Morearticles

 
Menu
Search
 
August 25, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

More Opinion stories

COMMENTARY
Jan 14, 2009
Gaza: worse than a crime
By Gwynne Dyer
"Israel is not going to show restraint," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the Washington Post on Jan. 10, after the United States abstained on Friday's U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. All last week the speculation grew that Washington was going to defy its Israeli...
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2009
Japan-South Korea cooperation
At their Seoul summit on Monday, Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation to tackle the global financial crisis and combat any move toward protectionism. They also agreed to closely cooperate with the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect...
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2009
Drop cash-benefit measure
As Diet discussions shifts into top gear, the confrontation between the ruling and opposition is growing fierce over a ¥2 trillion household cash-benefit package that is included in a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008. The opposition wants the ¥2 trillion plan dropped from the budget and...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2009
Step up nonproliferation efforts
By Taro Kono
Every year, Japan submits a resolution on nuclear disarmament to the United Nations General Assembly. This year was no different; the 15th such resolution was submitted in October. As the only country in the world against which nuclear weapons have been used, Japan understands the horror and devastation...
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2009
Health insurance for children
The Diet has passed a law to rescue some 33,000 children of middle school age or younger who are not covered by health insurance because their parents defaulted on premium payments to the National Health Insurance system (Kokumin Kenko Hoken) administered by municipalities. The new law, however, fails...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2009
Abuse of religious fervor paves way to doom
By Hassan Abbas
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The terrorist assault in Mumbai targeted not only India's economy and sense of security, but also the India-Pakistan detente that has taken shape since 2004.
COMMENTARY
Jan 13, 2009
A good time to improve the United Nations
By Cesar Chelala
NEW YORK — In recent years the United Nations has become a target of criticism, particularly in the United States, even as the failure of the U.S. to pay its dues to the organization has considerably hindered its work and reduced its effectiveness. The election of a new American president provides...
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2009
Road map for construction
The infrastructure and transport ministry has worked out a medium-term plan for road construction — a revision of a plan drafted in November 2007. The new plan is better because it makes more realistic projections of future public demand for additional and improved roads. The government should do its...
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2009
Darkest hour is just before green
By Takamitsu Sawa
The impact of the current global financial crisis, which originated with U.S. subprime loans and was exacerbated by the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, has gone far beyond the financial markets, as entire economies are now suffering from sharp declines in demand due to tighter reins on credit,...
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2009
Final curtain for tuna?
It may be the year of the ox, but if the first auction of the year at Tsukiji fish market is any indication, it might also be the year of bluefin tuna, though not in a positive sense. On the first fish-buying day of the year, a 128-kg fish went for an amazing ¥9.63 million — the highest price paid...
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2009
English taught in English
New teaching guidelines released by the education ministry call for high school English to be taught primarily in English from 2013. This conversion from traditional methods to a more active and communicative approach is decades behind the rest of the world. As China, Vietnam and South Korea have moved...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2009
Central Asia's giant is waking up
By Marcel De Haas
THE HAGUE — The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) brings together almost half the world's population, several members own nuclear weapons, many are big energy suppliers, and it includes some of the world's fastest growing economies. Yet few outside Central Asia have heard much about it.
Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
At meeting rich in symbolism, Ishiba and South Korea's Lee agree to steadily build ties
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands at joint press announcement after summit talks in Tokyo on Saturday.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Japan to boost support for joint ride-hailing services
Tatsuaki Igarashi, mayor of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, exits a ride-sharing vehicle at Tsukuba Station in January.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
As farm minister, Koizumi is held ‘hostage’ by Ishiba
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. Locking Koizumi into the Cabinet is Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s way of turning a potential rival into a team player, according to one expert.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy
Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER