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August 29, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Sep 28, 2005

Now for some bold reforms

With the resounding victory of the Liberal Democratic Party in the general election, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi can now boldly kick-start the stagnant process of structural reform. Utilizing the strong leadership consolidated in the triumph, Mr. Koizumi must set about breaking up the LDP cliques...

EDITORIALS

Sep 27, 2005

Worthy of the term 'opposition'?

As the Democratic Party of Japan, which suffered a crushing defeat in the Sept. 11 Lower House election, begins a rejuvenation effort under its new leader, Mr. Seiji Maehara, the No. 1 opposition party must solve difficult problems to turn it into a party capable of seizing power.

EDITORIALS

Sep 26, 2005

Avoiding a spinout over oil

It's as if a new oil shock had arrived. Prices of crude oil futures, which once hit $70 a barrel, have not come down enough, still hovering above $60 a barrel -- more than three times the prevailing level of three years ago.

EDITORIALS

Sep 25, 2005

No face-off, please

Medical controversies have a way of making fence-sitters of even the most opinionated among us. Assisted suicide, life support, late-term abortions: We listen to the practical and ethical pros and cons on such issues and end up incapable of holding a view for longer than 10 minutes.

EDITORIALS

Sep 24, 2005

Inconclusive poll in Germany

I n Germany's general election Sunday, described as the most inconclusive in the country's postwar history, voters refused to give a clear-cut majority to any party. Earlier in the campaign, the opposition alliance of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party, the Christian Social Union...

EDITORIALS

Sep 23, 2005

Belfast's Protestants say 'enough'

Belfast, Northern Ireland, has once again been bloodied by protest. This time, however, it is Protestants that have clashed with British forces. This outbreak of violence poses a new challenge to the embattled peace process in Northern Ireland: Protestants make up the majority in the province, and they...

EDITORIALS

Sep 22, 2005

Social assistance for crime victims

To become the victim of a crime is a tragic experience that can cause lasting physical, psychological or financial damage. In the past, crime victims and their family members have not received much help from society. Last December, however, the Diet passed the Basic Law for Crime Victims, which recognizes...

EDITORIALS

Sep 21, 2005

Patience has paid off so far

The issuance on Monday of a joint statement in Beijing by representatives of the six nations that had taken up North Korea's nuclear-weapons programs has come as relief to those who have been watching the talks with both trepidation and expectation. If the talks had failed, the United States, one of...

EDITORIALS

Sep 20, 2005

Counting the overseas vote

Article 1 of the Constitution makes it clear that sovereign power resides with the people, and Article 15 says, "The people have the inalienable right to choose their public officials and to dismiss them." Thus the right to vote in elections is the most important constitutional right for Japanese citizens....

EDITORIALS

Sep 19, 2005

Disaster defense that works

Typhoons land on Japan every year, and many people often die or go missing. Indeed, typhoons are more vicious than earthquakes, except for really large-scale quakes like the one that struck Kobe in 1995 and killed some 6,000 people.

EDITORIALS

Sep 18, 2005

Lessons of the penguins

This summer, a lot of people in quite a few countries saw a modest French-made documentary about penguins. So many, in fact, that the movie, "La Marche de lfempereur," or "March of the Penguins," was recently named the second-highest-grossing documentary film ever, after "Fahrenheit 911." In many cities,...

EDITORIALS

Sep 17, 2005

Falling short of 'San Francisco'

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan had hoped that the summit of world leaders that has been held this week would yield another "San Francisco moment": a coming together of nations that produced a renewed commitment to international law and the institutions that would help implement it. He is...

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

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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