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October 12, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Mar 28, 2009

Overhaul archaic election law

Even if Prime Minister Taro Aso decides not to dissolve the chamber for a snap election, the current term of Lower House members ends in September. So, an election will be held this year. With the Japanese economy in crisis and the nation facing political stagnation, the upcoming election will be very...

COMMENTARY

Mar 27, 2009

China shelves dispute over right of passage

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG — Ahead of the first meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, scheduled to take place in London next week, China has backed down, temporarily at least, in its dispute with the United States over whether U.S. Navy ships require Chinese permission before...

EDITORIALS

Mar 27, 2009

The lessons from Iraq

It has been six years since the United States led a coalition of forces into Iraq. The euphoria that followed the easy defeat of the Iraq Army gave way to dismay and disgust as "Phase 4" of the operation — the postconflict stage — fell apart and Iraq disintegrated. A misreading of the situation along...

COMMENTARY

Mar 27, 2009

Perks of the warring states

By Ramesh Thakur

WATERLOO, Ontario — Since the end of World War II, America, Britain and Israel have been among the countries most heavily involved in war and armed conflict. Don't expect to see any of their political or military leaders in an international criminal dock anytime soon.

EDITORIALS

Mar 26, 2009

Mr. Ozawa stands his ground

Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa decided to remain in his post after his chief secretary was indicted Tuesday on a charge of violating the Political Funds Control Law. The party endorsed his decision.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 26, 2009

Piracy and the Constitution

By Craig Martin

Once again the issue of Japanese contributions to international security efforts is the subject of tortured debate. And once again the proposed government policy, and aspects of the debate itself, reveals fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between Article 9 of the Constitution and the relevant...

EDITORIALS

Mar 26, 2009

A little lift from baseball

Team Japan, dubbed Samurai Japan, beat Team Korea (South Korea) 5-3 in the final game Monday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to win its second consecutive title in the triennial World Baseball Classic.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 26, 2009

Iran's promising presidential contender

By Alireza Nader

WASHINGTON — Iran's presidential race just got more interesting, with former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi throwing his hat in the ring and former President Mohammad Khatami withdrawing his. This development poses the most significant challenge yet to current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad —...

EDITORIALS

Mar 25, 2009

Dialogue about defense

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada met with his Chinese counterpart Mr. Liang Guanglie in Beijing on March 20 and talked about bilateral issues and the security situation in Northeast Asia. They agreed on some points and disagreed on others. Despite differences on some issues, it is important...

COMMENTARY

Mar 25, 2009

Wrestling with job losses as the recession deepens

By Hugh Cortazzi

In Britain the number of unemployed has reached over 2 million (6.5 percent) and there are fears that the number will rise to over 3 million before the recession ends. In America the rate of unemployment is reported to have risen to 8.1 percent. In European countries that have adopted the euro as their...

EDITORIALS

Mar 25, 2009

Protecting music copyrights

For many young people, ordinary cell-phone ring tones and alarms are monotonous and boring. So they replace those tones with chaku-uta (literally "arriving music"), or musical ring tones downloaded from the Internet. But there is a problem: A large number of these ring tones are downloaded for free from...

EDITORIALS

Mar 24, 2009

Pay-hike demands shot down

Bad business conditions because of the global recession triggered by the financial crisis that originated in the United States took a toll on Japanese labor in this year's spring wage negotiations. Major carmakers and electronics companies told labor that they will not increase base pay and that bonuses...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.

Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

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