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COMMENTARY / World

Jun 12, 2003

S. Korea emerges from Japan's shadow

By Christopher Lingle

NEW DELHI -- Despite resentment against Japan for its colonial domination of the Korean Peninsula (1910-1945), South Korea followed Japan in its model of postwar economic development. In both countries, the central government established close links between commercial banks and companies while ensuring...

COMMENTARY

Jun 11, 2003

Peace will prove very difficult to find on Mideast 'road map'

By David Howell

LONDON -- One of the stronger arguments for regime change in Iraq was that it would pave the way for a settlement, at last, in the unending dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, and that this in turn would remove one of the main motivations for global terrorism.

COMMENTARY

Jun 11, 2003

Hu sends a message to the world that China is under new management

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- Chinese President Hu Jintao's first overseas journey has served to reassure the international community that China's new leadership has a steady hand on the nation's helm and can be counted on as a constructive partner in such problem areas as terrorism, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and...

EDITORIALS

Jun 11, 2003

A new order of peace in East Asia

The state visit to Japan by South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun -- the first since he took office in February -- has produced a positive result: a mutual commitment to develop future-oriented relations. In a joint statement issued Saturday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Roh also agreed...

COMMENTARY

Jun 10, 2003

'Soviet-style' reforms won't improve national universities

By Takamitsu Sawa

The Upper House of the Diet is debating legislation aimed at turning national universities into "independent agencies."

EDITORIALS

Jun 10, 2003

Mr. Abbas in the hot seat

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is a brave man. He took his job knowing that his every move would be attacked from three sides: by Israelis, by Islamic militants and by the Palestinian leadership he replaced, in particular Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat. And within...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 8, 2003

The ebb and flow of the Group summit

By Jonathan Fenby

LONDON — When then-French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing organized the first meeting of world leaders in the form of the Group of Seven in 1975, the idea was that they would conduct a relaxed private dialogue about settling major problems facing the world, with the emphasis on joint economic programs....

EDITORIALS

Jun 8, 2003

The case of the indignant diva

One of the odder human traits is our apparently inborn ambivalence toward celebrities. There would be no such thing as a celebrity if the rest of us did not, in some sense, celebrate certain people -- for their artistic gifts, their looks, their wealth, their charm, their brains or whatever else it is...

COMMENTARY

Jun 8, 2003

Diplomacy buoys Koizumi

By Kenzo Uchida

The administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi became 2 years old at the end of April. At its inception, his Cabinet enjoyed a public approval rating of more than 80 percent, the highest ever for a postwar administration. Around the beginning of last month, it still maintained a high level of...

EDITORIALS

Jun 7, 2003

Economic anxieties ignored at Evian

The world economy remains mired in the doldrums. The outlook has hardly improved in spite of an optimistic economic assessment from the Group of Eight summit in Evian, France. Two specters loom over the horizon: global deflation and a weaker dollar. Leaders of the world's top industrialized nations,...

COMMENTARY

Jun 7, 2003

Do G8 summits have value?

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON — The Group of Eight summit in Evian, France, cost a great deal in terms of time, effort and money. Was it worth it? Critics argue that nothing worthwhile emerged from the summit, that the communiques that had been drafted in advance were generally platitudinous and flatulent.

EDITORIALS

Jun 6, 2003

What can revive insurance firms?

Deflation in Japan is taking its toll on life insurance companies. Since they make profits by investing policyholders' premiums and bank-supplied funds in stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets, they are more susceptible to falling asset prices and near-zero interest rates than companies in other...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.

What comes after 100?

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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