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August 27, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY
Oct 20, 2008
Now for the consequences
By David Howell
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been enjoying a much-needed boost to his status and popularity as he watches country after country adopt the same pattern as Britain in propping up their struggling banking sectors.
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2008
Reviewing medical treatment
The trial of an obstetrician of a Fukushima prefectural hospital, where a 29-year-old woman died of blood loss during a Caesarean operation in December 2004, serves as a reminder that doctors' efforts to save lives sometimes lead to death. As the level of medical treatment advances and becomes more complex,...
COMMENTARY
Oct 20, 2008
North Korea: settling for half a loaf
By Ralph Cossa
The conventional wisdom is that the Bush administration, in its never-ending face-off with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, has once again been the first to blink. President George W. Bush has been severely criticized for removing North Korea from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List prior to...
EDITORIALS
Oct 19, 2008
Something wrong with the MSDF
A series of notorious events raise questions about the credibility of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. The latest is the death of a petty officer 3rd class following a martial-art-style "training fight" at the MSDF's First Service School in Etajima, Hiroshima Prefecture. The training fight very likely...
EDITORIALS
Oct 19, 2008
Tainted frozen green beans
A housewife in Hachioji, Tokyo, fell sick when she ate green beans that were imported from China and then sold at her local supermarket. Two more people in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, also came down with similar symptoms after eating green beans from packages with the same lot number as those in the Hachioji...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2008
Moving from Christian to Muslim democracy
By Jan-Werner Mueller
BUDAPEST — This past summer, Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) narrowly escaped being banned by the country's constitutional court. State prosecutors alleged that the party was trying to "Islamicize" the country and ultimately introduce theocracy. After the decision, not only did...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 19, 2008
Is anyone watching over Japan's official food-quality watchdogs?
By Roger Pulvers
A policeman named Bakichi suspects that a farmer has been selling tainted meat and visits his farm. He discovers that the farmer has, against the law, recently sold flesh from a cow that died of tuberculosis. But Bakichi returns to the police station and falsely reports that the farmer buried the cow's...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2008
Japan in a post-U.S. world
By Robert Dujarric
Besides the economic damage, the global financial crisis has dangerous strategic implications for Japan.
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2008
Winning in Afghanistan
Seven years after coalition forces invaded Afghanistan and drove the Taliban from power, the war slogs on. The initial euphoria from the "victory" has dissipated. Officials are increasingly concerned about the Taliban's resurgence and the durability of the government of President Hamid Karzai. The North...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2008
The Russians are coming — loaded with cash
By Aleh Tsyvinski and Sergei Guriev
MOSCOW — Russia's government is sitting on a giant pile of cash that it plans to invest in foreign assets. The glimpse of its economic muscle was revealed when the prime minister of Iceland announced that Russia may come with about $5 billion to save its troubled economy. Who could have thought that,...
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2008
The high road or no road
Annual newspaper week started on Oct. 15. The Japan Newspapers Publishers and Editor Association marked the start of the week with a two-day convention in Sapporo. The week is designed to promote more popular interest in newspapers and renew newspapers' determination to properly perform the public functions...
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2008
Stepping up to the bench
Oct. 15 was the deadline for municipal election management commissions to submit lists of citizens who might serve as lay judges in district courts under a new system that starts next May. Six lay judges will sit with three professional judges in trials dealing with serious crimes such as murder, arson...
Tokyo releases AI-generated video of Mount Fuji erupting
A screenshot from an AI-generated video showing what could happen to Tokyo if Mount Fuji erupted
Japan aims to tighten rules for business manager visas from October
The number of foreign residents with business management residency status had reached a record 41,615 as of the end of 2024.
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.
Japan ranked one of the most peaceful places in Asia as global tensions rise
Visitors look at paper cranes hung at Peace Park in Nagasaki on Aug. 8, a day ahead of the 80th anniversary of the World War II atomic bombing of the city.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
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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