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COMMENTARY

Jan 1, 2000

Japan looks for a purpose

By Takamitsu Sawa

The 1990s is said to have been a "lost decade" for Japan. That may be true. In May 1991, Japan's economy plunged into a slump that would be called the "Heisei Recession." In October 1993, the economy "bottomed out," but ever since then it has remained in the doldrums. The protracted slump has had extensive...

EDITORIALS

Jan 1, 2000

Let's make a new start

People around the world are celebrating the arrival of a new century and the start of a new millennium. We all feel we are in a new age, and few are willing to wait another year, as the purists insist, before we close out the 20th century.This is particularly true for Japan, where the last 10 years have...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 1, 2000

Japan cannot escape nuclear weapons

By Robyn Lim

Special to The Japan Times

EDITORIALS

Dec 31, 1999

Rudderless politics for Japan

The year that is now passing saw a giant coalition government come into being, with a triumvirate of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and New Komeito controlling about 70 percent of the influential Lower House and more than half of the Upper House.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 31, 1999

Japan's 'darkness at noon' Korean policy

By Edward Neilan

U.S. diplomat William Perry has a policy of "cautious realism" regarding North Korea, and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung is identified with his positive "sunshine policy" vis-a-vis Pyongyang. It would be generous and accurate to characterize Japan's policy toward the North Korean regime of Kim Jong...

EDITORIALS

Dec 30, 1999

A marker in the river

Amid the rising din of millennium-inspired commentary, a single remark floated free recently, then fluttered down to lodge quietly in the mind. It didn't come from a pundit looking to say something portentous. It came from the British pop-music composer turned classicist Joe Jackson, introducing his...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 30, 1999

Seafood contamination scare overblown

By Milton Freeman

Special to The Japan Times Recently, concern has been expressed in Japan about the contaminants found in whales and other marine mammals. It has been reported that contaminant levels are dangerously high and the government should take steps to reduce the risk to consumers' health. It may be helpful to...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 30, 1999

Russia's Jewish homeland: a Stalinist experiment in social engineering lingers on

By Russell Working

BIROBIDZHAN, RUSSIA -- Mikhail Kul was a soldier in the Soviet Army that helped defeat Germany in 1945, but he returned home to find that the Holocaust had emptied his Ukrainian village of most of its inhabitants.

EDITORIALS

Dec 28, 1999

Confusion, as usual, in 1999

This has been a year of extremes. It began with the sad spectacle of the U.S. president's sexual escapades and verbal gymnastics exposed to international ridicule, and draws to a close under the shadow of millennial terrorism and computer-induced chaos. There were long-anticipated moments of peace, and...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 28, 1999

Happy in the Gucci nation

By Ronald Morse

What kind of country will Japan be in the 21st century? The millennial forecast is in and it looks like this: Japan's cultural elite is quickly converging around the notion that Japan should be the first boutique state of the 21st century -- distinctive, well designed and expensive.

EDITORIALS

Dec 26, 1999

Justice on the ropes

If crimes against humanity are to be deterred, those that contemplate committing them must know that they will be punished for their misdeeds. The establishment of the International Criminal Court is an important step toward that end, but its effectiveness depends on governments having the political...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 26, 1999

Upbeat ending to 20th century

By Andre Fontaine

PARIS -- A number of problems continue to darken the world as it prepares for a new century and a new millennium: chronic warfare in Afghanistan, Africa and Columbia; widespread terrorism; a stalemate in Kosovo; fear over the plans of "rogue states" such as North Korea, Iraq and Iran; the refusal of...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.

If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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