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August 16, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2006
Politicians in fantasyland
By Hugh Cortazzi
LONDON -- Our leaders would do well to reread "Alice Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll. If they can suppress their vanity for a moment, they should recognize that they have much in common with the White Queen. When Alice declares that "one can't believe impossible things," the queen retorts...
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2006
Yet another test for the U.N.
As promised, Iran has delivered its response to the U.N. ultimatum that it resume negotiations over its nuclear-energy program. And, as expected, the response was sufficiently ambiguous to offer something to everyone. If Tehran is serious about talks and is truly seeking a negotiated solution to stave...
COMMENTARY
Aug 25, 2006
Softening northern borders
By Ralph Cossa
MARIEHAMN, Finland -- It was cruel irony that the Aug. 16 killing of a Japanese fisherman by Russian security forces in the Northern Territories took place just as a group of Japanese and Russian scholars and former government officials were meeting with a group of Alanders to discuss possible creative...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2006
State glory: gulag of the Russian mind
By Nina Khrushcheva
NEW YORK -- It is now 15 years since the failed coup of August 1991 against Mikhail Gorbachev. At the time, Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost were seen by Soviet hardliners as a sellout of communist Russia to the capitalist West. But it is now clear that the KGB and the military who launched...
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 2006
Cuba contemplates life after Fidel
Even though Cuban President Fidel Castro appears to be recovering from intestinal surgery, his illness has forced the Cuban people to face the fact of his mortality. While the strongman's younger brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, has assumed power in his absence, there is little likelihood of a...
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 2006
New lessons in the Mideast
By David Howell
LONDON -- It was not meant to be like this. The plan, and the promise by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, was that the operation would be over swiftly, the Hezbollah forces with their missiles would be surrounded, rooted out and crushed, the kidnapped Israeli soldiers would be returned, and southern...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2006
Focus on preventive diplomacy, not war
By George Papandreou and Piero Fassino, Jonas Gahr Store
PRAGUE -- Finally, the U.N. Security Council has unanimously agreed a resolution to end the crisis in Lebanon. Now, the first priority must be a full and immediate ceasefire to end the suffering of unarmed civilians and make way for peace. The international community must be guided in their actions by...
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2006
Plenty of room for other ideas
Foreign Minister Taro Aso became the second person to announce his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election next month, following Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki. Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, the front-runner in the race, is expected to throw his hat into the ring Sept....
EDITORIALS
Aug 23, 2006
Child abuse crisis
Child abuse in this nation has reached a crisis level. Child welfare centers across the nation dealt with a record 34,451 cases of child abuse in fiscal 2005, a thousand more than in the previous year and a 31.3-fold increase since fiscal 1990.
EDITORIALS
Aug 22, 2006
The possibility of work at any age
Job opportunities for young people, women and elderly people are the main topic of this year's government white paper on people's lifestyles. Many young people can't seem to get the jobs they really want. Women are experiencing a hard time finding jobs after giving birth or after raising their children....
EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 2006
Internet dangers abound
This year's annual National Police Agency white paper, titled "Toward Building a Safe Internet Society," focuses on the dark side of the Internet, including its negative influences on children and its use in cyber-crime. It correctly points out that as Internet-related information and communication networks...
COMMENTARY
Aug 21, 2006
Fear of rivalry rules LDP
By Keizo Nabeshima
With the governing Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election a month away, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe has emerged as the overwhelming favorite to win the post, and hence to become the next prime minister.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Japanese star convicted of indecent assault in Hong Kong
J-pop idol Kenshin Kamimura leaves the West Kowloon Law Courts on bail in Hong Kong on Wednesday, after he was found guilty of indecent assault of a woman who worked as his interpreter at a restaurant in Mong Kok district in March this year.
Tens of thousands left stranded at Osaka Expo by train service interruption
Visitors rest inside the Osaka Expo venue early Thursday morning
Welcoming foreign residents benefits Japan, three quarters of economists say
The streets of Tokyo's Ginza district in April. The number of foreign residents in Japan hit a record high at 3.76 million as of the end of last year, comprising just over 3% of the population.
Hiker missing in Hokkaido after bear attack found dead
The Rausu mountain range at Hokkaido's Shiretoko National Park. A man in his 20s who went missing after being attacked by a bear while hiking on Mount Rausu has been found dead.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Will Ishiba's critics be able to garner enough support for a leadership race?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's political survival likely hinges on whether a leadership race will take place within the Liberal Democratic Party following its decision to have its election committee canvass the opinions of party members and prefectural chapters on the subject.
Hidden rosters and the legacy of Japan’s germ warfare
Katsutoshi Takegami, 77, in his storehouse attic where he discovered his father's Unit 1644 documents
Osaka Expo highlights the challenge of holding events in Japan's scorching summer
People huddle near a large fan blowing icy-cold mist at the Osaka Expo on July 12. Amid Japan's relentless summer heat, organizes have put myriad measures in place in order to keep guests safe.
At Himawari Shokudo 2, Italian food with a Japanese soul
At Himawari Shokudo 2, chef Hozumi Tanaka serves Italian-inspired fare with a focus on Toyama produce, such as this appetizer of lightly blanched "hotaru ika" (firefly squid) served atop mixed wild plants and a crepe prepared from "yamato-imo" yam.

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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Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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