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COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM

Aug 3, 2002

ASEAN is on the right track with ARF

By Domingo L. Siazon

With reference to the July 19 article by Felix Soh on the ASEAN Regional Forum ("Security issues may be too hot to handle for ASEAN bloc"), as former foreign affairs secretary of the Philippines under two presidents during 1995-2001, I wish to clarify several points of regional and historical interest....

EDITORIALS

Aug 2, 2002

Diet stood in the way of reform

The 192-day regular Diet session that ended on Wednesday will be remembered more for what it did not achieve than for what it did. In brief, it failed in two critical areas: political reform and economic revival. While politics bogged down in a quagmire of corruption, deflation dragged on, with no recovery...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 2, 2002

Uphill battle for regional hub aspirees

By John Barry Kotch

SEOUL -- South Korea (where the idea of becoming a regional hub is now all the rage) and Malaysia share the same basic vision for Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, respectively. In addition, the two countries are cosponsoring an initiative to formally coordinate the ASEAN plus three forum. Last month,...

EDITORIALS

Aug 1, 2002

What matters for Nago airport

Japan is set to build an offshore airport for U.S. military and Japanese commercial planes in Nago City, northern Okinawa, almost six years after Tokyo and Washington agreed to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City, central Okinawa. On Monday, the central government and...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 1, 2002

A marine's lessons for Europe

By Michael O'Hanlon

WASHINGTON -- As expected, it has just been announced that U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Jones will soon take the reins as NATO's top military leader, otherwise known as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, or SACEUR. It will be the first time that a marine officer holds that position, which has...

COMMENTARY

Jul 31, 2002

The U.S.-Japan management roundabout

By Gregory Clark

What goes round, comes round. In the 1950s and '60s, U.S. experts warned Japanese businessmen that they had to get rid of their feudalistic management systems if they were to go ahead.

EDITORIALS

Jul 31, 2002

Defense bills need thorough review

As the regular Diet session draws to a close, several key bills remain on the table. Among these are three defense bills designed to deal with a direct attack on Japan, real or perceived. The proposed legislation, however, is flawed in so many ways -- including the lack of provisions for civilian protection...

EDITORIALS

Jul 30, 2002

Negotiations and desperation

North Korea has expressed regret for last month's naval clash with South Korea that left five sailors dead. While that is the responsible thing to do, questions swirl around Pyongyang's motivation for this surprising development. The most likely explanation is that North Korea's economic situation is...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 30, 2002

Of chicken legs and trash

By David Wall

CAMBRIDGE, England -- There has been much talk in China recently about hegemony. Some of it has been about denying that China has hegemonic interests in East Asia. But most of it has related to the United States. One wonders if everyone in China understands what is being complained about. I have this...

COMMENTARY

Jul 30, 2002

Asian multilateralism takes on new energy

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- Multilateral dialogue seems to be taking on new energy in Asia. Not since 1993 -- when foreign ministers attending the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference held a separate breakfast session to discuss security issues and decided to establish the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF, and the Asia Pacific...

COMMENTARY

Jul 29, 2002

Chance to engage Pyongyang

By Keizo Nabeshima

In the first meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, foreign ministers and officials will gather in the Brunei capital of Bandar Seri Begawan on Wednesday to discuss tense situations on the Korean Peninsula and between India and Pakistan, plus other regional issues....

COMMENTARY

Jul 29, 2002

Beware the property bubble

By David Howell

LONDON -- These are worrying times for the world economy, and perhaps even more so for the armies of highly paid analysts who failed to predict the current slump in world stock markets.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.

How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan

By Megha Wadhwa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

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