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COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 27, 2007

'Multicultural Japan' remains a pipe dream

In February, education minister Bunmei Ibuki called Japan "an extremely homogenous country." Eighteen months earlier, now Foreign Minister Taro Aso described Japan as having "one nation, one civilization, one language, one culture, and one race." What was notable about these comments is that they were...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 27, 2007

Death row: limbo of not knowing when

Japan is among 69 nations, including the United States, that have the death penalty.
EDITORIALS
Aug 16, 2006

The U.N. acts, at last

One month after fighting began in southern Lebanon, the United Nations Security Council last week passed a resolution calling for an end to the conflict. The resolution, which passed unanimously, was the subject of protracted negotiations and the compromises are evident in the final product. Both Israel...
EDITORIALS
Aug 9, 2006

Congo goes to the polls

Hope is fading for the Democratic Republic of Congo. On July 30, the country held multiparty democratic elections for the first time in decades, raising hopes that a ballot might provide the foundation for peace and stability that the Congo has not known in its 46-year history. While that dream is not...
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2006

China unlikely to double-deal over Korea

LOS ANGELES -- China is acting in bad faith on the Korean nuclear issue. That's the provocative suggestion now coming from some Western intelligence circles. It's a scary, foul and ultimately upsetting thought. It may also be wrong.
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2005

Brink of starvation in Niger

Life in the West African country of Niger is hard in the best of times. Now the country is facing a food crisis that threatens hundreds of thousands of lives. A combination of factors -- nature, misguided policies, and neglect -- has left Niger teetering on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, and...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2005

Upper panel can't agree on need for new Article 9

A House of Councilors panel on the Constitution endorsed a final report Wednesday that cites the need to revise the supreme law to ensure new human rights concepts and agrees a female should be allowed to ascend the Imperial throne, but fails to declare a consensus on amending the war-renouncing Article...
COMMENTARY
Jan 23, 2005

The lobbyists who advertise

MANILA -- As the complexity of the issues facing our societies continues to grow, political decision-makers increasingly face the problem of how to handle what is often termed information overkill.
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2004

Challenges for Mr. Karzai

Afghanistan's three-year drive for stability reached a milestone when Mr. Hamid Karzai was sworn in Tuesday as its first popularly elected president. But the road is strewn with obstacles. Ethnic and tribal divisions are clouding prospects for national unity. As yet, there is no end in sight to terrorist...
Japan Times
Features
Nov 7, 2004

Love her or hate her...

Nahoko Takato became famous on the night of April 8 this year, when the Arab satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera aired video footage of her and two other Japanese held blindfolded at gunpoint in Iraq.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2004

How one council can speak for the world

There is almost universal agreement that the U.N. Security Council has become increasingly unrepresentative over the past 59 years. Its five perma- nent members are a self-appointed oligarchy who wrote their own exalted status into the U.N. Charter. International stratification is never rigid, and states...
EDITORIALS
Oct 1, 2004

No illusions about Iraq

The situation in Iraq is deteriorating. That is not a popular view, but it is hard to dispute. The government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi cannot claim to control the entire country, and insurgents are stepping up attacks in an attempt to delay elections planned for January. Failure to hold that vote...
EDITORIALS
Sep 7, 2004

No laughing matter in South Korea

Reports that South Korean scientists secretly -- and unbeknown to the government -- conducted experiments to enrich uranium are another blow to the nuclear nonproliferation regime. News of the tests is proof that nuclear standards have to be toughened and that the Additional Protocol needs to become...
EDITORIALS
Jul 7, 2004

Constitution remains a major issue

The debate over constitutional reform -- supposedly a crucial issue in Sunday's Upper House election -- remains low-key even as the campaign enters the home stretch. It is fairly clear, though, where main parties stand on this subject -- particularly on war-renouncing Article 9. This election, therefore,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2004

