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September 13, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Jan 5, 2005

Easier path for foreign investors

Japan is beginning to open the door wider to foreign direct investment. The Justice Ministry has completed a skeleton draft of a new law that will make it easier for foreign companies to purchase Japanese ones. Japanese executives understandably fear that their companies might become targets for foreign...

COMMENTARY

Jan 5, 2005

Beijing counts on more high-speed growth in '05

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- Barely three years after joining the World Trade Organization, China has emerged as a major trading power, with total trade last year exceeding $1 trillion, an increase of more than 30 percent over 2003, making China the world's third-largest trading power. This is an astonishing performance...

COMMENTARY

Jan 4, 2005

Britain governed by nannies

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is often accused of being a "control freak," meaning someone who places the emphasis on presentation rather than content, but the accusation that he and his colleagues have become obsessed with "political correctness" is closer to the mark.

EDITORIALS

Jan 4, 2005

The year for the Middle East?

The year 2005 may herald a new era of hope for the Middle East. The death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has provided the opportunity for all parties to push with renewed vigor for a negotiated peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Amazingly, the interested parties appear to be making the most...

COMMENTARY

Jan 3, 2005

Modern England leaves Granny behind

By Sarah Benton

LONDON -- "What are we coming to" cried one of the grannies at my Christmas dinner, meaning we, the English. Her small anguish was prompted by the thought of the bank holidays and festive refusal of work that wraps everyone in a haze of food and alcohol, gifts and family, and lets the outer world fend...

EDITORIALS

Jan 3, 2005

Pile of unfinished business

This year has the potential to shape the world in profound ways. Some key events, and their results, will be instantly evident. Much of their impact will not be visible for years to come, however. We can identify with reasonable certainty what those moments will be, but only guess at their outcome and...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jan 3, 2005

Putin's tragic gaffes of 2004

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- The year 2004 has had mixed blessings for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He won re-election in a landslide, and though the results were probably rigged, by and large they still reflected voters' sympathies well enough: Russia likes its president.

EDITORIALS

Jan 1, 2005

Royal bridge to the people

The new year has been ushered in by the auspicious news of a long-awaited announcement: Princess Nori, the only daughter of the Emperor, is engaged to Mr. Yoshiki Kuroda, a Tokyo Metropolitan Government employee. We congratulate them heartily and hope that they will serve as a bridge between the Imperial...

COMMENTARY

Jan 1, 2005

Aim for change, not utopia

By Takamitsu Sawa

The 20th century was an era of utopias. Until the mid-1970s, many young Japanese believed that a socialist society was a utopia. While I was a student at a prefectural high school in Kyoto in the late 1950s, a classmate of mine with North Korean parentage returned to his homeland, which he thought was...

EDITORIALS

Dec 31, 2004

Year of shattered ideals

This year was widely expected to be a pageant of democracy. Elections were scheduled around the world, and they went off, almost without exception, without a hitch. That happy outcome was the brightest result in a year colored by disappointment. The year 2004 may well be remembered for the many promises...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 31, 2004

Laying a foundation for a new East Asia

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- Optimism for East Asian integration and community building ran high at the conclusion of the 10th ASEAN Summit on Nov. 30 in Vientiane, Laos, and the back-to-back meetings between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its Asia-Pacific partners -- China, Japan, South Korea,...

EDITORIALS

Dec 30, 2004

Mr. Yushchenko's work begins

Opposition party candidate Viktor Yushchenko has won Ukraine's presidency. At least, that's what a count of nearly 100 percent of the ballots shows following last weekend's rerun of the November runoff election. It is still unclear, though, whether Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych will accept the results....

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.

The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

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