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May 18, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Oct 30, 2008
Crisis knocking at Japan's door
The global financial crisis is battering the Japanese stock market and threatening the real economy. The erratic Nikkei 225 index dipped below 7,000 at one point this week, the lowest in about 26 years, and the recent gains of the yen against the dollar and euro cast a dark spell over companies that...
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2008
ASEM takes a stand
The third leg of the global strategic triangle — Asia-Europe relations — has always been the weakest of the three. The Asia Europe Meeting, otherwise known as ASEM, was designed to remedy that shortcoming. The need for meaningful dialogue between the two poles has become even more important as the...
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2008
Future of financial restraint
The current financial crisis triggered by the subprime mortgage fiasco in the United States shows no signs of abating. Although the U.S. and other major economies have taken countermeasures, such as injecting capital into financial institutions, stock-price movements remain violently erratic. There are...
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2008
Giving peace many chances
The Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008 to Finland's former president, Martti Ahtisaari, shows that the committee has restored the tradition of honoring people who have played important roles in helping to solve conflicts between nations and between ethnic groups....
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2008
China feels the pinch
For most countries, 9 percent growth is a reason to celebrate. In China, it sets alarm bells ringing. For a government whose legitimacy rests on its ability to deliver increasing prosperity to citizens, an economic downturn can have dramatic and dangerous repercussions. Moreover, China's slowing economy...
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2008
NGOs on the go
Japan's election as a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council in mid-October means that Japan will again be able to make positive marks around the world. Though this is the 10th time for Japan to serve, the current problems in the world mean that Japan's interactions with foreign countries...
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2008
Mobile phones take over
Japan has become a nation of mobile-phone talkers, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication reported this month. More people now talk on mobile phones in Japan than on fixed-line phones; total talk time on mobile phones reached an astonishing 1.9 billion hours in 2007. That's a lot of metal...
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2008
Deeper Indo-Japanese ties
Prime Minister Taro Aso and his Indian counterpart Mr. Manmohan Singh issued a joint statement in Tokyo this week expressing their desire to deepen bilateral economic relations. This is quite understandable and reasonable since India is the third-largest economy in Asia — after Japan and China —...
EDITORIALS
Oct 24, 2008
Help your elderly neighbor
A declining birthrate and an aging population are changing the composition of Japanese households. A 2007 survey by the health and welfare ministry shows that the percentage of households comprising elderly people alone has risen while the size of the average household has shrunk. The trend points to...
EDITORIALS
Oct 24, 2008
Iceberg of misused funds?
The Board of Audit has found that 12 prefectures misused subsidies from the central government worth some ¥550 million over five years from fiscal 2002 through fiscal 2006. The subsidies were mostly from the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry and the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries...
EDITORIALS
Oct 23, 2008
Boom and bust in oil
If there is anything resembling a silver lining to the economic turmoil that has ensnared the world, it is the prospect of falling energy prices. The price of crude oil has fallen by more than 50 percent since setting a record high this past summer. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),...
EDITORIALS
Oct 22, 2008
Fiscal health check
The internal affairs ministry has disclosed the financial health of the nation's local governments gauged by four indicators based on a 2007 law to prevent bankruptcy of local governments. All 47 prefectural governments have passed the test based on their fiscal 2007 account settlements. But the cities...
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.
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.
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.
Struggling Nissan considers closing two plants in Kanagawa
Automaker Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama
Closing the gap between what you learn and what you say in Japanese
A few tweaks to the conversations you learn in your Japanese class will help you sound like a native when you step out the door.
In Nintendo’s backyard, foreign indie game devs are thriving
Kyoto's gaming landscape is dominated by Nintendo's headquarters, but a contingent of foreign-born indie developers is also working in the gaming giant's shadow.
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.
Nissan hoping to electrify home crowd as Formula E returns to Tokyo
Nissan's Oliver Rowland drives during qualifying for Miami E-Prix at Homestead Motor Speedway in Homestead, Florida, on April 12.
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.

Podcast

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

Longform

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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