Moment of truth for Iran, IAEA

Doubts surrounding Iran's nuclear-energy program continue to mount. Last week, the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution condemning Iran's failure to come clean about its nuclear plans and urging greater cooperation with the nuclear watchdog. The next steps...
COMMENTARY
Apr 5, 2004

Peace mission in full swing

The humanitarian aid and reconstruction activities of the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq have gone into full swing following the deployment of 550 ground troops in Samawah. A year after the Iraq war started, Japan has now deployed a total of about 1,000 Ground, Maritime and Air SDF personnel in the country....
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2004

A maritime nightmare in the making

HONOLULU -- A nightmare in the making is a potential lash-up between seagoing pirates and organized terrorists in Southeast Asia, and it has Asian and American security officials sweating.
COMMENTARY
Oct 4, 2003

Angst builds over next round with North

Japanese diplomacy appears to be in a lull with the situation in Asia centered on the problem with North Korea. Immediately after the six-nation talks were held in the first half of September, reports from Moscow suggested that the next round of six-nation talks would take place in Beijing in early November....
EDITORIALS
Oct 1, 2003

Brace for another round of SARS

Ever since severe acute respiratory syndrome was brought under control this summer, medical authorities have warned that another outbreak could occur in the fall. The world got its first fright last month with reports of occurrences in Singapore and Hong Kong. In fact, the Hong Kong case was not SARS;...
COMMENTARY
Aug 16, 2003

Bridging the U.S.-EU gap

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair sees it as his duty to try to bridge the gap that has widened between America and Europe since U.S. President George W. Bush came to power. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, European support for America was instantaneous and sincere, but American attitudes and behavior...
COMMENTARY
Aug 12, 2003

Test for Japanese diplomacy

The standoff over North Korea's nuclear-arms development is entering a new stage as officials of six nations -- the United States, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China -- prepare to meet soon in Beijing to discuss the threat. At Pyongyang's insistence, the U.S. will hold direct talks with...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 27, 2003

Bottlers ride a 'purity' wave

Japanese people have for generations believed that whatever the times have in store, life's essentials such as water and safety would always be theirs for free.
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2003

U.N. strives to control real weapons of mass destruction

In July 2001 the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus an action program to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. Two months later, the 9/11 terror attacks hit the United States, shifting the focus to international terrorism and the proliferation...
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2003

Threats from the sky and the seas

In late May, a Boeing 727 that had been parked on the Luanda airport tarmac for 14 months lumbered into the Angolan skies and vanished. Nearly a month later, the whereabouts of that plane are still unknown. There is much mystery in African aviation -- the paperwork on many aircraft is questionable --...
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

Details of Iraq's reconstruction seen unlikely to be broached at G7 meet

When finance chiefs and central bankers from major industrialized countries meet in Washington later this week, they probably won't discuss specifics of the rebuilding of Iraq, senior Japanese officials said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 26, 2002

Nuclear blackmail won't fly

Once again, North Korea is playing a game of nuclear brinkmanship. In an eerie throwback to 1994, when a nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula pushed the United States and North Korea to the brink of war, Pyongyang has removed seals and disabled monitoring cameras at nuclear facilities that had been...
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...
EDITORIALS
Mar 23, 2002

Taiwan flexes its muscles

There appears to be a new confidence in Taiwan these days. The island government senses new diplomatic opportunities and is wasting no time in exploiting them. That is understandable, but Taipei must also be cautious. Over-reaching will only anger China, which is ever sensitive to the status of the island...
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2001

Collapse of a BWC review conference

Despite the perceived threat of biological weapons that has been heightened by the anthrax attacks in the United States, a review conference on the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva broke down in disarray last weekend. To the angry disappointment of its allies, including Japan, it was the U.S....
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
May 31, 2001

Globalization leaves too many casualties in its wake

The forces and processes of globalization -- increased trade liberalization, improved environmental standards and "universal" human rights -- have disillusioned a majority of the world's population. Thanks to the Seattle fiasco and street demonstrations in Prague, it is clear that no matter how hard...

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?