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August 27, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Nov 3, 2006

Debate that sends the wrong signal

Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Shoichi Nakagawa continues to call for debate on whether Japan should arm itself with nuclear weapons. On Oct. 30, he said to the effect: What if North Korea launches a nuclear-tipped missile aimed at Japan. Do we say, "America, please help us"? Before we can say...

EDITORIALS

Nov 3, 2006

Resumption of tough negotiations

North Korea's agreement to return to the six-party talks on its nuclear-weapons program is good news. At least, there will be no new nuclear-weapons tests by Pyongyang for the time being. But optimism is not warranted. The difficult task of getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and related...

EDITORIALS

Nov 2, 2006

A new plan for Northern Ireland

Once again, there are signs of progress toward the establishment of a sustainable local government in Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Mr. Bernie Ahern earlier this month announced that they had worked out arrangements yet again to share power between the...

EDITORIALS

Nov 1, 2006

Bid-rigging remains a problem

The recent arrest of a former Fukushima governor shows that bid rigging involving local government heads and officials continues. Local governments must devise a new system for public-works projects that ensures transparency in the bidding process.

EDITORIALS

Nov 1, 2006

Entrance exam blow-back

Some 290 high schools across Japan, most of them publicly run, were found to have not taught all compulsory subjects to students. More than 47,000 students have been affected. Third-year students who will take university entrance exams early next year will especially be in a tight spot. To be able to...

EDITORIALS

Oct 31, 2006

A mobile, disposable workforce

I ndications of deteriorating working conditions for Japanese workers are coming to light at workplaces across the nation as the result of a practice that has become a social issue: More and more manufacturing companies are bringing in contract workers (ukeoi) to have them work like temporary workers...

EDITORIALS

Oct 30, 2006

New flexibility of cell phones

The much-awaited portable-number service for cell phones has started in Japan, enabling users to change carriers without having to change phone numbers. This is a new convenience for customers, but for the cell-phone carriers -- NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp. and Softbank Mobile Corp. -- it heralds the...

EDITORIALS

Oct 29, 2006

Japanese and the 'Paris syndrome'

How many victims does it take to make a syndrome? According to a French newspaper, a dozen a year will do. In the case of a trend it has dubbed "Paris syndrome," that would be the 12 or so Japanese tourists a year who are said to be so disenchanted by their encounter with the fabled French capital that...

EDITORIALS

Oct 28, 2006

Bullying still a school problem

Two recent student suicides due to bullying -- one in the town of Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture, and the other in the city of Takigawa, Hokkaido -- have raised questions over the attitudes of educators. Teachers, principals, board of education officials and officials of the education ministry need to...

EDITORIALS

Oct 27, 2006

The uncertain toll in Iraq

A new study has concluded that there have been hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The governments of Iraq, the United States and Great Britain have challenged the results.

EDITORIALS

Oct 26, 2006

Checking violence at school

The number of violent incidents at public elementary schools nationwide rose by 128 to 2,018 in fiscal 2005 -- a new record for the third consecutive year, according to the education ministry's report entitled "Research on Problematic Behavior."

EDITORIALS

Oct 25, 2006

Tying up two loose ends

The Liberal Democratic Party's victories in two Lower House by-elections Sunday -- one in the Kanagawa Prefecture No. 16 district and the other in the Osaka Prefecture No. 9 district -- will boost Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's position in the ruling camp. The electoral victories will give him confidence...

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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