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EDITORIALS

Dec 2, 1999

Citizen 'subversives' in our midst?

One person's definition of public security will not be the same as another's. Concepts of what constitutes the peace, safety and order of society -- and perhaps more importantly, what endangers them -- also change at different periods of history. With the Cold War long over, however, most unbiased observers...

EDITORIALS

Dec 1, 1999

ASEAN's confidence returns

Southeast Asia is back. That is the message sent by leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last weekend after their annual two-day summit. With member economies set to expand between 2 and 3 percent this year and looking forward to "higher and sustainable growth" in the future, the heads...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 1, 1999

'Trade is better than aid'

By Kofi A. Annan

In one month's time, we shall leave the 20th century behind. The first half of it saw the world almost destroyed by war -- partly as a result of its division into rival trade blocs. The second half has seen an unprecedented expansion of world trade, which has also brought unprecedented economic growth....

EDITORIALS

Nov 30, 1999

The other Clinton runs

There is nothing unusual about political dynasties. Every country has them. Japan has a growing list of second- and third-generation politicians. In the United States, the most prominent dynasty is the Kennedy clan, although the Bushes are providing tough competition; India has the Gandhi family. Usually,...

EDITORIALS

Nov 28, 1999

Season's bleatings

I t is only the end of November: The ginkgoes and maples are just turning color in Tokyo, and the ducks are still settling in after their long annual trip south. Last Tuesday night, if you were lucky, you got to gaze at the full moon through the combed hair of the "susuki" grass, thinking poetic autumnal...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 28, 1999

Global cop or rogue power?

By Robert A. Manning

WASHINGTON -- Completely unnoticed by most Americans, the Washington elite has become ensnared in a yet another false, narcissistic foreign policy debate. Yet when French President Jacques Chirac stood side-by-side with Chinese President Jiang Zemin recently and denounced U.S. nuclear and antiballistic...

EDITORIALS

Nov 27, 1999

Britain's beef brawl

France and Britain have been engaged in an exceptionally nasty food fight. Passions are high on both sides of the English Channel and Britain's famed tabloids have done their best to push them into the stratosphere. Their inflammatory rhetoric is being matched by the showmanship of French farmers, who...

COMMENTARY

Nov 27, 1999

Tough times again for Ozawa

By Minoru Tada

While I was away from Japan on a recent overseas trip, the nation was plunged into political confusion following Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa's threat to leave the ruling three-party coalition. Ozawa suggested that his party could quit the alliance -- which also includes the Liberal Democratic Party...

EDITORIALS

Nov 26, 1999

The computer giant stumbles

In the era of globalization, the management mantra seems to be "bigger is better." From automakers to securities traders, every business aspires to the size and weight that would allow it to influence -- if not dictate -- developments in its particular industry. In the fast-moving world of high-technology,...

EDITORIALS

Nov 25, 1999

Racing toward the unwired world

I n 1990, there were 11 million mobile phones in the entire world. Today, there are 50 million in Japan alone. Nearly 400 million people around the globe carry the various makes and models of wireless phones; those ranks swell by about 1 million more every week. Experts predict that within five years,...

EDITORIALS

Nov 24, 1999

'The primary tools of violence'

During the Cold War, arms-control efforts focused on weapons of mass destruction. Diplomats struggled to find ways to limit biological, chemical and nuclear arsenals. They met with varying degrees of success, and they are laboring still to protect humanity from their destructive power. In recent years,...

COMMENTARY

Nov 24, 1999

Japan's Middle East role

By Kiroku Hanai

In January 1996, I was dispatched by the Japanese government to observe the election of the Palestine Council and the president of the Palestinian Authority. Because Palestine was still under Israeli occupation, it was not a sovereign state: Sending international observers to such a region was unprecedented....

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.

If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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