More Editorials Articles - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

EDITORIALS

Apr 6, 2006

Care of the terminally ill

Seven patients died between 2000 and 2005 at a hospital in Imizu, Toyama Prefecture, because doctors removed their respirators. Police have started an investigation. A 50-year-old chief surgeon responsible for taking the respirators from six of the patients said he acted on the will of the patients'...

EDITORIALS

Apr 5, 2006

Africa's despots put on notice

The arrest of Mr. Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, and his arraignment before a United Nations-sponsored war-crimes court, could herald the beginning of a new era in Africa. Mr. Taylor is the first African head of state to be held responsible for the atrocities he set in motion during...

EDITORIALS

Apr 4, 2006

A divide over the income gap

The perceived widening in the gap between the haves and have-nots in Japan has become a frequent topic of public debates. Those conscious of the gap refer to it as a negative byproduct of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reforms. Meanwhile, the government denies that the income gap is growing.

EDITORIALS

Apr 3, 2006

Checkered moves of land prices

Land price statistics as of Jan. 1, announced by the Land, Infrastructure and Land Ministry, show that at least three of the nation's major urban areas plus some other areas have emerged from a long tunnel of real-estate price deflation. The trend is supported by increased demand for office space and...

EDITORIALS

Apr 2, 2006

The opposition regroups

Mr. Seiji Maehara's decision to step down as chief of the Democratic Party of Japan, and to take responsibility for a recent e-mail fiasco in the Diet, came suddenly but too late. He leaves the spotlighted position without living up to party members' hopes that he would energize their goals. His resignation...

EDITORIALS

Apr 1, 2006

Israel chooses to go forward

Party emerged victorious in national elections held this week in Israel. The win was a victory for interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who took the helm of government -- and the newly formed party -- after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was felled by a stroke. The celebrations will be short-lived as Mr....

EDITORIALS

Mar 31, 2006

Hope for human rights at the U.N.

With broad reform of the world body stalled, the U.N. General Assembly voted earlier this month to approve a new Human Rights Council. While this is only a first step, it does provide hope for U.N. reform after all. The old Human Rights Commission was an egregious sore, more notable for its human-rights...

EDITORIALS

Mar 30, 2006

DPJ has dawdled long enough

With the Diet's passage of the fiscal 2006 budget, the Koizumi administration has cleared an important hurdle. But the Diet is in a sad state following the Democratic Party of Japan's blunder in its handling of an e-mail message presented by a DPJ lawmaker alleging shady financial ties between disgraced...

EDITORIALS

Mar 29, 2006

Japan's paramedics in a straitjacket

On April 1, Japanese paramedics will take a small but significant step toward catching up with their counterparts in the United States and Europe: For the first time in their brief 15-year history, they will be allowed to administer a drug, the heart stimulant epinephrine, though only in cases of cardiac...

EDITORIALS

Mar 28, 2006

Skating on thin ice

Shizuka Arakawa's Olympic triumph and the media hype surrounding women's figure skating belies the grossly inadequate training environment that Japan's top skaters face and the escalating training costs they shoulder in the absence of meaningful support from the government or corporations.

EDITORIALS

Mar 27, 2006

China and Russia ready to deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China last week to kick off "the Year of Russia in China." The festivities, which Russia will reciprocate next year with "the Year of China," are sure to trigger the usual excited speculation about ties between the two continental giants.

EDITORIALS

Mar 26, 2006

A fair ruling in Britain

In most legal rulings, even a casual observer can see reasonable arguments on both sides. This is not surprising. If both sides didn't have reasonable arguments, there wouldn't be a dispute to begin with, or any need for a ruling. But a decision handed down by Britain's Law Lords last week backing a...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports