Morearticles

 
Menu
Search
 
May 17, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

More Opinion stories

COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2003
Sound reasons inspire unusual strikes
By George Sioris
CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- News from France concerning the recent work stoppage by diplomats of the prestigious Quai d'Orsay is unusual, to say the least. Thousands of diplomatic officers, both in Paris and abroad, have abandoned their duties in protest of huge budgetary restrictions that have torpedoed...
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2003
Wiretap charges clip highflier
Takefuji Corp., Japan's largest consumer finance company, is at the center of an unfolding wiretap scandal. Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested the company's founding chairman, Mr. Yasuo Takei, on charges of ordering his employees to wiretap a freelance journalist who had criticized...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2003
China dreads contagion of unrest
By Eric Teo Chu Cheow
SINGAPORE -- The heavy losses suffered by proadministration and pro-Beijing parties in Hong Kong's Nov. 23 municipal elections clearly bore out a prodemocracy message.
EDITORIALS
Dec 4, 2003
Returning a bank to health
The collapse of Ashikaga Bank, a major regional bank in Tochigi Prefecture, shows that Japan's debt-heavy banking system is not yet out of the woods. The government, which has nationalized the bank temporarily, is expected to provide a cash injection of more than 1 trillion yen. The bank will be sold...
COMMENTARY
Dec 4, 2003
Ethnic cleansing on the Jordan River
By Doug Bandow
WASHINGTON -- Israel can push even U.S. President George W. Bush too far. The Bush administration says it will cut $290 million of $3 billion in promised loan guarantees because Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government continues to construct settlements and a security fence in the West Bank,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 4, 2003
Chirac still feeling the heat
By Andre Fontaine
PARIS -- France has not finished paying for the August heat wave and its 10,000 deaths. Vegetable and beef prices have risen, tourism has declined, forest fires have devastated wide areas and the financial impact on the budget has postponed an economic upswing.
EDITORIALS
Dec 3, 2003
A victory for hardliners
Hardliners from both ends of the political spectrum are the winners of elections held in Northern Ireland last week. The polarization of politics is a sign of weariness and wariness on the part of voters and is another blow to the tattered Good Friday peace accords.
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2003
Lots of debate, little action
By Gregory Clark
The problems with Japan's education system are well known -- poor teaching in the universities; class disintegration (gakkyu hokai) in the schools -- to name but a few. So many students, unwilling to put up with the pressures and rigidities of the existing school system, are now dropping out of school...
EDITORIALS
Dec 2, 2003
Tread carefully in Iraq
Two Japanese diplomats were ambushed and shot dead by gunmen Saturday in the Iraqi village of Mukayshifa while driving to a conference on reconstruction work in Tikrit, north of Baghdad. Mr. Katsuhiko Oku and Mr. Masanori Inoue were reported to have been attacked when they stopped to buy food and drinks...
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2003
Bolster will to defend Japan
By Keizo Nabeshima
Last month the government published an outline of draft legislation aimed at protecting the lives and property of Japanese people during a military attack from abroad. Such legislation could also apply in the event of a large-scale terrorist attack. The Diet will discuss the draft during the next regular...
EDITORIALS
Dec 1, 2003
Kashmir cools off
India and Pakistan have begun a ceasefire in Kashmir. The two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars, two over the disputed region. While every ceasefire is to be applauded, this one is likely to be more symbolic than substantive. Still, it may permit the leaders of the two countries to meet...
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2003
LDP's diminishing appeal
By Takamitsu Sawa
In the Nov. 9 Lower House election, the governing Liberal Democratic Party lost 10 seats while the opposition Democratic Party of Japan gained 40. New Komeito added a few seats thanks to its cooperation in the election with the LDP, its ruling-coalition partner. The Social Democratic Party and the Japan...
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
Rich Japanese still fear yen crash, wealth manager says
The yen slumped more than 2% on Monday alone, nearing ¥150 to the dollar, after the U.S. and China temporarily lowered tariffs, triggering a reversal of bearish dollar bets.
Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
Irresponsible climbing prompts debate over who should pay for Mount Fuji rescues
Mount Fuji fills the skyline above a bridge connecting stores at a popular outlet shopping center in the city of Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in November 2024.
Akazawa's dilemma: no tariff deal or a half-baked deal
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and his delegation in the Oval Office of the White House in April. Since then, Japan's trade negotiations with the U.S. have produced no tangible results.
For his first feature film, director Ryuya Suzuki created a masterpiece
"Jinsei," which follows its protagonist over a century, probes themes of identity and societal issues with a dark comic touch. The director, however, says he created the story without knowing where it would lead.
Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet
Onosato (left) battles Abi on Day 3 of the Summer Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society
Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER