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May 16, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Oct 6, 2007
Mr. Fukuda tests the water
After a virtual recess following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Sept. 12 resignation announcement, Prime new Minister Yasuo Fukuda and the opposition are squaring off against each other in the Diet. The opposition camp says that since the prime minister does not have the people's mandate, his first job...
EDITORIALS
Oct 5, 2007
Bizarre ruling against newspapers
The Tokyo District Court recently ruled that three newspapers libeled a doctor at Tokyo Women's Medical College Hospital by publishing a wire service report. But it acquitted the news agency that dispatched the article. This bizarre ruling carries the danger of greatly hampering newspaper reporting activities....
EDITORIALS
Oct 5, 2007
Improvised roads through kanji
A poll conducted by the Agency of Cultural Affairs in February and March on various issues related to the Japanese language offers interesting insight into people's attitude toward kanji — the Chinese characters that are an indispensable part of Japan's linguistic culture.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2007
Flawed reliance on confessions
With the lay judge system scheduled to be introduced by May 2009, a system should be developed to ensure that investigators' records of suspects' oral statements are trustworthy. Recent cases involving false confessions highlight the urgent need for such a system.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2007
Raise the bar at law schools
Results of the second national bar examination held under a new system were announced Sept. 13. Just 1,851 graduates of the law schools established under the system passed for a success ratio of 40 percent — down eight percentage points from last year. This suggests that the quality of law school students...
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2007
Mr. Fukuda's good intentions
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda made his first policy speech in the Diet Monday. Although Mr. Fukuda's speech lacked freshness and bold proposals, it shows that he correctly grasps what worries people have about today's politics. But the question is whether he will come up with concrete policy measures and...
EDITORIALS
Oct 2, 2007
New experiences for Japan Post
A difficult path lies ahead the Japan Post group companies' 10-year privatization process, which started Oct. 1. They have to make profits to survive but not at the expense of services. This is especially critical for the postal service, which has earned the people's trust over the past 130 years through...
EDITORIALS
Oct 2, 2007
Enough time to find shelter
On Monday, NHK started a broadcast service for earthquake warnings (kinkyu jishin sokuho), with private broadcast stations to follow suit. Rather than predict when and where earthquakes will strike, the warnings will tell how many seconds it will take tremors from a major earthquake to reach specific...
EDITORIALS
Oct 1, 2007
Coping with the doctor shortage
As pregnant women, children and rural residents in Japan face a crisis in getting medical treatment, the government has decided to increase the quota for medical schools. This is a welcome move. It is urgent that the government take well-thought-out measures to deal with specific problems responsible...
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2007
The real stakes in Taiwan
There was never any doubt about the outcome of Taiwan's bid to regain a seat in the United Nations. For the 15th time in as many years, the U.N. rejected Taipei's call to return to the world body. The application did not even make it to the General Assembly agenda, having been blocked by the General...
EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2007
Stemming the violence in Myanmar
The situation in Myanmar has become ugly as the country's security forces mount a violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators. Already more than a dozen people have died, including Buddhist monks and a Japanese journalist. It is the first such shedding of blood since prodemocracy demonstrations in 1988,...
EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2007
Land prices bear watching
Recent land-price rises in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya merit scrutiny to determine whether real estate investment in these cities has peaked. On the other hand, land-price movements in the countryside indicate that measures are needed to bolster economic activities, although some areas have seen higher land...
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.
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.
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
Two crew feared dead after ASDF training jet crashes in Aichi
Self-Defense Forces personnel collect apparent parts of an Air Self-Defense Force T-4 training jet from a reservoir in Inuyama, Aichi Prefeture, on Thursday. The jet crashed shortly after takeoff a day earlier.
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.
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.
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
Tokyo Stock Exchange wants stocks to be affordable for the average investor
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Nihonbashi. The exchange wants companies to lower the entry cost of investing in their shares.

Podcast

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

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What comes after 100?
By Tomoko Otake

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Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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