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November 15, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2002

Monarchy retains role in Thai democracy

SINGAPORE -- A decade ago this week, tens of thousands of Thais took to the streets of Bangkok to topple Prime Minister Suchinda Kraprayun. Gen. Suchinda had led the successful February 1991 coup d'etat against the elected government of Chatchai Chunhawan. The terms of a constitution drafted on Suchinda's...
EDITORIALS
May 18, 2002

Making a mockery of the public

Once again a Lower House resolution recommending the resignation of the scandal-tainted lawmaker, Mr. Muneo Suzuki, has been shelved. A motion calling for such a resolution to be brought before a plenary session of the House of Representatives was rejected Tuesday, with the Liberal Democratic Party and...
COMMENTARY
May 11, 2002

Koizumi's pain, media's gain

Japan's gossipy media kingmakers have finally gone too far. Not content with creating Japan's system of revolving-door prime ministers, they now want to dump a creature of their own creation, Junichiro Koizumi, only a year after he took office. They want Tokyo governor, Shintaro Ishihara, as his successor....
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2002

Uncertainty shadows Musharraf's regime

ISLAMABAD -- Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, has consolidated his rule with a controversial national referendum seeking a five-year term, but questions central to security interests in South Asia linger over the outlook for his nuclear-armed country.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2002

Signs the Cabinet may fall

As the limitations of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government reveal themselves, there are emerging signs of the possible downfall of his Cabinet. The crushing defeat of a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the Upper House by-election in the Niigata constituency on April 28 was one event testifying...
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2002

The Yasukuni dilemma again

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Sunday once again brought to the fore a dilemma that emerges every time a Japanese prime minister visits the shrine, which is dedicated to the spirits of 2.5 million war dead as well as those of Class A war criminals. The dilemma,...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2002

Time to engage, not bully, North Korea

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Since January 2001, relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have been tense. The various confidence-building measures agreed to at the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung in June 2000 came to a halt after newly elected U.S. President...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2002

The earthquake in France

Take nothing for granted. That is the message French voters sent in the first round of presidential elections held Sunday. In a stunning rebuke to the established order, Mr. Jean-Marie Le Pen, a rightwing extremist, came in second, edging out Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to win the right to challenge...
EDITORIALS
Apr 21, 2002

Upper House needs reform, too

There appears to be no end to the money scandals involving politicians and their aides. On Friday, Mr. Yutaka Inoue, president of the Upper House, resigned amid allegations that his aide took a huge bribe from a construction company. In this year alone, two other legislators surrendered their Diet seats...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Apr 21, 2002

Small Akita town's mayor fights for elderly residents' rights

AKITA -- A remote town nestled among the cedar-covered mountains of Akita Prefecture was suddenly in the spotlight recently due to its unique efforts to protect the rights of its senior citizens.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2002

Africa aid forum searches for solutions

In an attempt to find solutions to Africa's persistent poverty and low economic growth, regional leaders and experts recently met in Tokyo to discuss ways to remedy the continent of its problematic governments.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 7, 2002

Art in the service of empire

WAR, OCCUPATION, AND CREATIVITY: Japan and East Asia -- 1920-1960, edited by Marlene J. Mayo and J. Thomas Rimer with H. Eleanor Kerkham. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001. 406 pp., with 66 b/w plates and numerous photos and drawings. $60 (cloth); $29.95 (paper) "No art, however pure, can be...
COMMENTARY
Mar 25, 2002

Koizumi takes aim at collusion

The scandals involving two Liberal Democratic Party bigwigs -- former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato and former Hokkaido and Okinawa Development Agency Director General Muneo Suzuki -- are a reminder of the cozy ties that bind LDP politicians, bureaucrats and businesses.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 24, 2002

The past made perfect

THE POLITICS OF RUINS AND THE BUSINESS OF NOSTALGIA, by Maurizio Peleggi. Studies in Contemporary Thailand, No. 10, forward by Craig J. Reynolds. Bangkok: White Lotus Press., 2002, 100 pp., 450 baht (paper) Now that Kyoto is to all intents "Kyotoland," it might be instructive to turn to other countries...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2002

'Tommy' Suharto trial also tests judiciary

JAKARTA -- The youngest son of former Indonesian President Suharto went to trial for murder Wednesday. The case is probably the most important test yet of the credibility of Indonesia's legal system. Hutomo Mandala Putra, better known as Tommy, stands accused of masterminding the murder of a Supreme...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Mar 21, 2002

Americans continue to rally behind President Bush's war on terrorism

WASHINGTON -- The last week began with ceremonies marking the six-month anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States. President George W. Bush took advantage of the occasion to project his program for the next phase of the war on terrorism.
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2002

