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EDITORIALS

Dec 19, 2004

Happiness is a warm TV set

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,

EDITORIALS

Dec 18, 2004

Putting off unpalatable choices

It is axiomatic to say that the taxes people pay represent the most basic cost of maintaining autonomy and democracy. That's why the tax code should be written by national legislators, not government bureaucrats. But tax reform is almost always controversial, as evidenced by the fiscal 2005 tax reform...

EDITORIALS

Dec 17, 2004

Better ways to share tax money

Local governments in Japan, like the central government, are heavily in debt. The deficit problem is adding to difficulties in budget talks between the Finance and Internal Affairs ministries. The key question is how much national tax revenue should be transferred to local administrations in fiscal 2005....

EDITORIALS

Dec 16, 2004

WTO says bye-bye Byrdie

U .S. trade practices were slapped again recently when the World Trade Organization imposed penalties on a wide range of U.S. exports. The decision targets the Byrd Amendment, a law that was passed to protect U.S. steel makers harmed by cheaper imports of foreign steel. The WTO had already determined...

EDITORIALS

Dec 15, 2004

More gridlock in the Taiwan Strait

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian had a disappointing weekend. His Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was unable to win a majority in parliamentary elections held Saturday. The result is likely to be continuing gridlock in Taiwanese politics, as different parties control the presidency and the legislature....

EDITORIALS

Dec 14, 2004

Signs of an economy losing steam

Japan's economy last entered an expansionary phase in February 2002. Thirty-three months later, in October 2004, it was losing steam. It would not be surprising if the recovery ended that month, as upswings in Japan's business cycles since the end of World War II have lasted, on average, about the same...

EDITORIALS

Dec 12, 2004

Shift in security policy

Japan's security policy is likely to change significantly under the new National Defense Program Outline, which lays out guidelines for improving the nation's defense capabilities over the next 10 years. The main feature of the outline, approved by the Cabinet on Friday, is that it is aimed at meeting...

EDITORIALS

Dec 11, 2004

EU sticks to its guns ban

The European Union has successfully fended off a Chinese diplomatic press to resume arms sales. The decision to delay is a good one: Beijing's claims of discrimination notwithstanding, East Asia does not need more weapons. Equally important is the rift such sales would engineer in the West: The prospect...

EDITORIALS

Dec 10, 2004

Challenges for Mr. Karzai

Afghanistan's three-year drive for stability reached a milestone when Mr. Hamid Karzai was sworn in Tuesday as its first popularly elected president. But the road is strewn with obstacles. Ethnic and tribal divisions are clouding prospects for national unity. As yet, there is no end in sight to terrorist...

EDITORIALS

Dec 9, 2004

Closing the curtain on a hard life

Mr. Charles Jenkins on Tuesday arrived in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, together with his wife Ms. Hitomi Soga, a former abductee to North Korea, and their two daughters after serving a short sentence for desertion from the U.S. Army. Sado is Ms. Soga's hometown. Procedures for Mr. Jenkins' dishonorable...

EDITORIALS

Dec 8, 2004

To keep the SDF in Iraq or not

The government is set to extend Japan's troop deployment in Iraq beyond Dec. 14 for another year, although Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has not adequately explained why an extension is necessary. Nor has the Diet debated the question in detail. A joint opposition bill aimed at ending the dispatch...

EDITORIALS

Dec 7, 2004

First steps toward U.N. reform

It has become clear that the United Nations is ill suited to the challenges of the 21st century. Its institutions were created in the aftermath of World War II and to this day they reflect that balance of global power. Yet the world has changed drastically in the past half century. The number of states...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.

A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan

By Hanako Lowry

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

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