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May 17, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2011
Rebellion within the DPJ
Sixteen Democratic Party of Japan members of the Lower House on Thursday threatened to leave the DPJ's parliamentary group in the chamber. The lawmakers, supporters of former party chief Ichiro Ozawa, submitted a written statement of their intent to the DPJ, but they say that they won't leave the party...
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2011
Makeover of local government
Several governors and mayors are calling for the creation of new, powerful local governments that differ from existing structures at the prefectural and city level. These officials are apparently frustrated over the slow progress of devolution as well as the overlapping administrative functions between...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2011
Bracing for Pakistan's 'Mubarak moment'
By Shahid Javed Burki
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's domestic situation is becoming increasingly precarious. Indeed, serious questions are being raised as to whether the country can survive in its present form.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2011
The West's Middle East pillars of sand crumble
By Daniel Korski and Ben Judah
LONDON — Two centuries ago, Napoleon's arrival in Egypt heralded the advent of the modern Middle East. Now, almost 90 years after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, 50 years after the end of colonialism, and eight years after the Iraq war began, the revolutionary protests in Cairo suggest that another...
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2011
Japan as No. 3
In 2010, Japan's nominal gross domestic product increased 1.8 percent from 2009 to ¥479.223 trillion. This is about $5.470 trillion, or some $404 billion (some ¥35 trillion) less than China's corresponding figure already announced. Thus it was confirmed this week that China has overtaken Japan as the...
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2011
The DPJ's losing streak
The results of the Nagoya mayoral and Aichi gubernatorial elections Feb. 6 were miserable for the Democratic Party of Japan, highlighting the DPJ leadership's inability to think strategically to win elections. Prime Minister Naoto Kan and DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada should figure out why, starting...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2011
Oil prices and social unrest
By Kevin Rafferty
HONG KONG — The resignation of Hosni Mubarak after a 30-year reign as modern-day pharaoh of Egypt has demonstrated the nervous and potentially combustible connection between oil and politics in the Middle East. As soon as Mubarak quit after weeks of demonstrations, oil prices dropped, but quickly rose...
COMMENTARY
Feb 17, 2011
What became of the Meiji spirit?
By Hugh Cortazzi
LONDON — The number of Japanese studying at top universities abroad has been declining while the number of outstanding Chinese students has been increasing. Numbers are not everything, but it is disturbing to see reports that Japanese students are less willing than Chinese to participate actively in...
CARTOONS / DAHL'S JAPAN
Feb 17, 2011
Kan OnIce
COMMENTARY
Feb 17, 2011
Beijing's likely lesson? Ratchet up repression
By Frank Ching
HONG KONG — China, which has been obsessed with political stability ever since it called out its army to crush a massive albeit peaceful protest in Beijing 22 years ago, is likely to step up repressive tactics against its population in the wake of the toppling of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak after...
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2011
Steel merger aims for survival
Nippon Steel Corp., Japan's biggest steel maker, and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd., the nation's third-ranked steel maker, announced Feb. 3 a plan to merge in October 2012. The merger, if it materializes, will bring about the world's No. 2 steel maker after Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, which produces...
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2011
Gaining leverage up north
In a Feb. 11 meeting in Moscow, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and his Russian counterpart, Mr. Sergei Lavrov, failed to make any progress on a decades-old sovereignty dispute over the four islands off Hokkaido held by Russia. Bilateral ties are at their lowest ebb in many years. It is all the more important...
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
Rich Japanese still fear yen crash, wealth manager says
The yen slumped more than 2% on Monday alone, nearing ¥150 to the dollar, after the U.S. and China temporarily lowered tariffs, triggering a reversal of bearish dollar bets.
Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
Irresponsible climbing prompts debate over who should pay for Mount Fuji rescues
Mount Fuji fills the skyline above a bridge connecting stores at a popular outlet shopping center in the city of Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in November 2024.
Akazawa's dilemma: no tariff deal or a half-baked deal
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and his delegation in the Oval Office of the White House in April. Since then, Japan's trade negotiations with the U.S. have produced no tangible results.
Nissan hoping to electrify home crowd as Formula E returns to Tokyo
Nissan's Oliver Rowland drives during qualifying for Miami E-Prix at Homestead Motor Speedway in Homestead, Florida, on April 12.
For his first feature film, director Ryuya Suzuki created a masterpiece
"Jinsei," which follows its protagonist over a century, probes themes of identity and societal issues with a dark comic touch. The director, however, says he created the story without knowing where it would lead.
Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.

Podcast

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

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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

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