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September 19, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY
Jan 13, 2009
A good time to improve the United Nations
By Cesar Chelala
NEW YORK — In recent years the United Nations has become a target of criticism, particularly in the United States, even as the failure of the U.S. to pay its dues to the organization has considerably hindered its work and reduced its effectiveness. The election of a new American president provides...
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2009
Road map for construction
The infrastructure and transport ministry has worked out a medium-term plan for road construction — a revision of a plan drafted in November 2007. The new plan is better because it makes more realistic projections of future public demand for additional and improved roads. The government should do its...
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2009
Darkest hour is just before green
By Takamitsu Sawa
The impact of the current global financial crisis, which originated with U.S. subprime loans and was exacerbated by the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, has gone far beyond the financial markets, as entire economies are now suffering from sharp declines in demand due to tighter reins on credit,...
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2009
Final curtain for tuna?
It may be the year of the ox, but if the first auction of the year at Tsukiji fish market is any indication, it might also be the year of bluefin tuna, though not in a positive sense. On the first fish-buying day of the year, a 128-kg fish went for an amazing ¥9.63 million — the highest price paid...
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2009
English taught in English
New teaching guidelines released by the education ministry call for high school English to be taught primarily in English from 2013. This conversion from traditional methods to a more active and communicative approach is decades behind the rest of the world. As China, Vietnam and South Korea have moved...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2009
Central Asia's giant is waking up
By Marcel De Haas
THE HAGUE — The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) brings together almost half the world's population, several members own nuclear weapons, many are big energy suppliers, and it includes some of the world's fastest growing economies. Yet few outside Central Asia have heard much about it.
EDITORIALS
Jan 11, 2009
Europe gets the shivers
Europe has been in the grip of a new cold war. This struggle has not been fought with militaries, but rather with energy exports. Yes, Russia and Ukraine are having their annual tussle over natural gas exports, and Europe has felt the effects. It is tempting to see the fight as a geopolitical faceoff...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 11, 2009
Egg-on-face bloopers can make a yolk or worse of any translation
By Roger Pulvers
Many readers will be familiar with the infamous guarantee said to have been spotted on the menu of a Hong Kong restaurant: "All the water used in our soups has been personally passed by the chef." Some may also have heard of that creepy assurance printed in the catalog for an art exhibition during the...
COMMENTARY
Jan 11, 2009
Gas warning hitting home
By David Howell
LONDON — As the lights of Southeast and Central Europe go out and gas supplies dwindle, leaders of these vulnerable countries must be wishing they had listened to Margaret Thatcher long ago.
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2009
Crime victims get their say
A new system has started in which crime victims or bereaved family members of crime victims can take part in criminal proceedings. They sit with public prosecutors and can question defendants and express their opinions about sentencing. The system represents a great change to Japan's judicial system,...
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2009
Rescuing duped consumers
The Cabinet Office has made public its 2008 white paper on people's lifestyles, which features consumer-related issues. This is the 51st such white paper since the then Economic Planning Agency issued the first one in 1956. The latest white paper calls for establishing an effective plan to help consumers...
COMMENTARY
Jan 9, 2009
End in sight to Prabhakaran's warped war
By Gautaman Bhaskaran
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The 30-year-old ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka may well end this year. Thousands of people have been killed, and political leaders, including India's young and charismatic Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, assassinated in the war between majority Sinhala-speaking Buddhists and the largely...
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
End of U.S. de minimis exemption causes headaches for some businesses in Japan
Proxy-shopping services — companies that ship Japanese products ranging from cosmetics and snacks to limited-edition stationery on behalf of customers abroad — are already feeling the impact of the U.S. suspending de minimis exemptions.
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.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
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.
Still plenty to fight for, says Japan’s team leader at worlds
Race walker Hayato Katsuki earned bronze for Japan on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.

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

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