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COMMENTARY

Nov 11, 2005

Is capitalism key to peace?

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- In a world that seems constantly aflame, one naturally asks: What causes peace? Many people, including U.S. President George W. Bush, hope that spreading democracy will discourage war.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 10, 2005

The reduction of impunity

By Ramesh Thakur

Government is about making and implementing public policy choices. These are neither always easy nor always right. Governments, like individuals, do make mistakes. But in democracies, the task of making decisions on behalf of the people is delegated to elected representatives who then answer to the courts...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 10, 2005

Cultural diversity strengthens nations

By Kazuo Ogoura

During UNESCO's recent biannual conference at its Paris headquarters, the United States remained adamant in its opposition to the conclusion of an international convention on cultural diversity. On the surface it appears that the U.S. position is mainly motivated by trade interests. The U.S. seems to...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 9, 2005

The politics of assigning a nuclear carrier to Japan

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- The easy part of newly assigning a U.S. aircraft carrier to Japan, which was to persuade the Japanese to accept a nuclear-powered vessel, has been accomplished. Now comes the hard part: deciding which one of 10 carriers should be based in the port of Yokosuka.

EDITORIALS

Nov 9, 2005

Step up relief for quake victims

The sufferings of survivors continue one month after the magnitude-7.6 earthquake ravaged northern Pakistan on Oct. 8. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has called the quake "a huge, huge disaster -- perhaps the biggest we have ever seen." But it is never too late for other nations and peoples...

EDITORIALS

Nov 8, 2005

Ending the zero-rate policy

In March 2001, the Bank of Japan set short-term interest rates at near zero, declaring that the nation's economy had entered a period of deflation. That extra-loose monetary policy, which is said to have had few parallels in the world, is likely to change next spring, because an upturn in consumer prices...

EDITORIALS

Nov 7, 2005

Draft revision tosses principles aside

The Liberal Democratic Party, which has long claimed that the present pacifist Constitution was imposed on the Japanese people by the Occupation Forces, has announced a draft revision. Although the text begins promisingly enough with "The Japanese people, based on their own will and determination, establish...

COMMENTARY

Nov 6, 2005

Slow relief adds to the peril

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- In the past year the world has suffered a series of natural disasters that have caused the deaths of some 200,000 people, serious injuries to many more, and enormous damage to property and infrastructure. Relief efforts by governments have often been too little and too late. Nongovernment organizations...

EDITORIALS

Nov 6, 2005

Fishing for 'interesting individuals'

Tired of the same old liberal causes? Here's one you might not have heard of: "Fish," according to a spokeswoman for the Fish Empathy Project, "are interesting individuals who deserve our respect and compassion." Not since the British poet Rupert Brooke wrote about "each secret fishy hope or fear" way...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Nov 6, 2005

Say 'cheese' and snap out of such fanciful thinking

By Roger Pulvers

Foreign-ministers-in-waiting don't drop clangers for nothing. When the then Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Taro Aso spoke last month at the newly-opened Kyushu National Museum in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, he fully expected his clanger to resound and reverberate when it hit the ground....

EDITORIALS

Nov 5, 2005

A rough week for Mr. Bush

Last week was rough for U.S. President George W. Bush. A top official in the White House was indicted, his Supreme Court nominee withdrew her name from consideration, the U.S. military sustained its 2,000th death in Iraq, and opinion polls show a majority of Americans unhappy with their president. While...

EDITORIALS

Nov 5, 2005

Unacceptable rhetoric from Iran

The statement by Iran's president, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Israel should be "wiped off the map" is unacceptable. Apart from purely moral objections, there are legal issues too: As a member of the United Nations, Iran has agreed never to use force or threaten the use of force against other countries....

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.

How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan

By Megha Wadhwa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

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