More Opinion Articles - The Japan Times

August 04, 2025

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COMMENTARY

Mar 22, 2003

Difficult task of buying a few good allies

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- The United States may dominate the globe, but it is almost alone in the war against Iraq. Even the offer of some $30 billion in aid could not procure basing rights from Turkey, a longtime ally.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 22, 2003

Saddening absence of options for Japan

By Masamichi Hanabusa

I don't wish to speculate on why the United States has embarked on a war against Iraq at this time. What is clear is that U.S. President George W. Bush and the influential aides in his administration believed -- without appearing to entertain the slightest doubt -- that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 22, 2003

ASEAN counting on China

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- As the third generation of Chinese leaders since 1949 hands power over to the fourth, Southeast Asia and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are following the landmark political transition with keen interest. What does ASEAN expect from the transition?

COMMENTARY

Mar 22, 2003

Economy top priority for new leadership

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- The two-week session of the National People's Congress in Beijing, which ended Tuesday, finished the political transition begun by the 16th Party Congress in November.

EDITORIALS

Mar 22, 2003

A new kind of war

Now that the war has begun, the world hopes it will end swiftly with minimal casualties. But wars are almost always unpredictable. As U.S. President George W. Bush himself has warned, the conflict could be "longer and more difficult than some predict." There is also the possibility that, even if it ends...

COMMENTARY

Mar 21, 2003

Perhaps society is the problem

By Yukio Suzuki

Like a parrot, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been repeating the same phrase: "There will be no economic growth without structural reform." At last he is being forced to make a policy turnaround to implement a package of antideflation measures to stimulate domestic demand. The reversal has been...

EDITORIALS

Mar 21, 2003

War against Iraq, again

The bombs have started falling and the world is once again at war. While the adversary is the same -- the regime in Baghdad -- and the terrain familiar, this conflict is much different from the first clash between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the international coalition led by the United States...

EDITORIALS

Mar 20, 2003

China's smooth change of power

The People's Republic of China has completed its first smooth transition of power since its founding more than half a century ago. The National People's Congress, the Parliament, ended its two-week session on Tuesday after electing Mr. Hu Jintao as president and Mr. Wen Jiabao as premier. The two men...

EDITORIALS

Mar 19, 2003

Mr. Koizumi's course is clear

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has faced the wrenching task of spelling out his foreign policy on Iraq. Until Monday he remained noncommittal on how Japan would respond if the United States goes to war without explicit U.N. backing. Now, with the U.S. having issued an ultimatum to Iraq and an invasion...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 19, 2003

Market intervention not the right solution

By Christopher Lingle

GUATEMALA CITY -- Japan's Nikkei average is below 8,000 for the first time in 20 years, putting it 80 percent below its 1989 high. A fall in the Nikkei below 7,500 could mean that some Japanese banks would not meet their international capital adequacy requirements.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 19, 2003

International system teeters on the cusp of tectonic change

By Robyn Lim

As war looms in Iraq, the international system is on the cusp of tectonic change. Both the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are in crisis. So is the U.S. alliance with South Korea. What might all this mean for Japan?

EDITORIALS

Mar 18, 2003

Declaration of war against Belgrade

The assassination of Serbia's prime minister is a declaration of war against the forces of law, order and democracy in Yugoslavia. Police have blamed organized crime for the killing and begun a crackdown, but the entire picture is a bit murkier. The slaying is a reminder of the unfinished business in...

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

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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