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August 27, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2010
Long battle in currency markets
Tuesday's intervention in the currency market by the government and the Bank of Japan to prevent a further rise of the yen against the dollar — the first in 6 1/2 years — appears to have worked, at least temporarily. It was as if the government and the BOJ had been waiting for a chance to intervene....
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2010
Incubator Bank lessons
The government and the Deposit Insurance Corp. of Japan, the state-appointed administrator of the Incubator Bank of Japan, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 10, have invoked the limited deposit protection plan for the first time since it was introduced in 1971. That means that deposits of...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2010
Medical care shoppers bet on diagnosis, benign bugs
By Kevin Rafferty
HONG KONG — The reception area is welcoming, open and airy with tropical green trees and plants. The rooms have sofas, tables and chairs, well-chosen paintings, as well as the bed. Menus are prepared by international chefs who compete for the privilege of being chosen for a month at a time. But you...
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2010
The LDP's new front line
On Sept. 9, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party chose new party executives: LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki tapped former infrastructure and transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara as secretary general, the party's No. 2 post, and former environment and defense minister Yuriko Koike as head of...
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2010
Currency intervention at last
The government and the Bank of Japan sent a strong message to foreign currency markets Wednesday by intervening in the currency trade for the first time since March 2004, to stem the rise in the value of the yen against the dollar. This was a surprise move because Prime Minister Naoto Kan had been considered...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2010
Gillard has her work cut out
By Alan Goodall
SYDNEY — With the Labor Party back in power by the skin of its teeth and with the Greens holding the whip, countries buying essentials from Australia should expect to negotiate more carefully with suppliers of coal, iron ore, uranium and foodstuffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2010
If wild fish could only scream
By Peter Singer
PRINCETON, N.J. — When I was a child, my father used to take me for walks, often along a river or by the sea. We would pass people fishing, perhaps reeling in their lines with struggling fish hooked at the end of them. Once I saw a man take a small fish out of a bucket and impale it, still wriggling,...
CARTOONS / DAHL'S JAPAN
Sep 16, 2010
Monetary Goldilocks
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2010
Mr. Kan keeps his job
Prime Minister Naoto Kan saved his job by beating Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, former secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, in Tuesday's election of the DPJ president. In a big win, he got 721 points from DPJ Diet lawmakers, local assembly members, and registered party members and supporters against...
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2010
Corruption is not very sporting
By Hugh Cortazzi
Top players in world sports earn salaries that are staggeringly large. But, if various allegations that have recently been published are true, the earnings of top sportsmen, combined in many cases with huge payments from companies using the stars' images to advertise their products, have not been sufficient...
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2010
Japan's rice dilemma
Rice prices are falling. This may be good news for consumers, but it will cause problems. Because the Democratic Party of Japan government has started the policy of income compensation for individual farmers, sharp decreases in rice prices could make operation of the compensation program difficult. ...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 15, 2010
Seoul blundering on North
South Korea has committed a number of blunders in its efforts to gather intelligence on North Korea since President Lee Myun Bak took office in February 2008 with a tougher stand against Pyongyang than his predecessors.
Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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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