More Editorials Articles - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

EDITORIALS

Jul 4, 2004

The long and short of it

Here is another stereotype to discard: The world's tallest people are not Polynesian or Tutsi or even American. They are Dutch. Those lowlanders claimed the height title in 1999 and have kept it ever since, with the average Dutch male now topping the charts at a head-turning 185.4 cm.

EDITORIALS

Jul 3, 2004

No respite for NATO

Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization expected their two-day summit in Istanbul to highlight a renewed sense of unity. Coming on the heels of one of the most bitter splits in the alliance's history, anything less would raise serious doubts about the organization's future. And yet they failed....

EDITORIALS

Jul 2, 2004

Benefits of low expectations

It is difficult to get excited about the prospect of peace talks between India and Pakistan. Not that the meetings do not matter. It's just that the South Asian neighbors have fought three wars and have narrowly averted several others -- a history made even more worrisome by the two governments' possession...

EDITORIALS

Jul 1, 2004

Impact on global security

In the past, stability in Saudi Arabia -- which holds an estimated one-fourth of the world's oil reserves -- has beckoned droves of foreign oil engineers and specialists. In recent months, however, a series of terrorist attacks has rocked the kingdom, prompting Western companies to withdraw some of their...

EDITORIALS

Jun 30, 2004

Iraqis get their country back

Iraq is once again a sovereign nation. In a surprise move, the United States handed over power to the new, interim government in Baghdad two days early. The handover goes a long way toward wiping the slate clean: The 14-month occupation is officially over, and Iraqis can now say that they are in control...

EDITORIALS

Jun 29, 2004

Talks give reason for hope

Although the third round of the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis yielded little more than a commitment to meet again, for the first time, there are grounds for genuine optimism. The United States and North Korea finally appear to be discussing solutions in earnest. To help them along,...

EDITORIALS

Jun 28, 2004

Get a consensus on cloning research

Whether to sanction the cloning of human embryos remains a polarizing issue that has profound ethical and moral implications. In Japan, a government-appointed committee on bioethics late last year published a noncommittal interim report stating the pros and cons.

EDITORIALS

Jun 27, 2004

Mr. Kerry's French

Every now and then, U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, lets slip that he speaks French. He chats with French reporters, has occasionally responded in French to a French-language question at a news conference, and once participated in a phone-in talk show in France....

EDITORIALS

Jun 26, 2004

A wakeup call for Europe

June has been a cruel month for the European Union. Euroskeptics were the big winners in elections for the EU Parliament, although apathy rather than outright opposition to the EU project best captures voter sentiment. Then, last week, a second attempt to agree on a new constitution made progress only...

EDITORIALS

Jun 25, 2004

Bringing science and society closer

The connection between science and technology, on the one hand, and our daily life, on the other, is growing closer and increasingly wide-ranging. To see that relationship, we have only to think of the example of advanced medicine, in which information and images obtained via cell phones or the Internet...

EDITORIALS

Jun 24, 2004

Parties stake out their positions

Campaigning for the July 11 Upper House election, set to start Thursday, has already been under way for all practical purposes, as key members of the ruling and opposition parties hit the hustings across the country. On Monday, at a joint debate session at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, party...

EDITORIALS

Jun 23, 2004

Effects of zero-interest rates

More than a decade has passed since the Bank of Japan brought benchmark interest rates to almost zero. Now that Japan's economy is showing signs of steady recovery, it stands to reason that this extraordinary policy of quantitative monetary easing should come to an end. Yet, reversing a policy that has...

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

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports