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EDITORIALS

Oct 30, 2005

Archimedes' mirror

A pparently the Japanese were not the only people in olden times utilizing exotic weapons to destroy invaders' fleets. Almost 1,500 years before the kamikaze, or divinely opportune typhoon winds, helped Japan rout a force sent by Kubla Khan, the ancient Greeks torched an invading Roman flotilla at Syracuse...

EDITORIALS

Oct 30, 2005

A tale of two bears

Human beings are a cruelly fickle lot, especially when it comes to animals. Take two stories circulating on the Web last week, both out of Washington, D.C. and both concerning bears.

EDITORIALS

Oct 29, 2005

Charter gives Iraq a new chance

Iraq has a new constitution. Iraqis approved the national charter by a narrow margin, prompting allegations of fraud by dissenters. While the outcome produced a document that is more democratic and representative than any other in Iraq's history, the referendum results highlighted the country's sharp...

EDITORIALS

Oct 28, 2005

Learning from devastating quakes

On Oct. 23, 2004, a series of powerful earthquakes, including one with a magnitude of 6.8, devastated the Chuetsu region in Niigata Prefecture. Of the 51 deaths, 16 were directly caused by the devastation. Most of the remaining deaths were caused by "economy-class syndrome," in which survivors who tried...

EDITORIALS

Oct 27, 2005

Saddam Hussein on trial

The trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein began last week in Baghdad. While Hussein and seven others are the defendants of record, the real focus is the tribunal itself -- its legitimacy and by extension, that of the current government in Iraq. Never before has justice been so important to Iraq....

EDITORIALS

Oct 26, 2005

Mr. Rumsfeld's visit to Asia

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has just concluded a quick tour of Northeast Asia. Mr. Rumsfeld is a relatively infrequent visitor to this part of the world, so his trip provides insight into U.S. thinking about security concerns in the region. In particular, the secretary's "frank" discussions...

EDITORIALS

Oct 25, 2005

Postal reform just the start

With the Diet's Oct. 14 passage of the postal-services privatization bills, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has reaped a reward for his daring decision to dissolve the Lower House. But the postal privatization is only the first of many issues that the government has to address to streamline its operations...

EDITORIALS

Oct 24, 2005

Child violence raises concern

Japan's primary-school children appear to have become more violent, according to statistics from a recent report by the Education and Science Ministry. To use a contemporary Japanese expression, they have become "kire-yasui." This expression, which literally means their "nerves tend to snap easily,"...

EDITORIALS

Oct 23, 2005

No winners in the noodle wars

A recent scientific report appeared to reassure the world that not everyone in China is dwelling on that country's muscle-flexing space program or the intractability of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Some Chinese, it suggested, are focused on less tendentious things. Take archaeologists, the subject...

EDITORIALS

Oct 23, 2005

A bad rap for a subtle season

Have you noticed the light changing? It's the best thing about autumn. In midsummer, and even well into September, the sun bleaches everything in sight. The sky will be milky-white, rarely blue, even on a cloudless day. There's a hard, brassy shimmer to the air.

EDITORIALS

Oct 22, 2005

Leveling the finance playing field

A review of the nation's eight government-affiliated financial institutions is gaining momentum in response to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's drive to abolish, integrate or privatize them. Shortly after Mr. Koizumi took power in 2001, he included the reform of those institutions in his "reform without...

EDITORIALS

Oct 21, 2005

China tackles its growing pains

The title is dry -- the "Communist Party of China Central Committee Proposal Regarding the Formulation of the 11th Five-Year Program for National Economic and Social Development" -- but its contents are very important. The document is an outline of how China can tackle the pressing problems created by...

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

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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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