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COMMENTARY / World

Jun 15, 2000

Chinese leadership sows seeds of democracy in the neighborhoods of Beijing

By Calum Macleod

BEIJING -- On a cold January morning in the Caoyuan (Grass Garden) neighborhood of east Beijing, residents huddled together to watch the hustings. Yang Guiying stepped up to speak. "If I am elected, our committee will think for the residents here, help them when they are in need and provide the best...

EDITORIALS

Jun 14, 2000

When politics itself is an issue

Campaigning officially started on Tuesday for the June 25 Lower House election, which is of particular significance to Japan because it will basically determine the nature and direction of Japanese politics at the beginning of the 21st century. As such, the general election -- the first in three years...

COMMENTARY

Jun 14, 2000

The chancy politics of weather

By Glen S. Fukushima

In less than two weeks, on Sunday, June 25, Japanese voters will cast their ballots in what will be Japan's last general election of the 20th century. This may well turn out to be the most important Japanese general election since July 18, 1993, which resulted in the inauguration, on Aug. 9 of that year,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 14, 2000

Ripples from Assad's death will extend far

By David Hirst

So the Lion of Damascus is, at last, no more. For some people, he has been an unconscionable time dying. I remember when, back in 1983, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his loyalist guerrillas were fighting a desperate rearguard action against the Syrian Army in the northern Lebanese town of Tripoli....

EDITORIALS

Jun 13, 2000

Relief for the workaholic headache

Nearly everyone has heard of sick leave, the time that people are allowed off from work to recover from an illness, whether real or feigned. More people also are becoming aware of child-care leave, the time off that companies are supposed to allow to mothers or fathers of a newborn child. Now the Osaka-based...

EDITORIALS

Jun 13, 2000

A positive precedent for pets

Pet shops are proliferating, reflecting the demand for companionship among lonely urban dwellers. Yet animal-protection agencies note a growing tendency for people with busy lives to physically abuse their pets in frustration over the routine care and feeding they require, or even to abandon them when...

COMMENTARY

Jun 13, 2000

Future rides on this election

By Yukio Suzuki

The Japanese archipelago will be deafened by the din of election campaigning for the Lower House for about two weeks beginning today. Given the growing public distrust of politics, however, the ranks of voters who claim no party affiliation are swelling. Political parties have repeatedly embraced unprincipled...

EDITORIALS

Jun 11, 2000

For want of an ale

Visitors to Japan just lost one of their favorite tell-the-folks-back-home anecdotes, the one that goes: They sell beer in vending machines here! Every guidebook mentions the fabled dispensers; sooner or later, every tourist gets photographed standing next to one. It is modern Japan's answer to Mount...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 11, 2000

A summit of little consequence

By Constantine Pleshakov

The recent summit held by U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin resembled a rendezvous of two ships moving in opposite directions. Putin has just reached the epicenter of power, Clinton is departing. Putin has just begun his historic record, Clinton is finishing his. Putin...

COMMENTARY

Jun 11, 2000

Mori casts doubt on Japanese democracy

By Gregory Clark

When Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said that Japan is a "kami no kuni" (country of the gods), it can be argued he was doing little more than expressing a personal religious belief before a group of like-minded, Shinto-supporting Diet members. U.S. media claims that he was trying revive Japanese nationalism...

EDITORIALS

Jun 10, 2000

ABCs of the Microsoft decision

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson delivered his long-anticipated ruling in the Microsoft antitrust suit earlier this week. To no one's surprise, he ordered that the software giant be split in two. Microsoft will now appeal. The case is likely to take a special "fast track" to the U.S....

COMMENTARY

Jun 10, 2000

A Russian game of chess

By David Howell

LONDON -- U.S. President Bill Clinton has just been visiting Russia, stopping on the way in Western Europe to collect the Charlemagne Prize for his contribution to European unity.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.

What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

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