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May 17, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2012
Bolstering Japan's public commons
More than three years have passed since a new system for public service incorporated bodies (PSIBs) went into force. Under the new system, traditional incorporated bodies and foundations are called on to finish procedures to become new incorporated bodies for public services by Nov. 30, 2013. It is hoped...
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2012
Futenma problem festers
Japan and the United States on Feb. 8 announced a joint statement to revise a 2006 agreement on realignment of the U.S. armed forces in Japan. The agreement linked (1) the transfer of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the densely populated Ginowan in Okinawa Island to less populated Henoko on...
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2012
Imperial Family talking point
The government this month starts hearing opinions from knowledgeable people on the idea of allowing female members of the Imperial Family to remain in the family even if they marry commoners and to become the heads of branches within the family. Behind the move is a fear that as long as the current Imperial...
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2012
Selecting a 'platinum' carrier
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is expected to select by the end of this month a telecom carrier that can use a 900-megahertz (MHz) frequency spectrum for high-speed mobile phone communications. By Jan. 27, four telecom carriers — NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, SoftBank and eAccess — submitted...
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2012
The Iran-Israel dynamic
Israel's leaders are making increasingly loud and worrisome comments about Iran's nuclear program. Israel sees Tehran's nuclear ambitions as an existential threat — a view that is not surprising given repeated remarks by Iranian leaders that Israel should be wiped from the map.
EDITORIALS
Feb 8, 2012
Nation's bullet train blues
The central government has decided to start construction work on three sections of three planned Shinkansen bullet train lines — the Shin Hakodate-Sapporo section of the Hokkaido Shinkansen Line, the Kanazawa-Tsuruga section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line and the Isahaya-Nagasaki section of the Kyushu-Nagasaki...
EDITORIALS
Feb 8, 2012
Japan's population time bomb
A population trend estimate announced on Jan. 30 by the health and welfare ministry's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research shows that in 2060, Japan's population will fall to about 30 percent below the current level, while people aged 65 or older will account for 40 percent of...
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2012
Questions over stress tests
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) on Jan. 18 judged "appropriate" the results of the stress tests of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture. On Jan. 31, an International Atomic Energy Agency team determined that Japan's stress...
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2012
Getting value for votes
In March 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that the August 2009 Lower House election was held in an unconstitutional state because of a large disparity in the value of one vote between depopulated rural areas and populated urban areas. Although the court did not nullify the election results, political parties...
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2012
Less respect for credit rating agencies
Italian investigative authorities have started investigating credit rating agencies on suspicion of manipulating markets by issuing ratings without a solid basis. The investigation appears to be retaliatory action for the agencies' downgrading of bonds of European countries.
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2012
Workplace 'power harassment'
A labor ministry panel has at last addressed one of the biggest problems in the Japanese workplace — power harassment. The ministry's definitions and proposals were contained in a report aimed at preventing and resolving the problem. Considering that the number of consultations about power harassment...
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2012
Students' retreat from English
Arecent education ministry survey of third-year middle school students nationwide found most students have an ambivalent and contradictory attitude toward English. Of the 3,225 students surveyed, most felt English was important to study, but few wanted a job requiring English. The disjuncture between...
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
Rich Japanese still fear yen crash, wealth manager says
The yen slumped more than 2% on Monday alone, nearing ¥150 to the dollar, after the U.S. and China temporarily lowered tariffs, triggering a reversal of bearish dollar bets.
Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
Irresponsible climbing prompts debate over who should pay for Mount Fuji rescues
Mount Fuji fills the skyline above a bridge connecting stores at a popular outlet shopping center in the city of Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in November 2024.
Akazawa's dilemma: no tariff deal or a half-baked deal
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and his delegation in the Oval Office of the White House in April. Since then, Japan's trade negotiations with the U.S. have produced no tangible results.
For his first feature film, director Ryuya Suzuki created a masterpiece
"Jinsei," which follows its protagonist over a century, probes themes of identity and societal issues with a dark comic touch. The director, however, says he created the story without knowing where it would lead.
Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet
Onosato (left) battles Abi on Day 3 of the Summer Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?
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