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August 25, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Jun 30, 2005

Scheduling a withdrawal from Iraq

Iraq on Tuesday marked the first anniversary since the military coalition led by U.S. forces transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi provisional government. During this period, a free election was held in January and a transitional government headed by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari made its debut in...

COMMENTARY

Jun 30, 2005

Blaming Pakistan won't help

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- The latest diplomatic rift between Pakistan and Afghanistan speaks volumes about the underlying frictions among both countries and the United States in the so-called war on terror.

EDITORIALS

Jun 29, 2005

Imperial prayers for war victims

Japanese got another chance to ponder war and peace following the June 23 commemoration of those killed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 -- this was the recollection of the battle for Saipan, now part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 61 years ago.

COMMENTARY

Jun 29, 2005

India: U.S. ally or independent power?

By Brahma Chellaney

NEW DELHI -- The courtship between the world's most powerful and most populous democracies is in full swing, with a new international poll showing that at a time when anti-Americanism has spread across the globe more people in India have a positive view of the United States than in any other nation surveyed....

COMMENTARY

Jun 29, 2005

A tidal wave of optimism

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- Talk about an ocean of optimism! Here's a positive current for you if there ever was one: A close friend -- whom I dub The Very Successful Korean-American Businessman (VSKAB), who doesn't want his name to be used (but whose last name is Kim like several million other Korean-Americans),...

EDITORIALS

Jun 28, 2005

New president faces old problems

The victory of Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's presidential election last week is only somewhat of a surprise. While relatively unknown, Mr. Ahmadinejad is a religious conservative who enjoyed the backing of powerful like-minded groups within the country and, equally important, the support of many...

COMMENTARY

Jun 28, 2005

Pitching a Japan that can

By Keizo Nabeshima

A clash of interests among major U.N. member states is clouding the prospects for reform of the Security Council. While Japan, Brazil, Germany and India, known as the Group of Four (G4), seek permanent membership on the council, the Uniting for Consensus coalition, including Italy, South Korea and Pakistan,...

EDITORIALS

Jun 27, 2005

More of the same with the Koreas

Three days of high-level talks between North and South Korea yielded little that could be called progress toward resolving the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. That is not surprising. The North has maintained all along that the nuclear issue is a question to be settled between itself and the United...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Jun 27, 2005

Shining a light on Turkish-Japanese ties

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- Selcuk Esenbel was in town. For many years now a professor of history at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Selcuk was, when I met her more than 30 years ago, studying Japanese history at Columbia University. The fruit of that study is her 1998 tome, which she gave me during her previous visit...

COMMENTARY

Jun 27, 2005

Perceptions that defy amity

By Kiroku Hanai

On a recent Korea Air flight from Narita to Inchon, South Korea, I was surprised when they showed images of air routes on the in-flight video system. The Tok-do islets in the Sea of Japan, the source of a Japan-South Korea territorial dispute, were shown as prominently as Tokyo and Seoul. The islets,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 27, 2005

Will South Korea's economy follow Japan's?

By Christopher Lingle

GUATEMALA CITY -- Despite numerous economic stimulus packages during his tenure in office, South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun must regret his promise to oversee annual economic growth of about 7 percent during his five-year term. As it is, the South Korean economy grew in the first quarter of 2005 at...

EDITORIALS

Jun 26, 2005

Filipinos lose a moral force

The death of Cardinal Jaime Sin is a grievous loss to the Philippines. Cardinal Sin was a spiritual and moral force in a country that often seemed to lack that authority. He provided comfort and wisdom to the Philippine people, and legitimacy to the popular movements that toppled two governments. He...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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