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COMMENTARY / World

Jan 23, 2002

Get market forces on the side of reform

By Steven C. Clemons

There are episodes in history that deservingly draw our attention -- some very small in scale but major in impact. In American history, one such moment at the start of the Revolutionary War has come to be known as "the shot that rang through the world." Another such momentous event recently appeared...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 22, 2002

Japan should salvage the mystery vessel

By Tadae Takubo

Many Japanese might have rejoiced while watching television footage showing the recent sinking of an unidentified ship following an exchange of gunfire with Japanese Coast Guard cutters, but I was dismayed by Japan's fragile national defense system that was exposed by the incident in the East China Sea....

EDITORIALS

Jan 22, 2002

Houston, we have a problem

The fallout from the collapse of Enron, the Houston, Texas-based energy conglomerate, continues to accumulate. Enron's spectacular implosion -- the largest bankruptcy in history -- raises questions on issues ranging from accounting rules to White House access and influence. It might be a cautionary tale...

COMMENTARY

Jan 22, 2002

More aid, more regrets later

By Gregory Clark

The main response to Sept. 11 among Western conservatives and rightwingers has been a flinty resolve to eliminate "terrorists" worldwide, root and branch. But progressives also argue that eliminating poverty will solve the problem. Give them more bread, it is implied, and their anti-Western angst will...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 21, 2002

Sign of hope: Afghan kids back in school

By Nigel Fisher

KABUL -- In Afghanistan, the interim administration led by Hamid Karzai faces a double challenge: keeping its population alive through the winter and starting to rebuild for the future.

EDITORIALS

Jan 21, 2002

Activating the Kyoto treaty

The international agreement on climate change, better known as the Kyoto Protocol, is expected to take effect later this year, perhaps in September. But the United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is conspicuously absent from the ratification process. The U.S. boycott is certainly a serious...

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Jan 21, 2002

Charades begin with 'Narita neurosis'

By Jean-pierre Lehmann

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Some 10 years ago, a Japanese student at an institute in Bologna where I was a visiting professor produced an essay in which he wrote "because Japan has a unique culture, it is misunderstood and discriminated against by other countries."

COMMENTARY

Jan 21, 2002

Rule out leadership change

By Kenzo Uchida

At the beginning of 2002, the political situation in Japan appears relatively stable. Compared with 2001, which witnessed a series of radical changes, the new year is likely to see Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pushing his reform plans ahead on the back of his huge popularity.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 21, 2002

A rightist revival in Europe

By Jonathan Fenby

LONDON -- For the past five years, the center-left has held the whip hand in Western Europe. Whether in the shape of Prime Minister Tony Blair's New Labour administration in Britain or the more traditionally leftwing Socialist-led government in France, social democracy has ruled in the major countries...

EDITORIALS

Jan 20, 2002

The Segway's Japanese roots

At the end of December, Emeritus Professor Kazuo Yamafuji of Tokyo's University of Electro-Communications had something interesting to add to the buzz of talk about the Segway Human Transporter, the self-balancing robotic scooter unveiled earlier in the month by U.S. inventor Dean Kamen.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 20, 2002

Lingual skills key to global communication

By Domenico Maceri

You would think that four national languages would be enough. Not for the Swiss. Along with German, French, Italian and Romansh, English is making considerable inroads.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 20, 2002

Building a brighter future for Afghans

By Mike Jendrzejczyk

WASHINGTON -- The rebuilding of a peaceful Afghanistan requires a commitment to protecting the human rights of all Afghan citizens, including women and ethnic minorities. The International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan taking place in Tokyo should take action to support the institutions...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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