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EDITORIALS

Jun 18, 2003

The pension system in peril

Japan's protracted economic slump, combined with the accelerated aging of the population, is putting increasing strains on the public pension system. The government-managed corporate-sector pension program, which now has 30 million subscribers, registered a large deficit in fiscal 2001. For the first...

EDITORIALS

Jun 17, 2003

Clamp down on illegal exports

The Metropolitan Police Department last week arrested executives of a Japanese engineering company, Seishin Enterprise Co., on suspicion of illegally exporting to Iran sensitive military-related equipment that could be used in the manufacture of solid fuel for missiles. Investigations have also revealed...

EDITORIALS

Jun 16, 2003

Controversial bill reaches Diet floor

There is no question that Japan should do what it can to help bring stability and democracy to Iraq. Although the world remains divided over whether the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was justified, rebuilding the country is an international undertaking that should be supported by as many nations as possible...

EDITORIALS

Jun 15, 2003

Trust in tatters

We've known all along we shouldn't believe everything we read in the newspapers, but this is getting ridiculous. First came the double blow to the credibility of the New York Times -- America's oft-proclaimed "paper of record" -- by disgraced reporters Jayson Blair and Rick Bragg.

EDITORIALS

Jun 14, 2003

Hope for Germany's recovery

The German economy, long the engine of Europe, has been sputtering of late. The nation's gross domestic product has registered little or no growth, the unemployment rate is climbing and, for the second consecutive year, the government budget deficit will top the 3 percent limit set by the European Union....

EDITORIALS

Jun 13, 2003

Cambodia gets its tribunal

At long last, the people of Cambodia entertain hope of justice. Nearly a quarter of a century after the Khmer Rouge were forced from power, the Phnom Penh government and the United Nations have agreed on a tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge leaders. Some claim that the court is a sham, designed to pick...

EDITORIALS

Jun 12, 2003

Preparing for the worst

Japan's efforts to update its security legislation reached a milestone last week when an overwhelming Diet majority passed three defense bills designed to deal with a military attack from abroad. The vote -- 202 in favor and 32 against -- would have been inconceivable during the Cold War. It is proof...

EDITORIALS

Jun 11, 2003

A new order of peace in East Asia

The state visit to Japan by South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun -- the first since he took office in February -- has produced a positive result: a mutual commitment to develop future-oriented relations. In a joint statement issued Saturday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Roh also agreed...

EDITORIALS

Jun 10, 2003

Mr. Abbas in the hot seat

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is a brave man. He took his job knowing that his every move would be attacked from three sides: by Israelis, by Islamic militants and by the Palestinian leadership he replaced, in particular Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat. And within...

EDITORIALS

Jun 8, 2003

The case of the indignant diva

One of the odder human traits is our apparently inborn ambivalence toward celebrities. There would be no such thing as a celebrity if the rest of us did not, in some sense, celebrate certain people -- for their artistic gifts, their looks, their wealth, their charm, their brains or whatever else it is...

EDITORIALS

Jun 7, 2003

Economic anxieties ignored at Evian

The world economy remains mired in the doldrums. The outlook has hardly improved in spite of an optimistic economic assessment from the Group of Eight summit in Evian, France. Two specters loom over the horizon: global deflation and a weaker dollar. Leaders of the world's top industrialized nations,...

EDITORIALS

Jun 6, 2003

What can revive insurance firms?

Deflation in Japan is taking its toll on life insurance companies. Since they make profits by investing policyholders' premiums and bank-supplied funds in stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets, they are more susceptible to falling asset prices and near-zero interest rates than companies in other...

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

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

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