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EDITORIALS

Feb 20, 2004

GDP growth belies strong recovery

Japan's economy expanded at an annualized rate of 7 percent in the last quarter of 2003, with export-oriented large manufacturers providing the main thrust of growth. Whether this will lead to a broad and enduring recovery remains to be seen, however. The export boom will fizzle out if overseas demand...

EDITORIALS

Feb 19, 2004

Upper House in need of reform

Should Japan keep its bicameral parliamentary system? Put another way, is the House of Councilors, or Upper House, really necessary? The question is not new. Many Japanese have long regarded it as the "rubber stamp" of the more influential House of Representatives. Now the issue is coming under scrutiny...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 19, 2004

No sugar, but FTA still sweet

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- The cheering has died. Hardheaded businessmen are taking a second look. Suddenly the newly agreed Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement is looking distinctly one-sided -- and not in Australia's favor.

EDITORIALS

Feb 18, 2004

Perils of internecine war in Iraq

What is most disturbing about Iraq is that the security situation there continues to deteriorate, even as the country prepares to take over the reins of government from the U.S.-led coalition at the end of June. In particular, terrorist and guerrilla attacks over the past two weeks reveal an ominous...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 18, 2004

War erodes Bush support

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- After the victory of the U.S. over Iraq in 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush proclaimed: "The Vietnam syndrome is buried forever in the sands of the Arabian Peninsula."

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 18, 2004

Currency depreciation won't spur growth

By Chris Lingle

UBUD, Bali -- In a fruitless and pointless exercise, economic policymakers and businesses fret endlessly over the international value of currencies. This is because interventions to guide foreign-exchange valuations tend to be costly and may have only a temporary effect at best.

EDITORIALS

Feb 17, 2004

Pyongyang talks leave door ajar

It appears that North Korea now wants to reach some sort of agreement with Japan over the abduction issue. Last week, two ranking officials of the Japanese Foreign Ministry visited Pyongyang for the first government-to-government talks in 16 months. Although nothing specific is alleged to have resulted...

COMMENTARY

Feb 17, 2004

U.S.-British naivete unmasked

By Gregory Clark

With the United States bringing out new rules of international relations regularly, it is important to take stock from time to time. One of them, spawned by the Iraq conflict, is the uncertainty doctrine. This says that whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or not does not matter. What is...

EDITORIALS

Feb 16, 2004

Taking nonproliferation seriously

The inadequacies of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime become more evident each day. From Libya and Pakistan come recent revelations that a black market in nuclear materials has existed for years virtually under the nose of the world's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency....

EDITORIALS

Feb 15, 2004

Romance by the numbers

You have to hand it to Singapore: It is doing its best to lose its longtime image as the nanny state of Asia. In fact, with the launch earlier this month of the now annual "Romancing Singapore" campaign, it is behaving less like a nanny and more like a madam.

COMMENTARY

Feb 15, 2004

Japan jumping headfirst into the future

By Tom Plate

The Japanese "get no respect, no respect at all." That trademark line from American comic Rodney Dangerfield certainly applies to the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Last August when I interviewed Koizumi in his official Tokyo residence, I asked him point-blank if Japanese troops really...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Feb 15, 2004

Don't tease the Russian bear

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- In this election year for both Russia and the United States, a major conflict is under way in Russo-American relations: the debate over the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Created to contain the Soviet Union during the Cold War, NATO had to redesign itself following the...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.

With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear

By Jason Coskrey

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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