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August 25, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Jul 23, 2000

As mighty as the mouse

Here is an odd thing: The more people use electronic means of communication -- PCs, Internet-linked cell phones and organizers, and the like -- the more stationery stores there seem to be and the more customers they attract. These are not all mauve-haired old ladies in kimono either, although if you...

EDITORIALS

Jul 22, 2000

Mr. Clinton's bold gamble

There were no doubts that the Camp David peace talks would be punctuated by drama, threats and scares. The negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were focusing on core issues that touched on the very identity of Israelis and the Palestinian people....

EDITORIALS

Jul 21, 2000

Make the summit a success

The world's attention is focused on Okinawa, as heads of the eight leading industrialized nations kick off their 26th annual summit. Japan, the chair of this year's meeting, has invested heavily in the get-together. The 81 billion yen that the government has spent on the summit indicates the significance...

EDITORIALS

Jul 20, 2000

Remembrance and responsibility

Germany is closing one of the last chapters of its Nazi past this week. The establishment of a 10 billion deutsche-mark fund (520 billion yen) to compensate those who were slave laborers during World War II will, in the words of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, set down "a durable marker of historic...

EDITORIALS

Jul 19, 2000

The Tax Commission falls short

In light of the crushing public-debt burden and the rapid aging of the population, there is no question that Japan's tax system badly needs an overhaul. The government's Tax Commission, however, has failed to send a strong message that taxes will have to be raised. The impression is that it is unwilling,...

EDITORIALS

Jul 18, 2000

A call for real police reform

A government-appointed, private-sector panel of advisers has now issued its much anticipated recommendations for changes in the nation's scandal-tainted police forces. The Council on the Reform of Police Systems delivered its proposals one month later than first promised, and the original draft developed...

EDITORIALS

Jul 17, 2000

Mindanao's nightmare continues

It is easy to be disheartened about the violence that is sweeping across the Philippine province of Mindanao. It was thought to have been settled four years ago, but it has erupted once again. The government has had recent successes on the battlefield, but the rebels are not likely to be subdued.

EDITORIALS

Jul 16, 2000

The reliable magic of Harry Potter

It's been a bit of a Quidditch match this week in bookstores across the English-speaking world as children from 8 to 80 scrambled for their copies of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the latest book in the series that has become the biggest publishing phenomenon of the decade.

EDITORIALS

Jul 15, 2000

The Kashmir knot tightens

India's reluctance to support increased autonomy for the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir is understandable. Indian leaders fear that giving more power to local leaders would set a precedent that could lead to the unraveling of the whole country. That is a possibility, but any sprawling state that...

EDITORIALS

Jul 14, 2000

Japan, by the numbers

Japan's economic statistics are, by and large, rated highly for their diversity and accuracy. So it comes as no surprise that Japanese experts are helping developing countries improve their own statistical systems. Recently, however, that reputation seems to have been somewhat tarnished because of media...

EDITORIALS

Jul 13, 2000

Drawing lines in the Middle East

It is hard to exaggerate the risks involved in the Middle East summit that began this week at the Camp David presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland. The main players — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and U.S. President Bill Clinton — are gambling...

EDITORIALS

Jul 12, 2000

Snow Brand pays the price

All attempts so far by Snow Brand Milk Products Co. have failed to deal satisfactorily with the mass food-poisoning outbreak caused by bacterial contamination at the company's Osaka production facility. In the two weeks since the outbreak was first detected, over 13,000 people in nine prefectures in...

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

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