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October 16, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2009
English taught in English
New teaching guidelines released by the education ministry call for high school English to be taught primarily in English from 2013. This conversion from traditional methods to a more active and communicative approach is decades behind the rest of the world. As China, Vietnam and South Korea have moved...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2009
Central Asia's giant is waking up
By Marcel De Haas
THE HAGUE — The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) brings together almost half the world's population, several members own nuclear weapons, many are big energy suppliers, and it includes some of the world's fastest growing economies. Yet few outside Central Asia have heard much about it.
EDITORIALS
Jan 11, 2009
Europe gets the shivers
Europe has been in the grip of a new cold war. This struggle has not been fought with militaries, but rather with energy exports. Yes, Russia and Ukraine are having their annual tussle over natural gas exports, and Europe has felt the effects. It is tempting to see the fight as a geopolitical faceoff...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 11, 2009
Egg-on-face bloopers can make a yolk or worse of any translation
By Roger Pulvers
Many readers will be familiar with the infamous guarantee said to have been spotted on the menu of a Hong Kong restaurant: "All the water used in our soups has been personally passed by the chef." Some may also have heard of that creepy assurance printed in the catalog for an art exhibition during the...
COMMENTARY
Jan 11, 2009
Gas warning hitting home
By David Howell
LONDON — As the lights of Southeast and Central Europe go out and gas supplies dwindle, leaders of these vulnerable countries must be wishing they had listened to Margaret Thatcher long ago.
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2009
Crime victims get their say
A new system has started in which crime victims or bereaved family members of crime victims can take part in criminal proceedings. They sit with public prosecutors and can question defendants and express their opinions about sentencing. The system represents a great change to Japan's judicial system,...
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2009
Rescuing duped consumers
The Cabinet Office has made public its 2008 white paper on people's lifestyles, which features consumer-related issues. This is the 51st such white paper since the then Economic Planning Agency issued the first one in 1956. The latest white paper calls for establishing an effective plan to help consumers...
COMMENTARY
Jan 9, 2009
End in sight to Prabhakaran's warped war
By Gautaman Bhaskaran
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The 30-year-old ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka may well end this year. Thousands of people have been killed, and political leaders, including India's young and charismatic Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, assassinated in the war between majority Sinhala-speaking Buddhists and the largely...
EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2009
Emperor's spirit of peace
Twenty years ago on Jan. 7, 1989, the Emperor ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne immediately after the death of his father, the Emperor Showa. This year, the 20th anniversary of the Emperor's enthronement will be followed on April 10 by the 50th anniversary of his marriage with the Empress. We pray...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2009
Who can win on oil slicks?
By Michael Richardson
SINGAPORE — What a roller-coaster ride! It took more than four years for oil to go from $35 per barrel in 2004 to just above $147 in July 2008, and less than six months to go all the way down again. Today, the oil price is two-thirds lower than its peak last year, despite Israeli military strikes in...
EDITORIALS
Jan 8, 2009
Escalation of conflict
Following a massive air assault against Hamas in Gaza that began Dec. 27, Israel on Jan. 3 launched a ground invasion of the small strip of land inhabited by 1.5 million Palestinians. Casualties are sure to rise as the fighting moves into densely populated areas. Gaza medics have reported that some 660...
COMMENTARY
Jan 8, 2009
Outlook is mixed for 2009
By Gregory Clark
Looking at 2009, the good news is that the global economy is likely to recover much faster than predicted. The bad news is that global politics are likely to deteriorate much more rapidly than most expected.
Hypothermia in the land of the rising Sanae
Amid the election of Sanae Takaichi as Liberal Democratic Party president, and possibly the next prime minister, Japan's economy shows signs of recovery, but weak wages, a conservative corporate culture and currency issues raise doubts about a true economic thaw.
Number of scenarios now on the table for who might be Japan’s next prime minister
Newly-elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi (right) celebrates with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on October 4.
Could an opposition candidate become Japan's next prime minister?
The lawmaker that secures a majority of votes in the Lower House will become prime minister. If no one gets a majority, the two top contenders will enter a runoff in which the person with the highest number of votes gets elected.
Coalition talks could bring Takaichi closer to being PM
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader and Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura meets with Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on Wednesday.
As temperatures drop in Japan, bear attacks shoot up to historic highs
Bear warning signs at the Akita Prefectural Government building
Number of scenarios now on the table for who might be Japan’s next prime minister
Newly-elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi (right) celebrates with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on October 4.
Pace eyes great strides for Japan’s art market
Pace Japan Vice President Kyoko Hattori, the de facto head of the nation’s business, believes a larger, more lucrative art market will allow Japan to be more attractive for collectors.
A frenetic diplomatic schedule looms for Japan’s next leader — whomever that may be
As horse-trading and speculation surge over who will be elected the next prime minister in parliament — the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sanae Takaichi or a possible candidate put forward by a unified opposition — Japan’s next leader will be confronted with a quick succession of key diplomatic events.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

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