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August 25, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2007
Righting U.S.-Russia relations
By some accounts, Russia and the United States are on the brink of a new Cold War. That probably overstates the state of that bilateral relationship, but there is no mistaking the chill that dominates relations between the two countries. In an attempt to end the downward spiral, U.S. President George...
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2007
Fears of 'made in China'
Concerns are mounting over tainted products from China. Last month the media highlighted reports of toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze. Earlier this year, pet food from China that contained melamine was blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats across North America. Regulatory...
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 2007
Companies fend off the funds
Shareholder meetings of companies that closed their books in March are over. The peak day saw 1,457 companies holding meetings. At many of the meetings, investment funds saw their proposals, most of them calling for payment of higher dividends, killed one after another due to opposition from other shareholders....
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 2007
The Olympics and the Putin factor
The International Olympic Committee has awarded the right to stage the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to the Black Sea resort of Sochi. It was the Russian city's first candidacy for the right. At present, its athletic facilities are almost nonexistent. It presented an innovative plan to combine ice-related...
EDITORIALS
Jul 7, 2007
A swamp of a property deal
The arrest of Mr. Shigetake Ogata, former head of the Public Safety Intelligence Agency, on suspicion of fraud in connection with an unsuccessful attempt to buy the headquarters of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents of Japan (Chongryun) begs the question "why?" — if prosecutors'...
EDITORIALS
Jul 7, 2007
Diet session lacked depth
With the extended Diet session over, the nation's political focus has shifted to the July 29 Upper House election. Regrettably, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito resorted to forceful Diet tactics during the extended session, depriving the Diet of chances to discuss important...
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2007
Lessons from the '97 crash
Ten years ago Monday, Asia was hit by an economic "bug" that wiped out billions of dollars of wealth, cost millions of jobs and shattered the confidence of a region. Those losses have largely been made up, and Asia today is in many ways stronger than it was in 1997. Although lessons have been learned,...
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2007
Hong Kong, 10 years later
It has been a decade since the British rolled up their flags and headed home, returning control of Hong Kong to the Chinese government on the mainland. The Special Administration Region, as Hong Kong is officially known, has shown resilience, weathering two crises, while its citizens have maintained...
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2007
European fudge
When is a constitution not a constitution? When it is the European Union's "reform treaty." EU leaders agreed last month on a new document to guide the EU and — hopefully — end the paralysis that has blocked progress toward a genuine community among the 27 member states. While the leaders applauded...
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2007
A corporate culture turned fatal
The final report of the government's Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission on the April 25, 2005, West Japan Railway accident in Hyogo Prefecture — which killed the train driver and 106 passengers and injured 562 people — has blamed the railway company's corporate culture for the...
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2007
Thoughtless nuclear-bomb remarks
Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma has resigned over the remark that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States at the end of World War II "could not be helped." His comments on Saturday had offended Japanese people, the world's first victims of nuclear weapons.
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2007
Far from a done deal on trade
Though hard to believe, hopes for the Doha Round of world trade negotiations just got darker. Over the weekend, U.S. President George W. Bush lost his "fast-track" power to negotiate trade deals that cannot be amended by Congress. Earlier, trade ministers from the "Group of Four" — Brazil, the European...
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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