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EDITORIALS

Dec 15, 2012

An election that really matters

The results of the Lower House election to be held on Sunday will have a great impact on the future and general posture of Japan as well as Japan's standing in the international community. Voters cannot be too careful in deciding which party to support.

EDITORIALS

Dec 14, 2012

Public servants' political activities

In two cases related to the National Civil Service Law provision that prohibits national public servants from engaging in political activities, the Supreme Court's Second Petit Bench ruled Nov. 7 that national public servants' political activities should be banned only when such activities substantively...

EDITORIALS

Dec 14, 2012

Detecting active faults near reactors

A five-member team of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority decided Nov. 10 that there is a strong possibility that a "crush zone" of small rocks and sediment running beneath the No. 2 reactor of Japan Atomic Power Co.'s Tsuruga nuclear power plant is an active fault. The team's conclusion is based on a two-day...

EDITORIALS

Dec 13, 2012

North Korea remains defiant

North Korea on Wednesday morning launched a long-range multistage rocket and claims to have put a satellite into orbit. In a preliminary assessment, the United States also said that an object carried by the rocket went into orbit. Pyongyang's action must be condemned in the strongest terms. It ignored...

EDITORIALS

Dec 13, 2012

Changing how Japan is governed

One reason for the Democratic Party of Japan's victory in the 2009 Lower House election was its call for stronger devolution. Apparently taking a cue from the DPJ's gains three years ago, many political parties now call for establishing a doshu system, which would divide Japan into several administrative...

EDITORIALS

Dec 12, 2012

Getting off the deflationary path

Political parties that are competing in the Dec. 16 Lower House election should present convincing proposals to prevent Japan from continuing down the deflationary path. But they must be careful to ensure that their efforts to end deflation will not lead to price rises that are not supported by enlivened...

EDITORIALS

Dec 12, 2012

Footing for social welfare

Anational conference for social welfare reform, an advisory body based on a law enacted in August with the support of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, was inaugurated Nov. 30 with 15 scholars and experts serving as its members.

EDITORIALS

Dec 11, 2012

Hawkish approach won't help

One major issue in the campaign for the Dec. 16 Lower House election is the diplomatic dispute with China over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Some politicians and others on the Japanese side are taking a hawkish stance, but such an approach will only harden attitudes on the Chinese side,...

EDITORIALS

Dec 11, 2012

Accident probes in full swing

The seven-member Consumer Safety Investigation Commission, which was inaugurated in October, has chosen five accidents as initial targets for investigation.

EDITORIALS

Dec 9, 2012

Gender parity task force

Anew task force will be formed to help close the economic gender gap in Japan through cooperation among government, business and social leaders, and Japanese members of the World Economic Forum.

EDITORIALS

Dec 9, 2012

The politics of pop music

South Korean pop singers and groups will not be part of the yearend NHK music show, "Kohaku Uta Gassen," this year. When NHK announced its 50 performers for the singing extravaganza broadcast every New Year's Eve, Korean performers were conspicuously absent.

EDITORIALS

Dec 8, 2012

Halt provocative rocket launch

North Korea plans to launch a long-range rocket sometime between Dec. 10 and 22 with the excuse that it is placing a satellite in orbit. South Korean missile experts estimate that the North Korean three-stage liquid-fuel rocket has a range of about 10,000 km, capable of reaching the western part of the...

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

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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