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COMMENTARY

Jul 17, 2001

Political parties prepare for judgment day

By Kenzo Uchida

Political parties in Japan are in the midst of a campaign to lure voters in the July 29 Upper House contest. The election, officially called last Thursday, the first nationwide poll since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's goverment was formed in late April, will be the first chance for the nation to...

COMMENTARY

Jul 17, 2001

In search of a new slogan

By Ralph Cossa

"Are you an American?""Yes!""What did you think about last night's decision on the Olympics?"

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 16, 2001

A bitter lesson awaits Bush in Genoa

By Bruce Stokes

WASHINGTON — The G8 summit beginning July 20 in Genoa, Italy — U.S. President George W. Bush's first such meeting with the leaders of the eight principal industrial nations — is shaping up as another galling reality lesson for the new American administration, a reminder of the frustrations of global...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 16, 2001

Can Japan's 'pied piper' pull it off?

By Stephen Alomes

In July 2001, two very different people offer hope to the people of Japan. One is baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, the star of the Seattle Mariners. His cool looks and great hits suggest the possibilities of the sporting dream across the sea. The other is Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, with his wavy...

COMMENTARY

Jul 16, 2001

Just concerns over jurisdiction

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- In the light of the recent rape case in Okinawa, I have some sympathy for the Japanese wish to extend further their rights to exercise full criminal jurisdiction in cases involving American forces in Japan. The American authorities need to understand the historical background to Japanese sensitivities...

EDITORIALS

Jul 16, 2001

Aid and ethics must go hand in hand

The man who was called Peru's Rasputin is back behind bars. Mr. Vladimiro Montesinos, who backstopped former President Alberto Fujimori during his decade in office, has been caught in Venezuela after 10 months on the run and whisked to Lima. His life in exile was much like his years as Mr. Fujimori's...

COMMENTARY

Jul 16, 2001

Avoid temptation of populism

By Keizo Nabeshima

The July 29 Upper House election is effectively a national referendum on the "reform without sacred cows" program of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration. The central question is whether "Koizumi reform" will jump-start Japan's stalled economy and put it back on the long-term recovery course....

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 15, 2001

Can China's private sector be co-opted?

By David Wall

CAMBRIDGE, England -- President Jiang Zemin of China, who is also general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, made a remarkable speech last week to a handpicked audience of party faithful. The audience had been called to the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the 80th birthday party of the CCP....

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 15, 2001

U.S. fear of bilingualism is unfounded

By Domenico Maceri

In Quebec, French signs by law have to be twice as big as their English translations. The top spot in the Los Angeles radio market belongs to KSCA-FM, a Spanish language station.

EDITORIALS

Jul 15, 2001

What's in a domain name?

As children, we were told that names could not affect us. Words were not instruments of power; sticks and stones were. "What's in a name?" Shakespeare scoffed. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." As we grew up, though, we learned better. The act of naming, or controlling the assignation...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 15, 2001

Heading off the MD disaster

By Glyn Ford

BRUSSELS -- The argument for missile defense is based on a series of misunderstandings and exaggerations. The claimed threat is neither real nor credible. Yet U.S. President George W. Bush is using it to underpin the United States' deployment of MD in the interests of the arms industry and to the detriment...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 14, 2001

Vipassana spirituality a refreshing breeze

By George Sioris

BANGKOK -- There was recently a cultural event in Bangkok that deserves to be singled out. It was a special Dhamma talk given by the foremost Vipassana meditation teacher of our times, Satya Narayan Goenka, to a select audience presided over by Princess Galyani, the sister of the King of Thailand.

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

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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