More Opinion Articles - The Japan Times

August 05, 2025

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 1, 2003

Cross-strait tensions build as one-China principle fades

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- The "one-China" principle that has been the mainstay of relations between the United States and China for 30 years is steadily fading. Curiously, a critical chapter in the fate of the principle is being played out now on the tiny mid-Pacific nation of Kiribati.

EDITORIALS

Nov 30, 2003

Mr. Bush and the Almighty

It is not often that U.S. President George W. Bush finds himself in trouble with his evangelical Christian base. On the whole, the president, an avowed Christian of a fundamentalist bent, has won praise from that community for his policies on everything from the Middle East to abortion and gay marriage....

COMMENTARY

Nov 30, 2003

Fear, posturing cloud Sri Lanka's fate

By Harvey Stockwin

HONG KONG -- The latest Sri Lankan political crisis is still unfolding. The peace process, expected to end the state of civil war, is endangered. So is the future of Sri Lankan democracy. At the very moment when foreign-aid pledges worth more than $4 billion are waiting to be fulfilled, some Sinhalese...

EDITORIALS

Nov 29, 2003

Competitive threat to insurers

Japan Post, a mammoth public corporation that provides mail, savings and insurance services, is under fire from private life insurers here as well as from U.S. and European insurance industries and government authorities. Their object of criticism is the new life insurance policy that JP plans to sell...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Nov 29, 2003

Coup ushers in uncertain era

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- A former Soviet republic, Georgia, is in the limelight again. Outraged by an allegedly fraudulent parliamentary election, protesters toppled the government of President Eduard A. Shevardnadze and installed an interim administration led by a number of opposition leaders.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 29, 2003

Sensible plan for South Korea

By Michael O'Hanlon

WASHINGTON -- Even those who admire U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld rarely consider his diplomatic skills among his strongest suits. Capable of being charming and engaging in person, he tends to come across less well when sniping at allies across oceans over the chief foreign policy issues...

EDITORIALS

Nov 28, 2003

'Mini-nukes' a big problem

The United States' decision to pursue the development of a new generation of nuclear weapons is wrong. At a time when Washington is trying to convince other nations that nuclear-weapons programs should be abandoned, the U.S. move suggests that such weapons are useful after all. It is one more blow to...

COMMENTARY

Nov 28, 2003

No resting on laurels in Asia

By Brad Glosserman

SEOUL -- This is a remarkable moment in international relations. Despite a nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, there are no doubts about the U.S. commitment to East Asia. Despite widespread criticism of U.S. policy, Washington currently enjoys "the best relations ever" with both Japan and China....

EDITORIALS

Nov 27, 2003

For freer budget management

In his opening shot at fiscal 2004 budget reform, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is calling for a substantial cut in government subsidies -- those strings-attached payments that have been roundly criticized for depriving local governments of fiscal freedom. Last week he told a meeting of Cabinet ministers...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 27, 2003

More Americans ditch the lingual desert

By Domenico Maceri

SANTA MARIA, California -- Although America is a land of immigrants from all over the world, when it comes to language fluency one could easily say we suffer from monolingualism. An old joke goes something like this:

COMMENTARY

Nov 27, 2003

Across the Bush-Briton gap

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- U.S. President George W. Bush's state visit to Britain ended Nov. 21 with a carefully stage-managed call on British Prime Minister Tony Blair's constituency in the North East of England. The visit went well despite generally peaceful protests. Although there was some of the usual pageantry,...

EDITORIALS

Nov 26, 2003

Settling for less in Miami

A merican trade officials have agreed to pursue a free-trade zone that stretches throughout the Western hemisphere. The agreement they reached in Miami, Florida, last week is less than it seems, however. Following the breakdown of World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial talks in Cancun, Mexico a few...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.

With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear

By Jason Coskrey

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports