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August 29, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Oct 12, 2003

Policy debate apt to decide poll

Vigorous policy debates between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan are likely to feature prominently in campaigning for the Nov. 9 general election, due to begin officially on Oct. 28. The buzzword is "manifesto" -- a published list of campaign promises....

EDITORIALS

Oct 11, 2003

Antiterror debate deserved better

The Upper House of the Diet on Friday passed a key bill extending by another two years the special antiterrorism law. The debate proceeded without a hitch by skirting an essential discussion. The central question -- what roles Japan should play in the international fight against terror -- was not thoroughly...

EDITORIALS

Oct 10, 2003

American dream, or nightmare?

Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilder and movie star, is the new governor of California. Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, replaced Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, after 54.9 percent of voters Tuesday said "yes" to recalling the incumbent and 48.2 percent picked the Terminator to lead the historically...

EDITORIALS

Oct 9, 2003

The first tripartite declaration

In their first-ever joint declaration, the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea on Tuesday pledged to promote security dialogue to maintain peace and stability in all of East Asia. The statement, signed on the sidelines of ASEAN summit talks in Bali, Indonesia, also calls for trilateral cooperation...

EDITORIALS

Oct 8, 2003

Israel's dangerous escalation

Israel's attack Sunday on an alleged terrorist training camp inside Syria marks a dangerous turn in the Middle East conflict. Sadly, the strike is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of "preemption" that has been endorsed by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. The attack makes plain...

EDITORIALS

Oct 7, 2003

The EU studies Pandora's box

The march toward a larger, more integrated Europe took another step forward last weekend with the opening of the intergovernmental conference (IGC) that will approve the new European constitution. The drafting of the document has been an unprecedented exercise in democracy for the European Union. That...

EDITORIALS

Oct 6, 2003

Can Rengo stand up for the weak?

Over the years the image of Japanese trade unions as labor's standard bearer has become steadily tarnished. Their activities no longer hit the headlines except during annual labor-management negotiations. Even the name "shunto" -- the spring labor offensive -- now seems almost irrelevant because the...

EDITORIALS

Oct 5, 2003

Freedom from the fear of chaos

Anyone idly browsing the Internet recently might well have come across the following mysterious passage: "Acocdrnig to an elgnsih unviesitry sutdy the oredr of letetrs in a wrod dosen't mttaer, the olny thnig thta's iopmrantt is that the frsit and lsat ltteer of eevry word is in the crcreot ptoision....

EDITORIALS

Oct 4, 2003

A checkered economic recovery

During an economic recovery, it often happens that disparities in business performance between companies that are doing better and those that are not become more apparent. That is the case with Japanese companies today, as shown clearly by the Bank of Japan's latest survey of business sentiment. While...

EDITORIALS

Oct 3, 2003

Saving a Japanese monument

Japan still has an entry on the World Monuments Fund's biennial "watch list" of the planet's 100 most endangered cultural sites, according to the 2004 update released last week. It is time to ensure that the historic port town of Tomonoura, which was first included in the 2002 list, is not on it two...

EDITORIALS

Oct 2, 2003

Plenty of rice despite poor harvest

Low temperatures and a shortage of sunlight during the summer months have made it certain that this year's rice harvest will be the poorest in a decade. Yet, even with the lean harvest, there will be no problem on the supply side because the government's stock of rice is more than adequate.

EDITORIALS

Oct 1, 2003

Brace for another round of SARS

Ever since severe acute respiratory syndrome was brought under control this summer, medical authorities have warned that another outbreak could occur in the fall. The world got its first fright last month with reports of occurrences in Singapore and Hong Kong. In fact, the Hong Kong case was not SARS;...

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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