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September 02, 2025

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COMMENTARY / World

Sep 23, 2009

Stabilizing Africa's Horn

By Charles Tannock

STRASBOURG, France — After almost two decades as a failed state torn by civil war, perhaps the world should begin to admit that Somalia — as it is currently constructed — is beyond repair.

COMMENTARY

Sep 23, 2009

Time to boost Japan-EU ties

By Glyn Ford

CINDERFORD, England — Yukio Hatoyama and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) have finally taken up the reins of power after their stunning election victory Aug. 30. The promise of their manifesto is change. With politicians on top and bureaucrats on tap, Japan is to develop a proactive autonomous foreign...

EDITORIALS

Sep 22, 2009

Less than sterling democracy

A month after the ballot was held, preliminary results for the Afghan presidential election are in. According to that tally — and to the surprise of no one — incumbent President Hamid Karzai has won. With more than 50 percent of the votes counted, his margin of victory allows him to skip a runoff...

COMMENTARY

Sep 22, 2009

Is Earth's methane a time bomb?

By Michael Richardson

SINGAPORE — Developed and developing countries continue to haggle over terms of a new pact to limit global warming gases. With only 15 full negotiating days scheduled before a climate change summit convenes in Copenhagen at the end of the year, the next round of negotiations in Bangkok (Sept. 28-Oct....

COMMENTARY

Sep 22, 2009

Face up to civilian casualties in Gaza

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK — The long-awaited United Nations report on the conflict in Gaza is strongly critical of both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups. Both sides are said to have committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. The report recommends that Israel start its own investigation into...

EDITORIALS

Sep 21, 2009

Lessons of Lehman Brothers

On Sept. 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, a venerable international financial firm, went bankrupt. Its collapse set off a chain of events that triggered a global financial crisis that is estimated to have caused more than $1.6 trillion in losses and cost millions of jobs. A year later, we are still assessing...

COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE

Sep 21, 2009

Less 'exclusionary' DPJ to test mettle of reporters

The resounding victory by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in the general election Aug. 30 not only will bring about a change of government but also is likely to shatter an exclusionary "press club" system that has long prevented freelance, non-Japanese and other nonmember journalists from interviewing...

EDITORIALS

Sep 20, 2009

Japan's health care as a model

The health care debate in America has had an interesting item mentioned again and again in recent weeks — the Japanese health care system! Editorials and news reports have held up Japan as an example of good-quality health care.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 20, 2009

Putin's preferred memory of World War II

By Alexander Etkind

CAMBRIDGE, England — Soviet ideology was always about the future. By contrast, today's official Russian ideology seems to be focused squarely on the past.

EDITORIALS

Sep 20, 2009

More foreign students than ever

The Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education recently convened over a government proposal to increase the number of foreign students in Japan to 300,000 by 2020. That plan is positive not only for students, schools and teachers, but also for Japan as a whole. This increased opening...

COMMENTARY

Sep 20, 2009

Divining Japan's new leadership amid the expectations of change

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON — On a recent visit to France, I was frequently asked about the results of the Japanese election. Did the results mean that Japan was really changing? Would the new Japanese government increase Japan's influence in the world?

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Sep 20, 2009

Now suicide has become a political issue, how will Japan address it?

By Roger Pulvers

Without a doubt the grimmest statistic coming out of Japan today concerns the number of suicides, which have exceeded 30,000 annually for 11 years in a row — engendering indescribable tragedies for so many families.

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

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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