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COMMENTARY

Jan 18, 2007

So much for Abe's reconciliation policy

By Gregory Clark

Remember all that talk just a few months back about how Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, unlike former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, was embarked on a policy of reconciliation with China?

COMMENTARY

Jan 18, 2007

Unhappy state of education

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Very few parents in Britain or Japan are happy about the state of education available to their children. The response of politicians in both countries to these concerns is inadequate and sometimes dangerous.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 18, 2007

Latin America's next growth challenge

By Simon Teitel

TORINO, Italy -- Since 2003, Latin America's economies have been thriving, with GDP, including estimates for 2006, up by 17 percent -- an average annual growth rate of 4.3 percent and a 12 percent increase in per capita GDP. While impressive, this is only the second time in 25 years that Latin America...

EDITORIALS

Jan 17, 2007

Success for the EAS?

The second East Asian Summit (EAS) was held a month after it was originally scheduled to convene. Delay may have served the EAS well: The leaders in attendance appear to have listened to criticism that being a talk shop is not enough, that their meetings must produce tangible results. Their new mindset...

EDITORIALS

Jan 16, 2007

Mr. Abe's bold security agenda

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office determined to transform Japan's role in the world. That goal topped the agenda of his four-nation tour of Europe last week. Mr. Abe is ambitious but he must be cautious when considering Japanese participation in multilateral security operations.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 15, 2007

Central Asia's other 'Turkmenbashis'

By F. Stephen Larrabee

SANTA MONICA, California -- A dictator's sudden death almost always triggers political instability. But it is doubly dangerous when it poses a risk of regionwide destabilization and a scramble for influence among the world's greatest military powers -- the United States, Russia and China.

EDITORIALS

Jan 15, 2007

For lack of clean water

The United Nations Development Program's Human Development Report 2006, which focuses on water and sanitation, says that a deepening global water crisis threatens prospects for human development in the 21st century. Some 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water and 2.6 billion people are without...

EDITORIALS

Jan 15, 2007

Accountability in product safety

A series of accidents involving consumer products has led to a revision of the law to ensure product safety. The revised law should serve as an incentive for better quality control on the part of manufacturers. Public concern about product safety deepened after reports of 28 cases of carbon monoxide...

COMMENTARY

Jan 15, 2007

No new U.S. strategy in Iraq

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON -- Repeat after me: There is no new U.S. strategy in Iraq. The allies are the same, the enemies are the same, the tactics are the same, even the new American force strength lies within the range that has prevailed since 2003.

EDITORIALS

Jan 14, 2007

ETA's fatal miscalculations

When is a ceasefire not a ceasefire? When it is punctuated by bombings. Yet, even after taking responsibility for a blast that killed two people, the Basque separatist group ETA claims that it is adhering to a permanent ceasefire declared in March.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Jan 14, 2007

Perish the thought that Japan may have god on its side

By Roger Pulvers

'The Japanese are, it is true, commonly said to be an irreligious people. They say so themselves. . . . The average, even educated European strikes the average educated Japanese as strangely superstitious, unaccountably occupied with supra-mundane matters. The Japanese simply cannot be brought to comprehend...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 14, 2007

Aceh peace pays off for election victor

By Glyn Ford

BRUSSELS -- After the second anniversary of Aceh's tragic tsunami, peace seems to have finally come to the troubled province. Official results of the Dec. 11 provincial elections came with the new year. They confirmed a landslide victory for one faction of the former rebels.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.

What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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