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August 26, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2009
No-nukes action plan
The International Commission on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament, an international panel co-chaired by former Japanese and Australian foreign ministers Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi and Mr. Gareth Evans, agreed Oct. 20 on an action plan toward global nuclear disarmament after a three-day meeting in the...
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2009
A runoff in Afghanistan
Afghanistan will hold a runoff election after all. After weeks of intense speculation, fueled by allegations of fraud in the first round of the presidential ballot, election monitors have concluded that incumbent President Hamid Karzai did not win an outright majority.
EDITORIALS
Oct 24, 2009
Clarifying two decades of errors
The Utsunomiya District Court on Wednesday began a retrial of Mr. Toshikazu Sugaya, who had served 17 1/2 years of a life sentence in prison for killing a child until he was released in June on the strength of a new DNA test.
EDITORIALS
Oct 24, 2009
Balancing act begins
Budgetary requests for fiscal 2010 from all ministries and agencies — the first such requests under the Hatoyama administration — total a record ¥95.038 trillion. Compared with the fiscal 2009 main and supplementary budgets (¥102 trillion-plus), the sum is smaller, but not against the initial fiscal...
EDITORIALS
Oct 23, 2009
Makeover of postal privatization
The Cabinet this week decided to revamp the two-year-old privatization process for Japan Post group. The decision, which responds to fears among some people that Japan Post group may curtail services in the countryside, emphasizes the public role of Japan Post group.
EDITORIALS
Oct 23, 2009
A base Okinawans can live with
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa in Tokyo this week. The two sides failed to resolve differences over the relocation of a U.S. military base on Okinawa Island. Under a 2006 bilateral agreement,...
EDITORIALS
Oct 22, 2009
New government finding its feet
More than a month has passed since the Hatoyama administration was inaugurated. People can see that it is trying in earnest to implement policy promises spelled out in the Democratic Party of Japan's election manifesto. The administration, which at its outset enjoyed an approval rating that topped 70...
EDITORIALS
Oct 22, 2009
Unexpected Olympic pitch
The mayors of the atomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have announced their desire to invite the 2020 Summer Olympics to their cities and have called on the central government and the Japan Olympic Committee for support. Mayors Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima and Tomihisa Taue of Nagasaki put...
EDITORIALS
Oct 21, 2009
A question of accountability
Any report on alleged war crimes is going to be controversial. An investigation that focuses on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians will be even more sensitive. Thus the uproar surrounding the Goldstone report, an investigation into the behavior of the Israeli Army and Hamas militants during...
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2009
An important step forward
Armenia and Turkey took important steps toward overcoming a long bitter history this month. The two governments' agreement to establish diplomatic ties will help reduce the enmity that has dominated their relationship for nearly a century. It could also help transform relations in southeastern Europe...
EDITORIALS
Oct 19, 2009
New look at Japanese taxes
The government has started the new Tax System Council. Headed by Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, it consists only of Cabinet ministers and senior vice ministers — a sharp contrast to the days of the Liberal Democratic Party's rule, when the council was composed mainly of scholars and business leaders....
EDITORIALS
Oct 19, 2009
A court tape people should hear
A defense attorney has made public part of a tape recording of confessions made by Mr. Toshikazu Sugaya, who was released on the strength of a new DNA test in June after he had served 17 years of a life sentence for the 1990 murder of a 4-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture. A retrial of Mr....
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
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.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Man arrested in Kobe stabbing had been staying at hotel near victim’s home
Masashi Tanimoto arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman in Kobe, is sent to prosecutors on Sunday.
Tokyo releases AI-generated video of Mount Fuji erupting
A screenshot from an AI-generated video showing what could happen to Tokyo if Mount Fuji erupted
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.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.

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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