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COMMENTARY / World

Aug 22, 2005

Taiwan skimping on defense readiness

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- The political leaders of Taiwan, both government and opposition, are in serious danger of misreading or ignoring the increasingly stiff warning signals coming from Washington.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 22, 2005

Asian chance after Annan

By Ramesh Thakur

The term of Kofi Annan as U.N. secretary general (SG) expires Dec. 31, 2006. Countries and individuals have begun to position themselves to succeed him. If Asians are to have a credible chance of filling what should rightfully be their turn at the job, their discussions and negotiations in the next six...

COMMENTARY

Aug 22, 2005

Unhealthy fixation on 'miracle' growth

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- In the late 1970s, after China had emerged from the frenzy of the Cultural Revolution and it was again politically correct to talk about development, economists and officials focused on two principal economic indices: GVIO and GVAO, or gross value of industrial output and gross value of...

COMMENTARY

Aug 22, 2005

Victor's logic in hindsight

By Kiroku Hanai

Every August Japan is filled with prayers for the 3.1 million Japanese who died in the Pacific War and feelings of resentment against the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This August, which marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, Japanese media have done intensive reporting to...

EDITORIALS

Aug 22, 2005

For safer travel over 65

The National Police Agency chose "Striving for the World's Safest Road Traffic" as the main theme of its 2005 white paper made public recently. This is the first time in about a quarter-century that traffic safety has been the main feature of the annual report, thus denoting the agency's enthusiasm for...

EDITORIALS

Aug 21, 2005

New party braces for battle

With a snap general election set for Sept. 11, the conflict within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party over postal-service privatization has entered a new stage with the formation of a new party led by antireform old guards. The new group is led by Mr. Tamisuke Watanuki, former Lower House speaker, and...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Aug 21, 2005

All together now, as yesterday's no-no becomes the status quo

By Roger Pulvers

When I first arrived in Japan in the 1960s, I was friends with a Western sociologist who was genuinely frustrated. When he went around surveying public opinion, he said that he found Japanese people to be stubbornly reserved and conservative. Apparently, those who responded to his questions about social...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 20, 2005

Consolidating against conflict, disaster

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- Despite some initial difficulties, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations preserved its cohesion as a credible regional organization to end a weeklong series of annual meetings on a good note late last month in Vientiane:

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 20, 2005

Natural gas pipeline may energize peace

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

MADRAS, India -- It is being called the Peace Pipe. The natural gas pipeline running from Iran to India through Pakistan may be a reality in early 2006. Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Iyer made this announcement during his recent visit to Islamabad.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 20, 2005

Revisiting capital punishment

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- Recent statements on capital punishment by John Paul Stevens, a U.S. Supreme Court justice, to the American Bar Association could reignite the debate on this important issue. His statements followed several exonerations of death-row inmates through scientific evidence. He said these exonerations...

EDITORIALS

Aug 20, 2005

First step of the peace process

Israel has begun its unilateral withdrawal of troops and evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. This is the first time that settlements have been dismantled from land that Israel occupied in the third Middle East War (1967). There have been reports of small-scale clashes between settlers...

EDITORIALS

Aug 19, 2005

Statements befitting future conduct

On Monday, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued a statement apologizing for Japan's past colonialism and aggression. He also decided that day not to visit Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japan's militarism in the 1930s and '40s. Instead, he visited and...

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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