Search - politics

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2002

Ex-governor pleads guilty to taking bribes

Former Tokushima Gov. Toshio Endo pleaded guilty Friday to charges of receiving 8 million yen in bribes from a business consultant in 1997 and 2000 in return for helping a local construction firm win public works projects in the prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Jul 16, 2002

Afghanistan relives its past

The murder of Mr. Abdul Qadir, the vice president of Afghanistan, has heightened fears that the country is sliding once again into chaos. No suspects have been caught in the brazen midday attack, but speculation about the cause runs from a tribal vendetta to an attempt to undermine the government. The...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 14, 2002

An impassioned indictment of terror

SRI LANKA: The Arrogance of Power-Myths, Decadence and Murder, by Rajan Hoole. Colombo: University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), 2001, 504 pp., 8,000 rupees (cloth) During the nearly two decades of Sri Lanka's civil war, more than 60,000 people have died or disappeared, leaving behind wounded families...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2002

Eliminate the major source of inter-Korean naval clashes

SEOUL -- As a result of the latest North-South naval clash on the West Sea, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's "sunshine policy" is now in shambles. But it need not have been so. Even before the defense ministers of the two Koreas sat down almost two years ago in Cheju following the 2000 Pyongyang...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 13, 2002

Ciaran Murray

"I had to come to Japan, to sit in a garden and discover something of Japanese culture, in order to write the history of my hometown," Ciaran Murray said.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

FTA with Chile just isn't in the cards

Widely known as a feverish operagoer, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may politely but disappointingly tell an exasperated Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, "Please wait patiently until the fat lady sings."
COMMENTARY
Jul 9, 2002

Turmoil after Diet adjourns

The regular Diet session, which was extended in late June for 42 days through the end of July, is entering a critical period. Since it opened in January, the Diet has performed poorly, with a number of key bills still awaiting action.
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2002

A maverick among conservatives

In the hotly contested Nagano gubernatorial election held in October 2000, uncommitted voters gave a smashing victory to Mr. Yasuo Tanaka, a popular writer who is vehemently opposed to dam construction. On Friday, in a politically and emotionally charged climax to the running dispute between the governor...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2002

Howard's hesitation on ICC draws fire

SYDNEY -- A split in the Howard Cabinet ranks over whether to join the United States in refusing to support an International Criminal Court is the most serious threat yet to the dream run so far enjoyed by the Canberra government.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2002

Japan's close encounter with the West

'By reading, hearing, and by observation in foreign lands, our people have acquired a general knowledge of constitutions, habits and manners as they exist in most foreign countries. . . . Japan cannot claim originality as yet, but it will aim to exercise practical wisdom by adopting the advantages, and...
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2002

India now ripe for foreign investment, expert says

Conventional wisdom says that doing business in India is a difficult proposition, given its unstable politics and restrictive investment environment.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 7, 2002

Japan's diplomatic balancing act

JAPANESE FOREIGN POLICY IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC: Domestic Interests, American Pressure and Regional Integration, edited by Akitoshi Miyashita and Yoichiro Sato. Palgrave, 2001, 208 pp., $40 (cloth) Japan is frequently criticized for "punching below its weight" in international affairs. That is another...
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2002

Malaysia without Mr. Mahathir

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has announced that he plans to step down. It is difficult to envision that country without Mr. Mahathir at the helm: He provided Malaysia with its energy, its backbone and its vision. His pride and sharp tongue also made him a lightning rod for criticism, but...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 4, 2002

Solving the nation's waste problem and raising bilingual kids

Everyone is aware of the problem of garbage. With Tokyo alone throwing away 6,000 tons of food a day, kitchen waste in particular is a practical as well as a moral concern.
COMMENTARY
Jul 3, 2002

South Korea and Japan emerge victorious in World Cup

Listening to the South Korea fans cheering "Dae-han-min-guk" (Republic of Korea) after their World Cup match against Germany on June 25 and watching fireworks light up the Seoul skyline, it was hard to realize that the South Korean team had lost its semifinal match.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2002

September to see Cabinet shuffle, claims Yamasaki

The secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Sunday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is planning a Cabinet shuffle in September.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2002

Growing minority blurs borders of Chinatowns

In 1919, 15-year-old Zeng Yaoquan from Guang Dong Province, southern China, arrived at Yokohama port to work as a servant at a trading house that imported rice and other crops from China, run by one of his relatives.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2002

Flawed peace plan reflects U.S. illusions

AL-BIREH, West Bank -- Monday's long-awaited speech by U.S. President George W. Bush was to set the pace for the Palestinians and Israelis to step back from the vicious and bloody cycle of violence that has gripped them for nearly two years. Instead, Bush and his administration have publicly adopted...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2002

Labour spinning backward

LONDON -- When its press becomes the story, a country is in a strange shape.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2002

Shenyang highlights bilateral problems

BEIJING -- Although the furor raised by the two-week dispute over the Shenyang incident has died down, it has not entirely dissipated -- particularly in Japan. The incident highlighted Japan's sensitivity toward China's growing power, and demonstrated that if frictions in this area are not effectively...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2002

In danger of becoming white elephants

There is a growing trend among prefectural governments to distance themselves from Kasumigaseki, the seat of the nation's bureaucracy, as moves accelerate to decentralize the national government and a recent ban, issued in response to a series of scandals, prevents lawmakers from wining and dining ministry...
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2002

Mr. Bush's Middle East dilemma

U.S. policy toward the Middle East is reaching a critical point. Although every U.S. instinct is to keep a safe distance from the explosive conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the administration of President George W. Bush is being forced to take a more active role in the region. The success...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 23, 2002

Overcoming the tyranny of distance

TREASON BY THE BOOK: Traitors, Conspirators and Guardians of an Emperor, by Jonathan Spence. London: Penguin Books, 2002, 302 pp. 7.99 UK pounds (paper) In his short story "The Great Wall of China," Franz Kafka wonderfully evokes the enormity and complexity of imperial China by describing the travails...
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

A judiciary ruled by conscience or politics?

The Constitution states that all judges must exercise their conscience in an independent manner and be bound only by the charter and the laws of the land.
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2002

Mr. Chirac gets a second chance

The resurgence of the French right is complete. Conservatives won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections held last weekend; coming on the heels of President Jacques Chirac's re-election in early May, the right now has a chance to rule unconstrained. The victory is tainted, however, by massive...

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