operation at a hospital affiliated with the Jikei School of Medicine sheds light on the lack of ethics among some doctors. The operation led to the patient's death a month later.

EDITORIALS

Jun 25, 2006

Shakespeare with a mouse-click

'Can this cockpit hold the vasty fields of France?" Shakespeare wondered in his play "Henry V." "Or may we cram within this wooden O the very casques that did affright the air at Agincourt?" Since the curtain rose this month on a new Web site that puts all of Shakespeare's plays at our fingertips, those...

EDITORIALS

Jun 24, 2006

Relapse in Afghanistan

With international attention focused on Iraq, it is easy to forget the other front in the fight against terrorism. A coalition of forces, acting under United Nations authorization, has waged war against Islamic extremists in Afghanistan for nearly four years. That battle has been overshadowed by the...

EDITORIALS

Jun 23, 2006

Downshifting in Iraq

The government announced Tuesday that Japan will withdraw its Ground Self-Defense Force troops from southern Iraq, ending their 2 1/2-year noncombat mission. It is fortunate that, so far, not a single GSDF member has been injured or killed during this time and that the GSDF troops have not had to fire...

EDITORIALS

Jun 22, 2006

A disappointing Diet session

The 164th regular Diet session -- the last Diet session for Mr. Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister -- has ended without fanfare. The session was tasked with making an overall review of his reforms, achieved or unachieved, since he took the reins of power in April 2001. But lawmakers have failed to fulfill...

EDITORIALS

Jun 21, 2006

Medical reforms need work

The laws passed last week by the Diet to curb the growth in the nation's medical spending testify to the government's determination to solve the problem. While the laws include positive elements, they are not problem-free. The government needs to continuously review the nation's medical system. Rationalizing...

EDITORIALS

Jun 20, 2006

No need to fear Central Asian club

The summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a curious event. Most of the year, the organization toils in obscurity, but its annual heads-of-state meeting invariably elicits breathless commentary about the rise of a bloc that is designed to stop the West or, more specifically, the United...

EDITORIALS

Jun 19, 2006

A united lobby for life

Japan has seen more than 30,000 people kill themselves annually for eight consecutive years since 1998. Last year, 32,552 people took their own lives, a total that breaks down to 89.18 suicides per day and 3.71 suicides every hour. Certainly these are grim figures.

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

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