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EDITORIALS

Nov 23, 2005

Tackling juvenile crime

In 2004, adults committed 3.42 million criminal offenses, a decline for the second year in a row from the postwar record set in 2002. Still, the number of criminal incidents remains disturbingly high. The situation is similar for juvenile delinquency, as shown by the National Police Agency's white paper...

EDITORIALS

Nov 22, 2005

Simplistic view in a complex world

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and U.S. President George W. Bush met at a summit in the ancient capital of Kyoto last Wednesday, the first such meeting in almost a year. The two leaders shared their belief that close relations between their countries are important not only for this region but also...

EDITORIALS

Nov 21, 2005

Tax diversion poses challenges

This fiscal year the government is expected to collect about 5.78 trillion yen in revenues from six different taxes paid by automobile and road users. Because these revenues are legally earmarked for road improvement, however, the government cannot use the money for other purposes. This rigidity has...

EDITORIALS

Nov 20, 2005

Myanmar goes deep

Capitals have moved before, but rarely so mysteriously. When Myanmar's military government began streaming out of the country's longtime capital city of Yangon on the morning of Nov. 6, headed for a fortified but unfinished compound in jungle-clad mountains 400 km to the north, people scratched their...

EDITORIALS

Nov 19, 2005

An emerging picture of growth

Japan's economy in the July-September quarter expanded 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, or 1.7 at the annualized rate, in price-adjusted real terms, according to a preliminary gross domestic product (GDP) report from the Cabinet Office. That was the fourth consecutive quarter of positive growth,...

EDITORIALS

Nov 18, 2005

Trade talks down to the wire

While attention is focused on this week's meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Pusan, South Korea, the main event is the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting to be held next month in Hong Kong. That ministerial meeting is critical to the success of the current round of global...

EDITORIALS

Nov 17, 2005

Disappointment in Beijing

Negotiators have begun the fifth round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. There were high hopes for progress after the fourth round produced a joint statement agreed on by all parties. Whatever momentum existed was quickly lost, however, when the discussions stalemated and broke off...

EDITORIALS

Nov 16, 2005

Royal addition to the common life

Princess Nori, 36, the only daughter of the Emperor and Empress, and Mr. Yoshiki Kuroda, 40, an urban planning official at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, were married in a Shintoist ceremony on Tuesday. For the princess, it marked the start of a new life as an ordinary citizen. She is now Mrs. Sayako...

EDITORIALS

Nov 15, 2005

Braking illicit drug use

Police statistics show that the number of people taken into police custody on narcotics-related charges is on the decrease. Still, optimism about drug use in Japan is not warranted, as recent arrests or indictments have involved a former lawmaker and members of the Self-Defense Forces.

EDITORIALS

Nov 14, 2005

France in flames

Two weeks of rioting have raised serious questions for France. The escalating violence has forced the French to acknowledge the widening gap between their image of French society and the reality of the lives of many of its newest citizens. The temptation to dismiss the violence as a superficial phenomenon...

EDITORIALS

Nov 13, 2005

The pop-word culture

The dictionary frowns on words it snootily labels "informal." Teachers and newspaper copy editors carry a grudge against slang. Nearly everyone recoils from jargon. But according to a new book irresistibly titled "Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and,...

EDITORIALS

Nov 12, 2005

For a more efficient criminal trial

A new criminal-trial system started in Japan on Nov. 1 when the revised Criminal Procedure Law went into effect. The key point of revision is the introduction of a "pretrial clarification procedure," whereby prosecutors and attorneys outline their respective evidence and arguments before trial begins....

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

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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