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August 25, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2009
Act responsibly, Pyongyang
North Korea has notified two United Nations agencies — the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization — of its plan to launch a communications satellite between April 4 and 8. The first stage of the rocket is expected to fall in the Sea of Japan only about...
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 2009
A new Iron Curtain in Europe?
The global economic crisis threatens to divide Europe anew. While all of Europe is being battered by the slowdown, Eastern Europe is even more vulnerable and exposed than its Western neighbors. Yet, the two sets of economies are deeply connected. A plunge in the east will wash — not ripple — across...
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2009
Getting ready to take action
Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations met last week to prepare for the coming G20 summit and agreed to "take whatever action is necessary until growth is restored." Although a division surfaced among the participating nations, the commitment to efforts to attain recovery...
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2009
Money's worth in space
The U.S. space shuttle Discovery carrying its crew of seven docked with the International Space Station on Wednesday morning, Japan time. Among the crew is Japanese astronaut Mr. Koichi Wakata. While the Discovery is docked at the ISS, he will set up the ISS' fourth and last solar power panel by using...
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2009
A test for Northern Ireland
Terrorists murdered three people in Northern Ireland last week. A decade ago that news would have been commonplace. Today, however, it is a stunning development for a people who have grown accustomed to peace and reconciliation. The remaining elements of a terror movement are trying to fan the flames...
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2009
A maritime police action
Two Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers, each carrying two patrol helicopters and two speed boats, are steaming to the Gulf of Aden on an antipiracy mission off Somalia. The government has evoked Article 82 of the Self-Defense Forces Law, which allows the SDF to take "maritime police actions" in situations...
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2009
Way of Tibet, after 50 years
Fifty years have passed since the Tibetan national uprising against Chinese rule. The Chinese military's crushing of the March 1959 rebellion led the then 24-year-old Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetans, to flee across the Himalayas to India. One year also has passed since the large-scale protests...
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2009
Key to economic recovery
Each country is trying to get out of the current global recession by adopting stimulus measures, including the United States' $787 billion stimulus package and Japan's budgetary measures, which include ¥12 trillion in fiscal spending. But the prospects for the world economy are not bright.
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2009
Support needy foreign workers
The downturn of the Japanese economy is severely affecting foreign workers in this nation, most of whom are temporary employees. The labor ministry says at least some 5,600 foreign workers have lost or will soon lose their jobs. But that estimate is likely low.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2009
Help for human rights
Human Rights Watch, the second-largest rights organization in the world, will set up an office in Tokyo in April. The organization, founded in 1978, does just what its name suggests — gives attention to violations of the basic rights of all humans. HRW will come to Tokyo not to investigate abuses inside...
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2009
Blossoms amid the gloom
The cherry blossom season will soon arrive, and with it the reflections and lessons that go with the yearly event. As Japan begins the season of enjoying the cherry blossoms, the differences from last year start to appear as well. Part of the excitement of spring comes from never quite knowing exactly...
EDITORIALS
Mar 14, 2009
Stabilizing Afghanistan
The Obama administration is working out a strategy to stabilize Afghanistan, where the level of violence has risen due to a resurgence of the Taliban. A high level of cooperation in the international community will be key to the successful reconstruction of the nation.
Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
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.
At meeting rich in symbolism, Ishiba and South Korea's Lee agree to steadily build ties
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands at joint press announcement after summit talks in Tokyo on Saturday.
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.
Japan to boost support for joint ride-hailing services
Tatsuaki Igarashi, mayor of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, exits a ride-sharing vehicle at Tsukuba Station in January.
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.
As farm minister, Koizumi is held ‘hostage’ by Ishiba
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. Locking Koizumi into the Cabinet is Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s way of turning a potential rival into a team player, according to one expert.

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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