More Opinion Articles - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

EDITORIALS

Jan 12, 2001

A last chance for Africa?

Two years ago, the world talked of an "African Renaissance." After decades of failure and progressive impoverishment, Africans again had reason to welcome the future. Democracy was ascendant, market-oriented reforms were in place and political and economic stability held out hopes for growth and prosperity...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 12, 2001

India paying dearly for its bully image

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

NEW DELHI -- Although world attention is invariably riveted on India-Pakistan hostility, New Delhi's ties with its other neighbors have been uneasy in the best of times.

COMMENTARY

Jan 12, 2001

Still waiting for real reform

By Keizo Nabeshima

A slimmed-down national government debuted Jan. 6, when Japan's central bureaucracy was reorganized. The realignment cut the number of ministries and agencies, under the Cabinet Office, to 12 from the previous 22.

EDITORIALS

Jan 11, 2001

Uranium munition in the cross-hairs

NATO is coming under increasing pressure to investigate possible health risks associated with the use of depleted-uranium ammunition. A number of "Balkans Syndrome" cases have raised fears that the munitions exposed soldiers and civilians to unsuspected danger. Thus far, the threat is more imagined that...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 11, 2001

China's 'democratic' option

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON -- The recently released details of the secret debate among China's leaders before they crushed the prodemocracy protests on Tiananmen Square in 1989 don't just tell us about China's past. They also tell us a lot about its present, and even about its likely future.

EDITORIALS

Jan 10, 2001

Behind the quest for more babies

The continuing precipitous decline in Japan's birthrate -- in 1999 it was at the all-time low of 1.34 births per woman during her lifetime -- has long troubled planners in both the government and the private sector. Now Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has put himself at the center of the issue by calling...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 10, 2001

Reflections on an imbroglio in Vientiane

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- On the eve of the recent important meeting between the European Union and ASEAN in Vientiane, Laos, a great uneasiness and disappointment prevailed in ASEAN capitals because of the perceived lack of interest in ASEAN on Europe's part.

COMMENTARY

Jan 10, 2001

Tests loom for U.S.-China ties

By Ralph Cossa

How will the election of George W. Bush affect U.S.-China relations? The conventional wisdom was that a Gore administration would have been more favorable to China -- a questionable assumption based in part on the belief that Al Gore would be more inclined to continue President Bill Clinton's policies...

EDITORIALS

Jan 9, 2001

Ministry shakeup just a beginning

The government reorganization that took effect last Saturday is designed to create an administrative system more responsive to the needs of the times, with politicians, not bureaucrats, taking the initiative in shaping public policy. In the most drastic bureaucratic reform in half a century, the number...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 9, 2001

Caution and patience are key to Japan-North Korea relations

By Hajime Izumi

There have been earthshaking developments on the Korean Peninsula in the past six months. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il began to play a central role in Pyongyang's international relations, a year after the country started making diplomatic overtures worldwide. North Korea relaxed tense relations with...

EDITORIALS

Jan 8, 2001

Symbolism and the strait

In 1958, the Nationalist forces that ruled Taiwan conducted a 44-day artillery duel with the mainland, firing from the tiny islands of Matsu and Quemoy. At the time, the exchange prompted fears of a wider conflict. Slowly, however, the barrages became routine: China only fired on odd-numbered days to...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 8, 2001

APEC paving the way for cooperation

By Larry Greenwood and Kojiro Shiojiri

We believe history will judge the eighth APEC Economic Leaders Meeting held in Brunei Darussalam Nov. 15-16 an important milestone in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum's mission to create a peaceful, prosperous and open Pacific community. The Brunei meeting saw three "firsts" for APEC.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.

What comes after 100?

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

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

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports