More Opinion Articles - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

EDITORIALS

Feb 26, 2001

The IOC gets down to business

The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to select the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics at a Moscow general meeting in July, according to the IOC rule that says selection should be made seven years before the summer or winter games are held. To collect the necessary data, the committee...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 26, 2001

British bill puts Tamil Tigers on notice

By Sisira Edirippulige

Britain's new antiterrorist legislation that comes into force Monday has generated mixed reaction in various circles within Britain as well as internationally. While the British government has hailed the bill as a powerful means to curtail terrorism worldwide, opponents of the legislation claim it is...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 26, 2001

Nice Treaty upholds Britain's interests

By Glyn Ford

BRUSSELS -- A "stronger Britain in a wider Europe" has been the vision of a succession of British governments but increasingly this debate on the future of Britain in Europe is one in which the media is having to place severe constraints. The strong tradition of English exceptionalism and isolationism...

COMMENTARY

Feb 26, 2001

ODA without a conscience

By Kiroku Hanai

I was interviewed recently by a British postgraduate student who was in Tokyo to write a doctoral thesis on Japanese policies relating to official development assistance. She met a Foreign Ministry official to obtain information about Japan's ODA policy guidelines, but she said the interview was disappointing...

COMMENTARY

Feb 26, 2001

U.S. Navy must come clean

By Ralph Cossa

Did prospects for improved Japan-U.S. relations sink with the Ehime Maru off Waikiki two weeks ago? Probably not, but the reaction to what all agree was a tragic accident demonstrates the fragility of the alliance and the need for the more sensitive "American leadership without arrogance" promised by...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 25, 2001

Myanmar's best hope lies in reconciliation

By Nyunt Shwe

"To those who have visited even briefly, Myanmar is one of the most attractive and intriguing places in Asia. It has vast potential for economic growth thanks to its natural resources. And its human resources are equally promising. Indeed, it was expected that after independence the country would do...

EDITORIALS

Feb 25, 2001

Ode to the Oedo Line

You don't really notice it unless you go looking for it. Mostly, it's hidden away underground, catching the eye at street level only in places where its irrational exuberance breaks through: as a funky glass-tiled box at Akabanebashi, say, or huge, alien-looking metal leaf shapes at Iidabashi. Even the...

COMMENTARY

Feb 25, 2001

Breaking the yakuza's grip

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- The sad case of the murder of Lucy Blackman, the young British woman who was a hostess in a Roppongi bar, inevitably attracted the attention of the British media.

EDITORIALS

Feb 24, 2001

Iraq defiant yet again

It did not take long for the new U.S. administration to face its first foreign-policy test. The foe was familiar: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The response, airstrikes, was expected, as was the result: international criticism of the action, few signs of its effectiveness and mounting concern over...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 24, 2001

'Learned societies' still have a key role

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand-- The complex cultures of Asia have always attracted the interest of Western scholars. This is the origin of what came to be later known as "Learned Societies," institutions based on intellectual curiosity and a deep-rooted volunteer spirit.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 24, 2001

Nuclear Pakistan and the new Bush team

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Less than three years after Pakistan detonated its first nuclear device, a new Republican administration has taken over in Washington.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 24, 2001

Putin, history and the Korean Peninsula

By John Barry Kotch

SEOUL -- The inter-Korean railroad project across the DMZ makes a great deal of sense for the two Koreas, but it also makes sense for outside powers, above all for Russia. With space to spare on the trans-Siberian route on the return trip east, Moscow is looking south for passengers. It is offering huge...

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

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports