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EDITORIALS

Jul 27, 2005

Bolder way of thinking small

In June, the Cabinet Office's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy stressed the need for smaller and more efficient government in its 2005 basic guideline for economic and fiscal reform. Earlier this month the fiscal 2005 Annual Report on the Japanese Economy and Public Finances also called for smaller...

EDITORIALS

Jul 26, 2005

Narita fiasco: never again

A tragedy has clouded the history of the New Tokyo International Airport at Narita. The place names Narita and Sanrizuka have been associated with Japan's longest and fiercest political struggle against the government, a struggle that has seen 13 deaths, five of them policemen, and thousands of arrests....

EDITORIALS

Jul 25, 2005

China revalues its currency

China's revaluation of its currency came as something of a surprise. Beijing has been under considerable international pressure to increase the value of the yuan, but Chinese economic officials had countered that doing so was not yet in their country's best interests. The change in position reflects...

EDITORIALS

Jul 24, 2005

The economy of plastic bags

A s this summer marks the 10th anniversary of the promulgation of the law for recycling containers and wrapping materials, the government is moving to strengthen the law to force a change in the behavior of consumers. The target is plastic shopping bags provided for free by supermarkets, convenience...

EDITORIALS

Jul 23, 2005

Making ends meet with less

The fiscal 2005 "Annual Report on the Japanese Economy and Public Finances" pays attention to the impact on the economy of two inevitable demographic changes: the expected shrinkage of the population (the first such shrinkage since World War II) and the retirement in large numbers of baby boomers born...

EDITORIALS

Jul 22, 2005

Breakthrough in U.S.-India ties

Hyperbole is not unusual to describe meetings of heads of state. Yet the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the United States marks a genuine departure in relations between those two countries. The U.S. agreement to help India secure international assistance with its civilian nuclear-energy...

EDITORIALS

Jul 21, 2005

More trouble in southern Thailand

The situation in southern Thailand continues to deteriorate. A series of recent attacks indicate a troubling new sophistication by the Islamic insurgents there. The government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has responded with legislation that gives it sweeping new powers in the South. The danger,...

EDITORIALS

Jul 20, 2005

'Colossal, collective failure'

A decade ago, a terrible tragedy was visited on the citizens of Srebrenica, a small town in Bosnia. At the height of the war over Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serb military forces systematically slaughtered all of the town's Muslim men and boys. What is worse, this massacre occurred under the eye of the United...

EDITORIALS

Jul 19, 2005

Collusive ripoff 'from heaven'?

The bid-rigging scandal involving major bridge builders has again brought into public view the structural collusive relationship between private enterprise and the public sector. The scope of the criminal investigation -- which originally targeted projects ordered by local bureaus of the Land, Infrastructure...

EDITORIALS

Jul 18, 2005

Japan's quiet time bomb

Health problems linked to asbestos, which was used in large quantities as heat-insulation material for buildings during the period of Japan's high economic growth, are spreading among workers who inhaled the substance in the past. One enterprise after another has released lists of workers who have died...

EDITORIALS

Jul 17, 2005

On the verge of decline

The countdown has begun ahead of Japan's plunge into a period of shrinking population that will have a serious impact on the nation's economy and society, especially the labor force and social welfare, including the pension system.

EDITORIALS

Jul 16, 2005

Priorities in the six-party talks

The next round of six-party talks, the multilateral negotiations over North Korea's nuclear-weapons programs, are scheduled to resume the week of July 25 in Beijing. While it is unclear what motivated North Korea to return to the talks, success will depend on whether the other five parties -- Japan,...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.

A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan

By Hanako Lowry

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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