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August 22, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2008
Slower growth in the near future
The Group of Seven financial chiefs who met in Tokyo last week recognized that the global economy "confronts a more challenging and uncertain environment" than when they last met in October. Their statement said, "In all our economies, to varying degrees, growth is expected to slow somewhat in the short...
EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2008
Burden of prenatal health care
When women become pregnant, they normally start receiving regular checkups at clinics or hospitals. But the number of cases in which women whose contractions have begun suddenly visit medical institutions for the first time is increasing. Failure to receive regular checkups not only raises health risks...
COMMENTARY
Feb 14, 2008
Why is the Pentagon begging for billions?
By Gwynne Dyer
LONDON — Last week the Pentagon asked Congress for the biggest defense budget since World War II: $515 billion, plus an additional $70 billion to cover the costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for part of the coming year. The United States is proposing to spend more on the armed forces, quite...
COMMENTARY
Feb 14, 2008
Crises cast light on China's problems
By Frank Ching
HONG KONG — More snow, even blizzards, are expected this week, but for the most part, China has weathered the crisis brought on by weeks of unusually bad weather, including severe snow and ice storms that affected most of the country, paralyzing transport systems just when millions of people were trying...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2008
Chinese views on North Korea
By John S. Park, Bonnie Glaser, Scott Snyder, Akira Kawasaki and Carol Mann
In recent years, issues pertaining to North Korea have been hotly debated by Chinese institute researchers. The publication of conflicting views in authoritative media suggests that these debates are sanctioned by the Chinese leadership.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2008
Washington suffering from debt delusion
By Thomas I. Palley
WASHINGTON — A second big American interest-rate cut in a fortnight, alongside an economic stimulus plan that united Republicans and Democrats, demonstrates that U.S. policymakers are keen to head off a recession that looks like the consequence of rising mortgage defaults and falling home prices. But...
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2008
Incident that inflames
Okinawa prefectural police have arrested a 38-year-old U.S. Marine on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl and sent him to public prosecutors. It is hoped that the United States Forces Japan will fully cooperate with Japanese investigators to determine the facts related to the alleged crime while strengthening...
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2008
Violence in sumo training
The arrests of former sumo stable master Tokitsukaze and three sumo wrestlers in connection with the fatal beating of a 17-year-old wrestler before and during a training session last June should serve as a warning to the Japan Sumo Association about a culture characterized by tolerance of corporal punishment....
COMMENTARY
Feb 13, 2008
A growing laundry list against Beijing
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES — Some double-standards are two-faced in the extreme, but not all.
COMMENTARY
Feb 13, 2008
Our responsibility to protect
By Ramesh Thakur
WATERLOO, Canada — Then Secretary General Kofi Annan's famous "challenge of humanitarian intervention" in September 1999 provoked a furious backlash from many countries. Yet a mere six years later, the norm, reformulated as the "responsibility to protect" (R2P), was endorsed by the world leaders gathered...
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2008
Reducing accidental deaths in hospitals
A health ministry study panel is pushing for the establishment of a third-party Medical Accidents Investigation Commission that would investigate medical accidents to prevent recurrences. This body would increase the quality and transparency of medical services, while reducing mutual distrust between...
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2008
Papermakers' recycling lies
The Kyoto-based Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation chose the kanji "nise," meaning fake or false, as 2007 "kanji of the year" to symbolize the rampant sham practices of politicians, food-makers and pension planners. Unfortunately the kanji still appears valid this year. It has been found that 17...
Demystifying the manufacturing success of China
China’s massive scale, strong education system and competitive local governance have enabled it to reach the technological frontier and dominate high-tech manufacturing despite its low per capita gross domestic product.
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.
Japanese manufacturers moving headquarters out of central Tokyo
A building in Kawasaki housing Toshiba's new headquarters
Is sumo becoming a victim of its own popularity?
A training session at Shikoroyama stable in June 2016. Sumo training sessions are increasingly simulated or the preserve of group tours.
Japanese man suspected of ordering double murder in Manila
Two suspects arrested over the killing of two Japanese last week are held in restraints in Manila on Tuesday.
Tokyo crowned No.1 'workation' spot
Workations were a burgeoning trend in the corporate world for years before the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged it.
Atsushi Kitagawara’s exhibition finds poetry in architecture
The inverted cone, one of Atsushi Kitagawara’s six signature elements in architecture, is a key feature of the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection museum building.
Candidates preparing to make final pitches for Sawamura Award
Hawks pitcher Livan Moinelo has a 1.13 ERA in 19 starts this season.
Winning warship bid gives Japan confidence boost as Tokyo eyes more exports
Australia’s decision to select Japan's upgraded Mogami-class warship, seen in this computer-generated image, has been “well received across Japanese industry," a Defense Ministry official said.
In Paris, chefs Chizuko Kimura and Kei Kobayashi make their mark
Chef Kei Kobayashi is France's only Japanese chef with three Michelin stars.

Podcast

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

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers
By Tomoko Otake

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