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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2008

WHO's sick manifesto for global recession

LONDON — The World Health Organization claimed this week that "social injustice is killing people on a grand scale." Its major report on the "Social Determinants of Health" concludes that social and economic inequality is a major global cause of disease and that only massive government intervention...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 28, 2008

Burying our heads in the sand

We've all heard the warning, "If it looks too good to be true, it probably is."
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2008

Panel mulls strategies to export Japan culture, arts

Bolster government support for the booming arts of "manga" and "anime," or lay the groundwork for new cultural exports to emerge.
Reader Mail
Mar 6, 2008

Proof of peaceful nuclear program

The Feb. 22 report of the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which plainly declares the implementation of the Work Plan (INFCIRC/711) and thus resolves all outstanding issues, serves as the clearest evidence ever coming from the Agency, unambiguously attesting to the exclusively...
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 2007

The unending humanitarian nightmare

NEW YORK — In August 2002, Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, wrote a prescient article in The Wall Street Journal warning of the dire consequences of invading Iraq. His predictions are confirmed in a new report by Oxfam, the British aid agency...
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2007

Foreign labor need exposes dearth of rights

OSAKA -- As the debate intensifies over allowing more foreign workers into Japan to make up for the coming labor shortage, human rights groups have recently stepped up efforts to push for a law against discrimination.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 27, 2006

Our family festivities run foul of hard facts

Christmas has become a modest affair in our family. Our son gets a few presents and the adults get a day of peace and quiet.
EDITORIALS
Aug 18, 2006

Threat to confidentiality

As part of international efforts to stop money laundering by criminal organizations and money transfers by terrorist groups, the government is preparing a new bill that it hopes to submit to a regular Diet session next year.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 28, 2006

Marine management is all at sea

Our oceans and seas are in deep trouble, and if the Japanese government is to be believed, part of the blame rests with the whales.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2006

Panel proposes ODA committee, enlarging JICA's role

A government advisory panel proposed Tuesday that a new strategic committee for foreign assistance be set up and the Japan International Cooperation Agency's functions be expanded.
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2004

U.S. strategies pose risks

Japan's security and defense policies are at a major turning point. The policies are still based on the deployment of the Self-Defense Forces and the American forces stationed in Japan, as stipulated in the bilateral security treaty, but roles are changing drastically in accordance with transformations...
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2004

Panel backs 'flexible' defenses, arms trade

A government advisory panel recommended Monday that Japan scrap some of the basic principles that have guided the nation's postwar, self- defense-oriented security policy and be more flexible in drawing up a new defense strategy.
COMMENTARY
Mar 8, 2003

Japan's oil diplomacy is dead

LOS ANGELES -- Since September 2001, Tokyo has come a long way toward redefining its international security interests. One significant result of this is that should any American hostages be taken in the war with Iraq or anywhere else in the Middle East, the Japanese are not likely to be indifferent to...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 26, 2002

Ozone hole? Soon it could be . . . 'what hole?'

Despite the international set-to over Iraq and caustic reviews for the recent U.N. Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, there is still some good news on cooperation and the environment.
BUSINESS
Sep 10, 2002

Lending by banks dropped 4.5% in August: BOJ

Lending by Japanese banks fell 4.5 percent in August from a year earlier, marking the 56th consecutive month of decline, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2002

Diplomatic prowess for less

A ministerial meeting of the Initiative for Development in East Asia, held in Tokyo on Aug. 12, acknowledged the significance of maintaining adequate Official Development Assistance as a tool for strengthening regional cooperation and agreed to examine how to make more effective use of ODA. The meeting...
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2002

Regrets and resolutions

The Foreign Ministry's latest annual report reads partly like a litany of resolutions. That is only to be expected given the series of incidents and scandals that have hit the foreign service over the past year or so. Naturally, the blue book, as the report is commonly known, calls for a string of steps...
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2001

Security alliance redefined after end of Cold War

Staff writer In August 1990, when then Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu telephoned U.S. President George Bush to offer a $1 billion contribution to the U.S.-led multinational forces in the Persian Gulf, Bush offered a disappointed-sounding "Thank you" before hanging up.
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2001

Name them and shame them

Money laundering was once considered a problem of "rogue" bankers. No longer. It is becoming increasingly clear that no one is immune to the siren song of easy profits. Earlier this month, major U.S. banks were slammed for their willingness to look the other way when dealing with ill-gotten funds. Public...
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2000

Greenpeace calls for action on forests

Environmental group Greenpeace on Thursday urged the Group of Eight countries to stop subsidizing "destruction of the last ancient forests" within two years.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2000

Japan should rebrand itself: Blair adviser

Mark Leonard had a somewhat negative image of Japan before his arrival, thinking that people would be pessimistic over the prolonged economic downturn and that Tokyo would resemble a ghost town populated by listless youths.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2000

Yakult exec pleads not guilty over Princeton bonds fraud

The former vice president of Yakult Honsha Co. pleaded not guilty Thursday to aggravated breach of trust in connection with illicit transactions of so-called Princeton bonds that caused 530 million yen worth of damage to the firm.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1999

Amnesty slams Japan for prison abuses

Amnesty International criticized Japan for mistreating prison inmates and suspects under police custody and in detention houses in its annual report on worldwide human rights concerns released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1999

Finance panel urges redesign of Asia forex system

Japan should actively participate in designing new foreign exchange systems for crisis-hit Asian countries, an advisory panel to the finance minister said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 1999

Small weapons, big problems

The major challenge for post-Cold War disarmament negotiations on conventional weapons is to devise ways of controlling machine guns, automatic rifles and other small arms. Those are main weapons used in civil wars in Asia, Africa and Central America. To tackle the challenge, the U.N. Group of Governmental...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 1998

Specify priority ODA sectors, panel tells Obuchi

The nation needs to specify priority sectors in extending official development assistance because its resources are under restraint due to tight fiscal policy, according to a final report released Tuesday by a 10-member private consulting body to Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi."Japan's ODA has been well...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1997

Japanese curriculum planning takes worldly shift

In preparation for adopting a five-day school week in 2003, an advisory council to the education minister submitted a midterm report Monday urging fewer mandatory classes in the fundamental subjects to create additional room for general studies that foster humanity, creativity, originality and international...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji