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August 24, 2025
 

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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...
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2007
Death during 'training'
The death of a young sumo wrestler is shaking Japan's sumo world, which is still reeling from the yokozuna Asashoryu scandal. Tokitaizan, a 17-year-old wrestler, died shortly after a practice session, apparently because of exhaustion and a beating he received from his stable mates.
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2007
Prioritizing the budget
Moving toward the goal of compiling the government's fiscal 2008 budget by the end of December, government agencies and ministries will be busy with their negotiations with the Finance Ministry. But the work to compile the budget will face difficulty because of the opaque political situation.
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2007
Bracing against the opposition
The lineup of the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership and the Cabinet under new Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda testifies to Mr. Fukuda's eagerness to create a whole-party setup that can overcome the offensive from the opposition forces, which now control the Upper House.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2007
Rise of urban populations
The 2006 revision of U.N. population estimates and projections made public earlier this year showed that the world's population, now 6.67 billion, will reach 9.19 billion in 2050. Calling attention to the aging of the world population, the United Nations said that in the more developed regions, the percentage...
EDITORIALS
Sep 25, 2007
Mr. Fukuda at the helm
The Liberal Democratic Party's Diet members and prefectural branch representatives have elected Mr. Yasuo Fukuda, former chief Cabinet secretary of the Koizumi administration, as their new president, ending the political vacuum caused by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's sudden resignation. The greatest task...
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2007
More mysteries in Russia
The appointment of Mr. Viktor Zubkov, an obscure official, as the new prime minister of Russia has many analysts yearning for the old days of Kremlinology. Then, at least, it was possible to figure out how powerful someone was by their relative position on the seating chart or the dais.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2007
Beautifying Kyoto, at last
In early September, the Kyoto city government began enforcing regulations against ugliness in the city. Yes, ugliness. The mayor of Kyoto, Yorikane Masumoto, and his municipal government found the political will to think beyond the immediate concerns of day-to-day business demands, and to consider how...
EDITORIALS
Sep 22, 2007
Wise use of maritime resources
The Basic Law of Sea, enacted in April with the support of all political parties except the Social Democratic Party, went into force in July. The sea not only serves as a major thoroughfare for world trade but also provides food, energy and other vital resources. It is hoped that the law, an outgrowth...
EDITORIALS
Sep 22, 2007
Aiming for the moon
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the "Kaguya" (Shining Princess) lunar exploration probe Sept. 14. It is now on its way to the moon, 380,000 km away. Kaguya marks the biggest moon mission since the 1969-72 U.S. Apollo flights. It is hoped that the probe, launched by an H-IIA rocket,...
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.
Women-only communities flourish in China
Chen Yani (right), nicknamed "Keke," eats lunch with friends and guests in a female co-living space she founded called "Keke's Imaginative Space" in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang province, on July 14.
JR East cancels luxury train run over crew's boozing
East Japan Railway said Thursday that it will cancel one trip of a luxury overnight sleeper service, which was originally scheduled to depart from Ueno Station in Tokyo on Aug. 30, after crew members were found to have been drinking alcohol on duty.
Man arrested over deadly stabbing of woman in Kobe
Masashi Tanimoto, 35, the suspect in the deadly stabbing a 24-year-old woman, is taken into custody in Kobe on Friday night.
Japanese city proposes two-hour daily limit for smartphone use
The Toyoake Municipal Government in Aichi Prefecture is planning to enact an ordinance to urge all smartphone users in the city to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school.
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.
Big burgers and bigger ambitions for Japan's Burger King
Kazuhiro Nomura, president of BK Japan Holdings, which operates Burger King in 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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