Narrow field helps Koizumi

Immediately after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi fired Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka early Jan. 30, the public approval rate of his government plummeted to about 50 percent from the unprecedentedly high 80 percent it had maintained for nine months since its inception in April. There may be no rebuttal...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 2, 2002

Diplomat-poet shares center stage with Parker 51

If the Indian ambassador to Japan, Aftab Seth, ever loses his pen, the world may come to an end. His world, that is.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2002

Mr. Hun Sen's gamble

The United Nations has withdrawn its support for Cambodian efforts to mount a war crimes tribunal. The decision has dismayed governments that had hoped the world body would assist Phnom Penh as it tried to provide some justice for victims of genocide during the years of Khmer Rouge rule. The U.N. acted...
COMMENTARY
Feb 16, 2002

Kim Dae Jung vs. the 'axis of hawks'

SEOUL -- When the political leaders of the United States and South Korea meet, North Korea takes center stage. This preoccupation with the communist regime has a long tradition in U.S.-South Korean relations. Another tradition -- if we may call it that -- is the unvarying effort on both sides to publicly...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2002

Who is bugging the Chinese leadership?

HONG KONG -- Since it is not opening up to the outside world, but remains a very closed society in terms of its internal politics, China raises more questions than it answers. The latest intriguing episode concerns the bugging of a Boeing 767-300ER purchased in 2000 to be the VIP jet for President Jiang...
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2002

Judge Beijing by its deeds

NEW DELHI -- At a time of growing U.S.-Indian strategic engagement, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's unusually conciliatory tone during his visit to India last week reflected his country's desire to decelerate that process by emphasizing areas of potential Sino-Indian cooperation. China is suddenly signaling...
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2002

Keidanren, Nikkeiren still have hurdles to clear

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren) are putting the final touches on mandatory procedures for their much ballyhooed integration, scheduled for May 28.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2002

Indo-Pakistani crisis: a catalyst for peace

In a way, the Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament was a blessing. It may have pushed two nuclear powers to the edge of a disaster. But the threat of war often helps feuding nations pause and re-examine their priorities and how they affect bilateral relations.
COMMENTARY
Jan 28, 2002

Toughen the antigraft law

"The establishment of political ethics is fundamental to parliamentary politics," states the code of political ethics approved by the Diet in 1985. "We must conduct ourselves with integrity and strive to eradicate political corruption."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 13, 2002

Why North Korea's people starved

THE GREAT NORTH KOREAN FAMINE: Famine, Politics and Foreign Policy, by Andrew S. Natsios. United States Institute of Peace Press, 2002, $19.95 (paper) This is a grim and troubling account of the 20th century's fifth great famine, a calamity that swept through North Korea during the 1990s, claiming an...
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2002

A new framework for stability

The Korean Peninsula remains a potential flash point. The question for 2002 is whether North and South Korea, still technically at war, will be able to promote stability in the region. The answer partly depends on how domestic politics develops in South Korea, which will hold local elections in June...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Koizumi plays public relations game like a pro

This was the year of the Koizumi craze.
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2001

Reduce the vote-value disparity

One long-standing problem in the nation's Lower House electoral system is that the "representative value" of a vote varies considerably between rural and urban districts. In a move to reduce the disparity, a government advisory council last week submitted a report to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi...
COMMENTARY
Dec 17, 2001

Can Koizumi avoid Hosokawa's fate?

It has been nearly eight months since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took office, yet he remains hugely popular. Approval ratings for his administration are above 80 percent and show no sign of falling. How long will this continue?
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Descendants in Philippines denied Japanese citizenship
As attacks surge, who can cull bears in Japan?
Police cars leave the Akita Prefectural Police headquarters to cull bears, in the city of Akita on Thursday.
Japan may triple departure tax to tackle overtourism
A plane takes off from Haneda Airport.
What would a ‘backup capital’ look like for Japan?
The Japan Innovation Party has long sought to get Osaka designated as Japan's backup capital.
Japan fully enters sports streaming era as fans face new dilemmas
Sports fan Tadashi Yokoyama streams basketball and fencing on three screens.
Tatsuya Nakadai: A masterful leading man and postwar icon
Tatsuya Nakadai had the look of a leading man in his youth, but his large and searching eyes suggested the pain and loneliness of an old soul.
As Japan’s female leader rises, can she cross sumo’s sacred line?
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (front center) delivers a speech on the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Sunday. Centuries of belief and tradition still underpin the all-male association's stance of excluding women.
Takaichi doesn’t mince words on Taiwan, but dramatic policy shift unlikely
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session in parliament on Tuesday.
Florist Nicolai Bergmann flourishes outside the box
Florist Nicolai Bergmann shops for fresh flowers at the Ota flower market in Tokyo on Friday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years
By Yukana Inoue

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