Search - special-issue

 
 
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Nov 3, 2005

Aso planning to run for LDP president

Foreign Minister Taro Aso, a potential successor to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, said he will run for president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party next September if he can get the required 20 party members to nominate him.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 31, 2005

Is the American dream now a mirage?

NEW YORK -- Is the American dream just a mirage now? Earlier this year the Wall Street Journal ran a series called "Challenges to the American Dream," casting into doubt the "staple of America's self-portrait" that "a child born in poverty isn't trapped there." If that was putting the matter delicately,...
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2005

EU must win grassroots trust

LONDON, PARIS and ROME-- European leaders have been holding a special meeting at the invitation of British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss what he calls "the strategic issues facing Europe in the years ahead."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2005

TBS scrambling for 'stable' investors

About 55 percent of Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc.'s outstanding shares will likely fall into the hands of long-term shareholders, sources close to the television broadcaster claimed Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2005

Court splits on Hansen's compensation

Judges were split Tuesday on two lawsuits filed by former Hansen's disease patients from South Korea and Taiwan -- the South Korean patients were denied compensation while the Taiwanese were awarded it.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2005

Issues involved in U.S.-Japan base talks

The following questions and answers deal with the deadlock between Japan and the United States over the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture -- the main topic of bilateral working-level talks that began Monday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2005

Germany must be determined on reform: expert

Unless the forthcoming German government of conservative leader Angela Merkel bites the bullet and carries out painful reforms in a determined way, there will be no real domestic demand-led growth in the country, and its leadership in Europe will be limited, a German expert told a recent symposium in...
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2005

James Bond goes Japanese? Tokyo eyes MI6-style spy agency

The idea of a Japanese James Bond may sound hilarious, but serious discussions are under way in Japan on whether to create a secret intelligence service along the lines of Britain's MI6 to conduct overseas espionage.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2005

Osaka's scandal-hit mayor to resign, run again in snap poll

OSAKA -- Osaka Mayor Junichi Seki announced Monday he will resign his post and then run again in a snap election that he said will determine voter faith in his proposed reforms.
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2005

Reining in medical expenditures

The Japanese spent 31.4 trillion yen for medical services in fiscal 2004, or about 246,000 yen per person, an increase of 2 percent from the previous year. The figure of 2 percent may be a small and acceptable growth, requiring no stricter lid on the rise of the nation's medical spending. But Japan's...
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2005

LDP rookies debut in postal deliberations

Three new faces in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who were elected in the Sept. 11 general election as proponents of postal privatization made their debut in the Diet Friday during deliberations on the issue.
COMMENTARY
Oct 3, 2005

Toward a sensible U.S. foreign policy

LOS ANGELES -- An admittedly general but perhaps not insignificant consensus in America on the necessary future direction of U.S. foreign policy appears finally to be emerging -- and not a moment too soon.
Features
Sep 25, 2005

Shinobazu Pond

"Listen," said Nishizawa-san.
COMMENTARY
Sep 18, 2005

Japan to go boldly backward for a while

HONOLULU -- No one predicted the size of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro's election victory last weekend. The landslide win has transformed the landscape of Japanese politics.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2005

Support for Koizumi Cabinet hits 59%

Public support for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet rose to 59.1 percent this week, up 11.8 percentage points from last month, according to a Kyodo News survey released Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2005

Ailing DPJ prepares to pick new boss

A day after being clobbered in Sunday's general election, the Democratic Party of Japan said it will vote for a new party leader this weekend.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2005

Pyongyang palliative is Bush's bitter pill

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut -- Although buried by headlines from Iraq and Hurricane Katrina-devastated U.S. Gulf Coast region, the fourth round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, about to resume in Beijing, presents the best chance yet to resolve diplomatically the simmering crisis on the...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Sep 9, 2005

Despite troubles, Gooden blessed

I got a bit choked up the other day.
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2005

Try again with rights bill

The government was to have submitted a human-rights protection bill during the most recent session of the Diet. Various reasons are cited for the bill's failure to reach the Diet floor, including government leaders' obsession with other hot-button issues such as postal-service reform. Still, legislation...
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2005

JCP wants united front on postal bills

The Japanese Communist Party plans to call on other parties to join hands to scrap the postal privatization bills that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi aims to resubmit to the Diet after Sunday's general election, JCP chief Kasuo Shii said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2005

A child-rearing environment

Policy proposals for creating an economic and social environment conducive to childbearing and child-rearing should be an important issue for voters to consider in next Sunday's Lower House election. An accelerating decline in the birthrate, followed eventually by a smaller labor force, will have a great...
Sep 1, 2005

Absentee voters get chance to cast ballots

Japanese voters living abroad were given a chance to cast their ballot Wednesday for the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election, with special offices opening in Sydney, Seoul, Beijing and other major cities.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 28, 2005

Intelligent Design: One chance encounter explains it all

Ijust happened to be reading the Kansas City Star the other day when a fascinating article caught my eye. The Star reported, in its Aug. 2 edition, that the Kansas Board of Education has approved a draft of new science standards proposed by supporters of so-called Intelligent Design.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell