Morearticles

 
Menu
Search
 
September 20, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

More Opinion stories

COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2009
Is Britain really breaking London's bankers?
By Ronald J. Gilson
NEW YORK — The plot of the morality play set in motion by the United Kingdom's announcement of a 50 percent tax on bankers' bonuses has now taken form. And it is a play that holds an important lesson about how politicians are managing — or mismanaging — demands for financial reform.
COMMENTARY
Dec 30, 2009
The Japan-India partnership to power a multipolar Asia
By Brahma Chellaney
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's India visit is part of Japan's growing economic and strategic engagement with that country. Given that the balance of power in Asia will be determined by events as much in the Indian Ocean rim as in East Asia, Tokyo is keen to work with New Delhi to promote peace and stability...
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2009
Lay judge system takes root
The Tokyo High Court on Dec. 17 upheld what was the first ruling under the newly introduced lay judge system. The high court's decision will set a trend for high courts respecting rulings made in district courts, where, in most cases, six ordinary citizens serve as judges along with three professional...
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2009
New slogans won't help the LDP
The Liberal Democratic Party, which fell from power in the Aug. 30 general election after ruling Japan for more than five decades, plans to adopt a new platform in late January. The party's study group in charge of figuring out how the LDP can regain power submitted a report containing basic ideas for...
COMMENTARY
Dec 30, 2009
A decade of Western losses and Asian gains
By Gwynne Dyer
Decades don't usually have the courtesy to begin and end on the right year. The social and cultural revolution that Western countries think of when they talk of the " '60s" only got under way in 1962-63, and didn't end until the Middle East war and oil embargo of 1973-74.
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2009
The past year of newness
The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation's annual kanji of the year for 2009 is, appropriately, " " (shin), meaning "new." This kanji, chosen by national ballot and announced in December at Kyoto's Kiyomizu temple, reflects the win of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which ended a half-century...
COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2009
Persuading China to put the screws to Iran
By Michael Richardson
SINGAPORE — Will the world's leading powers act in a more united way on Iran's nuclear program than they have so far over climate change?
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2009
Do more to prevent suicides
The number of suicides in 2009 has already topped 30,000 for the 12th straight year (since 1998). According to the National Police Agency, the suicide figure through the end of November reached 30,181, or 445 more than for the same period last year. This translates into about 90 suicides a day on average....
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2009
Economy chasing its tail
By Gregory Clark
The Japanese have a saying — "sandome no shoujiki." Roughly translated it means that "after getting it wrong twice you finally get it right the third time."
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2009
Mr. Ozawa's secretary on trial
The trial of Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa's chief secretary began in Tokyo District Court on Dec. 18. The secretary is charged with violating the Political Funds Control Law by allegedly falsifying records related to the receipt of ¥35 million in political donations from...
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2009
Star artists reveal the essence of a nation's bureaucratic ways
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES — In America, trying to understand what makes other complex countries and cultures tick is usually done in the university classroom, through travel abroad or by following the mass news media. But there's another option that sometimes produces gold: Peering into other cultures through the...
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2009
DPJ administration's first budget
After some drama and confusion, including a screening unit's slashing of budgetary requests before public eyes and tough demands by Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, the Hatoyama administration has compiled the fiscal 2010 budget, its first budget since its inauguration in mid-September....
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Bank of Japan to start unloading ETFs in surprise move that rattles market
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda said it would take a century for the bank to sell all its ETFs at the pace proposed.
Over 90% of low-income families in Japan struggling to feed children
Save the Children Japan domestic program chief Sonoko Kawakami speaks at a news conference in Tokyo in July. A survey conducted by the group in June has found that over 90% of low-income households with children face food insecurity.
JAL to punish president and 36 others over pilot drinking scandal
Japan Airlines Managing Executive Officer Yukio Nakagawa (center) and others apologize after one of the airline's pilots was found to have been drinking alcohol, during a news conference in Tokyo on Sept. 4.
After seven decades, is it finally time for the LDP to split up?
Signage atop the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo. Japan’s ruling party faces a tough decision over its future as it searches for a new leader to replace outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, reverse its waning popularity and reassure investors
Behold the glory of Japan’s fruit boxes
Otherwise common sights in Japan's supermarkets, the country's fruit and veggie boxes can hide surprising symbols of local pride.
How Yuki Joseph Nakajima turned failures into breakout success at Tokyo worlds
Yuki Joseph Nakajima after finishing sixth in the men's 400-meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday.
Robot tour guides in Tokyo offer way for those with disabilities to work
Tours are being offered in Tokyo using a shoulder-mounted robot equipped with a camera, speaker and microphone. The robot twitches its wing-like arms, which it can fold together as if in prayer when visiting a temple.
World Athletics stars relish Tokyo atmosphere after COVID-hit Olympics
Organizers of the World Athletics Championships said over 500,000 tickets had been sold and that they are expecting to end the event in front of large crowds this weekend.
Japan’s front-line researchers see bright path ahead for dementia treatment
A scientist looks at scans of grains at the Memory Centre at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6, 2023.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER