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COMMENTARY / World

Dec 27, 2001

How to harmonize science and technology with humanity

By Shinji Fukukawa

The 20th century was the greatest century in human history thanks to the tremendous progress made in science and technology. The advancement of science and technology has given us a higher living standard, and the information-technology revolution has dramatically expanded our intellectual playing field....

COMMENTARY

Dec 27, 2001

The ABM Treaty's last days

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- It looks like the Antiballistic Missile Treaty is destined to end, not with a bang, but with a whimper. Earlier doomsday predictions notwithstanding, Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the treaty (the required six-months' notice was given Dec. 13) is not expected to usher in a new Cold...

COMMENTARY

Dec 27, 2001

Prodding India, Pakistan to stand down

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- India and Pakistan, South Asia's two nuclear-armed neighbors, are once again on the brink of war less than six months after an historic peace summit between their leaders.

EDITORIALS

Dec 26, 2001

Another security reminder for Japan

For the first time in the country's postwar history, there has been an armed clash between Japan Coast Guard patrol boats and an unidentified vessel. The truth of the incident, which took place in the nation's exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea over the weekend, is still largely shrouded in...

COMMENTARY

Dec 26, 2001

Building on the euro's success

By Andre Fontaine

PARIS -- Created in 1360 to help pay the ransom for King John II the Good following his capture by the Black Prince's English forces at the battle of Poitiers, the French franc is living its final days. From Jan. 1, it, along with the currencies of most other Western European nations, will be replaced...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Dec 26, 2001

At last, Congress tackles election reform

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- It was just a year ago last week that the Supreme Court elected George W. Bush our 43rd president. The mess of the elections in 2000, from the faulty voting machines in Florida to the long counts in western states (remember it took almost a month to declare a winner in the Senate election...

EDITORIALS

Dec 25, 2001

Beyond the farm-trade row

Japan and China, which had been mired in a drawn-out farm trade dispute since April, managed to reach a last-minute settlement avoiding a head-on confrontation late last week. Tokyo withdrew its threat to slap full-scale import curbs on three Chinese products: leeks, mushrooms and rushes (used in tatami...

COMMENTARY

Dec 25, 2001

Conservatives out of touch

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- We British respect tradition, but institutions, including monarchies, need to adapt and modernize. Many of the more junior members of the British royal family, for instance, have no real role to play and should, like their cousins in Scandinavia, live ordinary unsubsidized lives.

EDITORIALS

Dec 24, 2001

Polishing the diamond trade

Money is the fuel of conflict. Without it, there is no way to sustain a military. In many poor countries, the sale of natural resources is the only means of financing an insurgency. In recent years, there has been increasing concern about the sale of illegal stones, "conflict diamonds," which have financed...

COMMENTARY

Dec 24, 2001

Challenges for Korean civic education

By Ronald Meinardus

SEOUL -- Consensus is growing in the family of democratic nations that democratic civic education constitutes a pillar of democracy. I use the term "democratic civic education" because we know there exist less benevolent intentions behind "political education" than the promotion of democratic principles...

COMMENTARY

Dec 24, 2001

No rush to ease rules against layoffs

By Kiroku Hanai

A government advisory group recommends that Japan consider legislation to establish standards and rules for layoffs. A report to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi by the Council for Regulatory Reform covers a wide range of subjects, including medical care, welfare and education. However, resolving the...

COMMENTARY

Dec 23, 2001

Preserving freedom in an unfree world

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- The massive terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 brought home to the United States its vulnerability. Protecting Americans' security has become a critical challenge. So has protecting their freedom. People who seek to do the first often sacrifice the second. So it has been in the war on terrorism....

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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