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August 29, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2005
A cloud over Korean science
The controversy over the work of South Korean scientist Dr. Hwang Woo Suk continues to grow. Doubts about the credibility of his research is a blow not only to his many supporters in South Korea, but also to millions of people around the world who had hoped that his work held out cures for debilitating...
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 2005
Upgrading the Defense Agency
The Liberal Democratic Party has rather suddenly started airing the idea of upgrading the Defense Agency to a ministry. The party proposed the upgrade in its platform for the Sept. 11 general elections and the prospects for making it happen look stronger now that New Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner,...
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2005
Small step toward 'one East Asia'
The concept of an East Asian Community -- a broad regional grouping that would bring together countries in East Asia and other areas in economic, political, security and other fields of common interest -- took a formal step toward realization last Wednesday at a summit meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Leaders...
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2005
Everyday marvels of design
Winter has a way of slowing things down. Animals hibernate. Ponds freeze over. And the human brain turns sluggish, resisting even repeated infusions of double mocha espresso. Then a funny thing happens. As the mind struggles to focus, elemental objects suddenly loom large. With the peculiar concentration...
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2005
The unthinkable at the TSE
The recent chaos at the Tokyo Stock Exchange stemming from an erroneous sell order involving J-Com Co. stock underscored poor crisis management on the part of the bourse, a key component of Japan's capitalist economic activities. The TSE needs to do its utmost to strengthen its computerized stock trading...
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2005
Advocate for the elderly
Next year Japan will take another step forward toward strengthening the protection of the weaker members of society. The Diet has passed a law to prevent cruel treatment of the aged and to assist those taking care of them. Preparations are being made for implementing the law in April. Enactment of the...
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2005
Mideast's democracy dilemma
The surprise showing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt's national elections highlights the dilemma faced by democracy advocates in the West. The strong support for fundamentalist Islamic groups throughout the region directly challenges the assumption that free and open elections will lead to governments...
EDITORIALS
Dec 14, 2005
Small government vs. welfare
The government is striving to downsize itself. With debts owed by the central and local governments amounting to 800 trillion yen, it stands to reason that, where possible, much of the work presently being carried out by government should be delegated to the private sector. But to uniformly pursue "small...
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2005
Ms. Rice's European mission
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been in Europe to try to rebuild battered trans-Atlantic relations. That task has become exponentially more difficult in the aftermath of new revelations that allege European complicity in the torture of suspects in the war against terror. Ms. Rice must quiet...
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2005
Dreaming of a quiet Christmas
December and Christmas: Even in non-Christian Japan, the two go together as naturally as holly and ivy. In fact, December in Tokyo can sometimes seem almost as Christmassy as December in Rome. Christmas trees appear on street corners and in store windows. Garlands and wreaths, tinsel and red candles...
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2005
Protecting children from danger
The successive murders of two first-grade elementary schoolgirls in Hiroshima and Tochigi prefectures who went missing on their way home from school have sent alarm bells ringing across the nation. The brutal killings have raised security concerns particularly among parents with children of similar ages,...
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2005
Dutiful extension in Iraq
The government has extended by another year the deployment of Self-Defense Force (SDF) troops in Iraq. The extension, decided at Thursday's Cabinet meeting, came about by changing the basic plan under an ad hoc law that allows SDF soldiers to engage in noncombat activities in Iraq. The decision follows...
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan Post to stop accepting some parcels for shipment to the U.S.
Japan Post's UGX will still be available for many rejected packages.
Japan aims to tighten rules for business manager visas from October
The number of foreign residents with business management residency status had reached a record 41,615 as of the end of 2024.
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
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.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
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.

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

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