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August 24, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Mar 14, 2009

Fate of abductees

Ms. Yaeko Taguchi was abducted by North Korea in 1978 at the age of 22. Earlier this week Mr. Koichiro Iizuka, her son, and Mr. Shigeo Iizuka, her elder brother, met Ms. Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean agent, in Busan, South Korea. Ms. Kim told the Iizukas that she believed that Ms. Taguchi was alive....

EDITORIALS

Mar 13, 2009

Mr. Bashir is indicted

It is unlikely that last week's decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict Mr. Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, on charges of war crimes has cost Mr. Bashir much sleep. The ICC cannot enforce the writ on its own, and Mr. Bashir has allies and friends around the world.

EDITORIALS

Mar 12, 2009

Words that sow distrust

The investigation that led to the arrest of the chief secretary of Democratic Party of Japan leader Mr. Ichiro Ozawa over alleged irregularities in political donations has put not only Mr. Ozawa but also some Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers in a difficult position. It also has put in focus the thoughtlessness...

EDITORIALS

Mar 12, 2009

Suicide crisis continues

As the employment situation worsens in the midst of the deepening economic crisis, it is feared that more people may commit suicide. In 2007, the latest year for which annual suicide statistics are available, 33,093 people killed themselves, making it the 10th consecutive year that suicides topped 30,000....

EDITORIALS

Mar 11, 2009

Step up efforts to slash emissions

Prior to the Toyako Group of Eight summit in July 2008, Japan adopted a long-range goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by 60 to 80 percent by 2050 from the current level. But compared with other major developed countries, Japan has been slow in deciding on a midrange reduction goal.

EDITORIALS

Mar 11, 2009

Mr. Aso lands on Okinawa

Prime Minister Taro Aso visited Okinawa Prefecture over the weekend for the first time since he came to power in September, and met with Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima. He did not visit any U.S. military bases or their vicinity, as he apparently sought to avoid luring public attention to base-related issues....

EDITORIALS

Mar 10, 2009

Durban II in danger

On paper the U.N. World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance is an eminently laudable project — if you believe that the United Nations should promote grand statements that promote norms of good behavior. But the preparations for this meeting, and its...

EDITORIALS

Mar 9, 2009

Foundation must come clean

Learning the Chinese characters called kanji is so much fun for some people that it has become a fad. Interest in kanji can be gauged by the number of people who take kanji aptitude tests. In fiscal 2007, some 2.7 million people, age 3 to 97, took the tests known as kanken (literary kanji certification),...

EDITORIALS

Mar 9, 2009

HIV/AIDS cases on the rise

Last month the health ministry reported that the number of new HIV cases and AIDS diagnoses in Japan hit a high of 1,545 in 2008. According to the health ministry, 1,113 people were found to be infected with the HIV virus that can lead to AIDS, and 432 others were diagnosed with AIDS. This is the sixth...

EDITORIALS

Mar 8, 2009

Credibility of policy

A bill to implement the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 has been enacted with a second vote in the Lower House — where the ruling bloc has a two-thirds majority — after the opposition-controlled Upper House voted it down. Thus the ¥2 trillion cash handouts for all households and other...

EDITORIALS

Mar 8, 2009

Stopping child pornography

The National Police Agency said it handled 676 child pornography cases in 2008 in Japan. That is 109 more cases than in 2007 and much more than the mere 25 cases prosecuted in 1999, when Japan's status as a worldwide distribution point for child pornography came to light. Further arrests continued this...

EDITORIALS

Mar 7, 2009

China's growth challenge

As the annual session of China's National People's Congress has started, achieving sufficiently high economic growth will be indispensable for helping to stabilize Chinese society. It is also something other countries want to see as the world economy is rapidly cooling down due to the financial crisis...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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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