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COMMENTARY
Mar 14, 2008

Burma sanctions don't work

NEW DELHI — Burma today ranks as one of the world's most isolated and sanctioned nations — a situation unlikely to be changed by its ruling junta scheduling a May referendum on a draft constitution and facilitating U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's third visit in six months.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jun 12, 2007

Sumo at the Olympics or a dohyo too far?

Sumo in Japan is on the up and up. We now have two yokozuna with a good half decade of rivalry in the tanks, one young enough to still be around in 10 years time. Irrespective of reports in the Japanese-language media, the sport is not sinking into the abyss with the continued success of its foreign...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 17, 2007

SDF emerging as the military it truly is

The government has steadily expanded the activities of the Self-Defense Forces since the 1990s as the nation sought to play greater roles in international political and security affairs. Public perceptions toward the SDF have also changed in line with changes in the security environment, espe cially...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2006

Second Kansai runway no cure

OSAKA -- Kansai International Airport has earned international praise for its clean lavatories and other services, but its goal of being a major Asian hub appears to be sinking and the controversial, costly, hard-fought second runway set to open in less than a year appears unlikely to turn things around....
MORE SPORTS
Apr 26, 2006

Scandal causes 8 JSF officials to step down

Eight members of the Japan Skating Federation executive committee will resign at the end of June over their alleged involvement in questionable business operations, federation officials said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2006

Why America needs the U.N.

We have to live in and manage a world in which the threat and use of force remain an ever present reality. The material capacity, economic efficiency, political organization and military skills in the use of force determine the international power hierarchy. Great powers rise and fall on the tide of...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 24, 2006

Can Japan absorb foreign influx?

When discussing the recent ethnic riots in France, The Economist newsmagazine ("Minority Reports," Nov. 10, 2005) posed an important question: How come some countries assimilate immigrants more peacefully than others?
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2005

China's new 'peace offensive'

China has launched a public-relations offensive. The publication of a white paper on the country's "peaceful development" is designed to quiet concerns about China's growing affluence and how Beijing intends to use the influence that it wields. It is a difficult assignment. China may be assured of its...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2005

Asian chance after Annan

The term of Kofi Annan as U.N. secretary general (SG) expires Dec. 31, 2006. Countries and individuals have begun to position themselves to succeed him. If Asians are to have a credible chance of filling what should rightfully be their turn at the job, their discussions and negotiations in the next six...
COMMUNITY
Jun 25, 2005

Rape earns dubious distinction as a weapon of war

ISLAMABAD -- Before World War I, casualties of armed conflicts were largely limited to battlefields and the soldiers upon them. Combat doctrine and equipment favored flat plateaus, fields or deserts removed from civilian populations. Unless the action took place in a populated area, civilians seldom...
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2005

Credit card data thieves ring up 110 million yen

Data on about 46,000 Visa card holders have been stolen and so far, more than 110 million yen in illicit purchases have been reported, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2004

Aiming for Earth-friendly development

PARIS -- This is a season of renewed hope and concern for the fate of the Earth's climates. Five thousand delegates from government and civil society gathered last week at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Climate Convention in Buenos Aires, only weeks after Russia ratified the Kyoto Protocol....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2004

Rice genome is decoded; now expect new varieties to crop up

An international team of scientists has completed the sequencing of the rice genome, an accomplishment that should lead to the development of new varieties of rice to meet different needs, including resistance to disease.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2004

Breaking the cycle of terrorism

Three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the world is not safer and the war on terrorism appears to be getting harder to win, no matter what U.S. President George W. Bush says. The proliferation of terrorist attacks is a fact of life no one can disregard. It is time for the international community to...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2004

Going global with civic virtues

How do we instill civic virtue in the global marketplace to civilize and tame it so that we arrive at the place where the market serves the people instead of where people are served up to the market? Around half of the world's 100 largest economies are private companies. This gives the private sector...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2004

Pie-in-the-sky Asian monetary reform

GUATEMALA CITY -- Following the experiences of the European Union's euro zone, a common currency area for Asia has been widely discussed. Even though an Asian monetary union is a fantasy that ignores both economic and political realities, respectable economists have bought into the idea.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2004

Afghanistan deserves the world's support

MANILA -- The international donor community and the Afghan government will meet in Berlin later this week to discuss strategies and funding for the future development of Afghanistan. It will be one of the most important international events of 2004, with implications reaching far beyond Afghan borders....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 29, 2003

Carol Smith-Wright

This year the International Ladies Benevolent Society marks its half century of uninterrupted philanthropic activities on behalf of organizations and people in need, mostly in Japan. Principally through its annual ball and its Christmas Fair, ILBS raises money that it donates to approved institutions...
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2003

Iran seeks Japan's help in resolving nuclear issue

Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Kamal Kharrazi on Friday asked for Japan's support in resolving the issue of Iran's nuclear development within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2003

Malaysian mood resurgent as Mahathir bids farewell

SINGAPORE -- After more than 20 years at the helm of Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will step down Friday to make way for his chosen successor, Abdulla Badawi, who will become the country's fifth prime minister. All indicators point to a smooth and successful political transition, only the...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 26, 2003

Jiro Hirano

When he was poised between high school and university in the late 1950s, Jiro Hirano had a vague idea that in life he wanted to do "something international." He knew he didn't want to study at the University of Tokyo, as his father and brother and cousins had before him. "I wanted to have a way of my...
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2002

JAL group operating profit dropped 26.7% in first half

Japan Airlines Co. said Friday its group operating profit for the first half of the business year fell 26.7 percent on a year-on-year basis to 28.55 billion yen.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2001

Child exploitation congress closes

YOKOHAMA-- A four-day international conference concluded here Thursday with the adoption of a statement reaffirming the need for the protection and promotion of the right of every child to be protected from all forms of sexual exploitation.
COMMENTARY
Nov 6, 2001

For an unfettered peace role

The Diet last Monday enacted an antiterrorism bill that would allow the Self-Defense Forces to give an unprecedented level of support to U.S.-led forces overseas, along with two related bills. The main bill, which provides for rear-area support, does not let the SDF take part in combat operations. It...
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2001

Transport ministry unveils its draft of privatization plan

Under strong pressure from the reformist Koizumi Cabinet, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry unveiled a draft plan Friday to privatize six controversial road- and housing-related semigovernmental corporations.
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2001

'Sold to the highest bidder'

U.S. President George W. Bush's plans for antimissile-defense highlight the threat posed by rogue nations. Many security experts warn that the real national defense issue is not ballistic missiles, but the warheads they carry. Nuclear proliferation is the danger. According to a new study, that threat...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2000

Shining a light on global 'Big Brother'

Perhaps more appropriately to the world of James Bond than to the European Union, Echelon -- an international spying network in which governments covertly cooperate to intercept global communications -- is causing a stir in the European Parliament.
COMMUNITY
Jan 9, 2000

Good I-house innkeeper still making world news

Meet my first man of the 2000s after last Sunday's press holiday. Hiroshi Matsumoto may be 70, and a "banto," but a more civilized and forward-thinking innkeeper you are unlikely to meet in the next 99 years (or 999 years, for that matter).

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan