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August 29, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
May 15, 2003
Deflation helps generate profits
Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., two of Japan's leading manufacturing companies, chalked up record profits in the business year that ended March 31. Other major firms, including Honda Motor Co., also made their best showings in spite of falling prices. These results indicate that deflation is...
EDITORIALS
May 14, 2003
A landmark trade deal for Asia
The United States and Singapore last week concluded a free-trade agreement, the first ever between the U.S. and an Asian nation. The deal has political and economic significance, and holds out both promise and peril. While the FTA reaffirms the U.S. commitment to Asia, it could also constitute a threat...
EDITORIALS
May 13, 2003
Streamlining state subsidies
In a move toward greater local autonomy, a government panel has submitted a report to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi calling for large cuts in state subsidies to local governments, including a reduction in government payments for public education. Currently the central government pays half of the salaries...
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2003
A great leap forward in China?
Back-to-back calamities are forcing China's leaders to adopt new approaches to governance. A government accustomed to ruling without challenge is now under pressure to restore public confidence in its leadership. Hopes that this might lead to more broad-based political reform are premature, however....
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2003
Myanmar's gestures are not enough
Once again, the military government in Myanmar has made a symbolic gesture to placate international critics. The release of political prisoners is always welcome, but the government in Yangon does not question its right to use the opposition as pawns. The game must stop; nothing less than systemic reform...
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2003
Keeping a lid on SARS
Japan's health authorities are beginning to make a concerted effort to prevent the spread of the SARS epidemic. No case of severe acute respiratory syndrome has been reported in Japan so far, but health officials leave open the possibility that the deadly virus might be brought into the country by people...
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2003
Disappointments in Damascus
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Syria last weekend to demand that the government in Damascus do more to help bring peace to the Middle East. As a key player in the region, Syria's cooperation is essential to any viable peace between Israel and its neighbors. So far, though, Syria has resolutely...
EDITORIALS
May 8, 2003
Mr. Blair's vote of confidence
In his first political test after the Iraq war, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has fared well. His Labour Party suffered larger than expected losses in local elections last week, but such votes are usually protests against the party in power. The prime minister benefits from a weak opposition. Mr....
EDITORIALS
May 8, 2003
A clear answer is demanded
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has pulled the plug on Northern Ireland's local elections in an atEtempt to preserve the province's battered peace process. His decision makes sense, but it is indicaEtive of the desperate straits into which supporters of the Good Friday accords have fallen. The fault...
EDITORIALS
May 7, 2003
Ease lending to small firms
Small businesses in Japan continue to languish in the midst of a protracted economic slump. Compounding their predicament is the tight lending policy of private banks, which are said to be more selective toward smaller borrowers than larger ones. Banks may have their own reasons to restrict lending,...
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2003
Compromise for Mideast peace
A new road map for peace in the Middle East has been proposed to the two parties in the conflict, Israel and Palestine. The Palestine problem is the main focus in ascertaining the shape of a new order in the Middle East following the Iraq war. The new plan, which aims for a comprehensive settlement,...
EDITORIALS
May 4, 2003
First step in reviving cooperation
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's European trip, which had been touted as a mission to help heal the trans-Atlantic rift over the Iraq war, appears to have produced no tangible results. Yet, at a minimum, the journey has served to highlight the necessity of international cooperation in the postwar reconstruction...
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.
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.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Confusion over Japan’s ‘hometown’ plan overshadows African development event
First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba (center, in white and blue dress) hosts an event on Japanese culture with the first ladies of African leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
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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