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COMMENTARY

Feb 23, 2003

Iraq crisis increases risks for Musharraf

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- Protesters marching in Pakistani streets during worldwide demonstrations last weekend against United States-led plans to attack Iraq have triggered fresh speculation about the South Asian country's future relations with Washington. Pakistan has been a key U.S. ally in the fight against terror...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 23, 2003

As U.N. dithers, Australian divide grows

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- A United Nations resolution of the Iraq crisis cannot come too soon for Australia. Each day of delay gnaws at the easygoing tolerance that marks the Australian lifestyle.

EDITORIALS

Feb 22, 2003

'Shunto' has lost steam

Wage bargaining is the stuff of the annual springtime labor offensive known as "shunto." This year's wage round, however, is essentially different from previous ones because wage increases are not the main subject of labor-management negotiations. The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, the...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Feb 22, 2003

Antiwar fever rises as the economy sinks

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- Two big questions have dominated Washington this week. When will this horrible, cold winter end? And when will the war in Iraq begin? While they are different subjects with different consequences, they are getting about equal time in the capital's conversation content.

COMMENTARY

Feb 22, 2003

Best policy Seoul can buy?

By Brad Glosserman

HONOLULU -- The unmaking of a hero is never pretty, but the fall of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung has been especially ugly. The statesman leaves behind a shredded legacy and he, like many of his predecessors, is but one step ahead of the prosecutor. Even his Nobel Peace Price has been tarnished:...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 22, 2003

Water issues loom large in the 21st century

By Libor Jansky

The third Water Forum is expected to play a critical role in solving water issues in the 21st century. The world's population is predicted to grow from six billion today to nearly nine billion by 2050, increasing pressure on local authorities and planners to supply water to satisfy growing agricultural...

EDITORIALS

Feb 21, 2003

Clarify refugee policy

The incident in which four North Korean citizens who had fled from their country entered a Japanese school in Beijing and asked for asylum in Japan has posed a sobering question concerning Japan's refugee policy. Acting on lessons from the incident at Japan's consulate general in Shenyang last May, the...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 21, 2003

Stand shoulder to shoulder with U.S.

The following is an unofficial translation of an appeal made Thursday by 39 members of the Japan Forum on International Relations. Related news story

EDITORIALS

Feb 20, 2003

The WTO's 'awesome challenge'

The success of the next round of trade liberalization talks depends on tackling the thorny issue of agricultural tariffs and support. That is no secret; agriculture has preyed on the minds of trade negotiators for decades, but they have successfully delayed consideration of the question for years. The...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 20, 2003

Brinkmanship in spades 40 years later

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- As the United States hurtles toward the brink of war with Iraq and North Korea, the confrontation bears a striking resemblance to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Therein lie lessons that might well be read in Washington, Baghdad and Pyongyang.

COMMENTARY

Feb 20, 2003

Farcical economic flip-flops

By Gregory Clark

Japan's economic debate has moved from the bizarre to the ridiculous. Just two years ago we were told that fiscal restraint was the key to economic recovery. Annual bond issues to finance government spending would not be allowed to exceed 30 trillion yen ($250 billion). In other words, cutting demand...

EDITORIALS

Feb 19, 2003

No cause to celebrate GDP growth

It may come as a bit of a surprise to learn that Japan's sluggish economy expanded for four straight quarters in calendar 2002. The truth is, though, it expanded only after the effect of deflation, or the continued decline in the prices of goods and services, was applied. The nation's deflation-adjusted...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.

The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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