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COMMENTARY

Aug 19, 2005

Tolerance can't be coerced

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- For some, the Iraq constitution-writing process has called to mind the founding of America or other democracies. But whether the Iraqi doc ument -- for which the original Aug. 15 deadline has been extended a week -- will deliver liberty remains tragically uncertain.

EDITORIALS

Aug 18, 2005

ATM card theft rescue

A sharp rise in thefts and forgeries of cash cards, or ATM cards, and the resultant loss of cash from deposits has become a serious problem. Last year there were 3,448 ATM card thefts and forgeries, causing losses worth some 2.4 billion, yen according to the National Police Agency.

COMMENTARY

Aug 18, 2005

Double standards don't help

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Sixty years ago this month Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated by the first nuclear bombs. The effects of these bombs on the civilian populations of these cities are a horrific reminder of why all governments need to redouble their efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and to achieve...

EDITORIALS

Aug 17, 2005

An uneven economic recovery

It appears that Japan's economy has emerged from a "soft patch" and entered a new period of moderate growth. In April through June, the nation's gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 1.1 percent, the Cabinet Office announced last week. That marked the third consecutive quarter of positive...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 17, 2005

Viewing the United States from an Asian perspective

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- During a gathering of Asians and Americans in Honolulu, the Asians seemed ambivalent about the role of the United States in their region. As one put it, "We want the Americans to be on tap but not on top."

EDITORIALS

Aug 16, 2005

The other nuclear crisis resumes

Iran appears to be headed -- once again -- toward conflict with the rest of the world over its nuclear programs. Tehran has rejected a European proposal that was designed to end concerns over its determination to develop facilities that would allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon -- an objective the Iranian...

EDITORIALS

Aug 15, 2005

Soul-searching for peace in Asia

As the nation marks the 60th anniversary of its surrender to Allied Powers in World War II, the Japanese face the unfinished task of squarely looking at Japan's colonialism and modern war and seriously considering a nonmilitary path that Japan must take to contribute to world peace and stability.

COMMENTARY

Aug 15, 2005

Energy myths and illusions

By David Howell

LONDON/OSLO -- People like to discuss whether the world is running out of oil and gas, and the big oil companies round the world have now joined in with warnings about energy shortages and the need to retool our economies on a more energy-efficient basis. And to emphasize their dire warnings, they are...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 15, 2005

Scholar troubled by Japan's direction

By Nobuko Hara

Few intellectuals in Japan today are as deeply committed to peace and democracy as Rokuro Hidaka is. The 88-year-old sociologist is a witness to Japan's aggression in China and, during the war, even went as far as proposing that Japan withdraw its troops from China, return its colonies and lay down foundations...

EDITORIALS

Aug 14, 2005

Mr. Bolton goes to the United Nations

A s expected, U.S. President George W. Bush used a recess appointment to name Mr. John Bolton his ambassador to the United Nations. The move is a result of the bitter, partisan divisions that dog politics in Washington D.C, and a sign of Mr. Bush's determination to send Mr. Bolton to the U.N. While his...

COMMENTARY

Aug 14, 2005

Reform mantra mesmerizes

By Gregory Clark

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to call a Diet Lower House election Sept. 11 solely on the question of post office privatization is curious.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Aug 14, 2005

Chiune Sugihara: His conscience gleams out of the darkness

By Roger Pulvers

Exactly 60 years ago, during the evening of Aug. 14, 1945, Emperor Hirohito recorded the speech of surrender to be broadcast to the Japanese nation the next day at noon.

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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