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August 23, 2025

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EDITORIALS

May 24, 1999

The world's second oldest profession

W ith a U.S. congressional committee poised to release a report on alleged Chinese spying at U.S. nuclear facilities, the political furor in Washington over the theft of U.S. military secrets is certain to escalate, and could cause serious political repercussions in the United States and in its foreign...

EDITORIALS

May 23, 1999

Break the corporate extortion habit

The report that as many as 59 leading Japanese companies were victims of extortion by "sokaiya" corporate racketeers, so-called rightist groups, organized gang members and other criminals in 1998 was treated as a major revelation by the mass media. The news came as the result of a survey conducted early...

EDITORIALS

May 22, 1999

Red alert for the Loonies

There was gloomy news last week in the sphere of international politics -- so gloomy, in fact, that had it not been for Israel's spirited rejection of its most unhelpful prime minister ever, Benjamin ("Turn-the-clock-back Bibi") Netanyahu, monitors of social progress everywhere would now be inconsolable....

EDITORIALS

May 21, 1999

'New economy' under siege

The U.S. economy's strength has prompted speculation that it is a "new economy," in which information technology boosts productivity and cuts margins, allowing high growth, low unemployment and almost no inflation. Academics are arguing over the validity of the theory, but among its adherents is Mr....

EDITORIALS

May 20, 1999

Workers in the new Japan

The change of leadership last week at Nikkeiren, the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations, comes as Japan's worst post-World War II recession is pushing unemployment to an all-time high. It is only natural, therefore, that in his inaugural address, Chairman Hiroshi Okuda, president of Toyota Motor...

EDITORIALS

May 19, 1999

Now, a different Israel

Israel is a divided country. There are long-standing differences between Arabs and Jews, Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, and Labor and Likud supporters -- the last a split that has roughly mirrored the divide between hawks and doves. In recent years, those divisions seem to have intensified. Worse, new...

EDITORIALS

May 18, 1999

Keep trade reform alive

An open international trade system is the backbone of the global economy. Vigorous trade has been the instrument of international prosperity in the past half-century. The secret of the trading order's success has been its continual expansion in terms of members (the number of nations) and reach (such...

EDITORIALS

May 16, 1999

'Star Wars' in their eyes

The lines started forming outside theaters in Hollywood in early April. By last week they had sprouted all over America, despite the fact that with just a few days to go fans can now get advance tickets online or by phone. Tickets for what? What event could possibly be worth waiting in line for six weeks...

EDITORIALS

May 15, 1999

More legal help for Japanese citizens

Critics have charged for years that government policies deliberately aimed at discouraging the public from resorting to the courts to resolve disputes have also worked to artificially limit the number of lawyers and judges in this country. Now, in a welcome if belated step aimed at increasing the number...

EDITORIALS

May 14, 1999

Mr. Rubin moves on

Mr. Robert Rubin, the U.S. secretary of the Treasury, will step down from his post this summer. The move was expected. Mr. Rubin had talked to confidants about his desire to return to Wall Street. Still, the announcement surprised markets. The dollar, bond prices and the Dow Jones Industrial Average...

EDITORIALS

May 14, 1999

Playing the Jerusalem card

As Israel heads toward national elections next week, Prime Minis ter Benjamin Netanyahu trails Labor party leader Ehud Barak in the opinion polls. Mr. Netanyahu's campaign has grown increasingly disorganized. He has pleaded with former Likud Party loyalists to come back, shifted themes in mid-course...

EDITORIALS

May 13, 1999

President Kim takes up the challenge

Among Asia's crisis-hit economies struggling for recovery and reform, South Korea may well claim it leads on both counts. Interest rates, the currency and equity prices have markedly improved from the depths of a year and half ago. A return of market confidence is also in evidence as foreign capital...

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

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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