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COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2001

Regionalism threatens global prosperity

LOS ANGELES -- Not many prominent Americans saw the huge cloud forming over globalization as early as did then-President Bill Clinton. After an address on the subject at last year's World Economic Forum in Davos -- in which he virtually pleaded with well-heeled corporate execs to put themselves in the...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2001

History will affirm Kim's heroism, vision

SEOUL -- A classical drama consists of five acts. Usually, the key part occurs in the third act. In this regard, the North Korea policy of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung may have something in common with classical theater.
COMMENTARY
Mar 9, 2001

The LDP just doesn't get it

Japanese politics is in a state of dysfunction. Symbolic of the problem is the fact that even though Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet survived an opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion, there are moves in the governing Liberal Democratic Party to unseat him.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2001

FSA should hire experts to enhance effectiveness of No-Action Letter system

Third in a series
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2001

Reply to No-Action Letter clarifies insurance rescues

The first article on the debut of the No-Action Letter system focused on why it is necessary to create a standardized, public interface through which the Financial Services Agency can promptly respond to financial institutions' questions and concerns about compliance with regulatory issues.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2001

Hashimoto prospering in new Cabinet

Former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who joined Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet in the December reshuffle, is showing great zeal and is even outshining Mori, according to political pundits.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

A question of hegemony

An implicit alliance has emerged in Washington since the Cold War's end between avowedly "Wilsonian" liberals, anxious to extend American influence and federate the democracies, and unilateralist neoconservative believers in U.S. power projection, who call for American world leadership, aggressively...
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2000

Another round in Kashmir

It is difficult to get excited about talk of peace in Kashmir. India and Pakistan, the two main parties to the conflict in that troubled region, have tried and abandoned a series of initiatives in recent years. Indeed, India refuses to involve Islamabad in any discussions, and this is despite the fact,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2000

Look to history for guidance

THE REICHSTAG, Berlin -- Here in this building, 68 years ago, German democracy died, ushering in the darkest period of 20th-century history.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 28, 2000

Miserable every step of the way

REDISCOVERING NATSUME SOSEKI, with the first English translation of "Travels in Manchuria and Korea." Introduction and translation by Inger Sigrun Brodey and Sammy I. Tsunematsu. Folkestone, Kent: Global Books, 2000, 155 pp., 24 b/w plates, 2,950 yen. In the autumn of 1909, Natsume Soseki, already...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2000

Two countries, one system?

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Last week, Willy Wo-Lap Lam lost his job as the China correspondent on the South China Morning Post. That technically he resigned rather than be "promoted" to a non-China-related job is irrelevant, as it was clear that he was not going to be allowed to continue writing his weekly...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Web site gets volcano evacuees online and in touch

Hiroyuki Noda never imagined that he would become a messenger for fellow Miyake Island residents when he bought a personal computer six years ago to keep books for his inn and diving shop.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2000

Why do some doctors anesthetize brain-dead patients?

Tetsuo Furukawa, professor emeritus of neurology at Tokyo Medical and Dental School, is a rarity in Japan: a neurologist who has been crusading against the practice of transplanting organs from brain-dead donors. Furukawa worries that patients in a supposedly brain-dead state may nevertheless feel pain,...
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2000

Mori recants as friends, foes slam abduction plan

Retracting comments made earlier by his government, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori admitted during Tuesday's Diet session that a controversial proposal for finding Japanese nationals allegedly abducted by North Korean agents was not merely the personal opinion of a ruling party lawmaker.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2000

HIV victim's mom rocks voters' boat

The outspoken mother of an HIV-infected man who became a symbol of citizens' fight for justice during the 1995-96 tainted blood scandal, is challenging established political parties in the Oct. 22 House of Representatives by-election in Tokyo's western suburbs.
COMMENTARY
Oct 13, 2000

Communists to 'tolerate' SDF

The national convention of the Japan Communist Party is expected to approve a proposal in November to revise its charter in order to tolerate the mobilization of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in a military emergency. The policy turnaround to match the party's basic stance to reality was long overdue....
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2000

JCP reforms in name only

The Japanese Communist Party, at the Sept. 19 general meeting of the Central Committee, proposed scrapping the preamble to the party charter that sets out basic principles for its activities and organization. The preamble contains words symbolic of the Communist Party, such as "socialist revolution,"...
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2000

Denmark says 'No, thank you'

The Danish people voted this week against adopting the euro. With nearly 90 percent of eligible voters going to the polls, Denmark rejected the European Union's single currency by a narrow 53-47 margin. The result is a bitter disappointment for the country's political and business establishment, which...
COMMENTARY
Sep 26, 2000

Hazards of electoral reform

The tripartite ruling coalition is moving to submit to the Diet a bill for a new Upper House proportional-representation voting system that would allow voters to choose either individual candidates or political parties when casting ballots. The Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2000

U.S. forces remain critical to Northeast Asian security

WASHINGTON -- There has been a sea change in the political landscape in Northeast Asia, particularly on the Korean Peninsula. In South Korea, the success of multiparty democracy is changing how the United States interacts with its ally. President Kim Dae Jung must deal with voters who increasingly question...
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2000

BOJ under pressure on zero interest rate

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday came under heavy political pressure to keep its "zero-interest-rate" policy during a meeting with the government's most influential politicians on economic matters.
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2000

Updating the nuclear debate

LONDON -- Appearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary William Cohen has confirmed that he and his colleagues see the threat to the United States of long-range missile attack as growing. The intention to develop a national missile defense system against is therefore still...
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 2000

United States puts junk science on trial

There are few more potent combinations than lawyers and journalists in the United States today. Together they can demonize, loot and even bankrupt the largest industry. And do so based on the flimsiest evidence. But the tide is turning, as evidenced by the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Louis...
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Rain-aided coalition cruises toward victory

Amid lower-than-expected voter turnout, the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling triumvirate appeared to have secured at least a simple majority in the Lower House in the general election held Sunday, exit polls show.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2000

Education groups rail against December exams

Two organizations representing university presidents and high school principals have submitted opinion papers to the Education Ministry expressing their opposition to a plan to hold college entrance examinations in December, in addition to the current tests held in January, group sources said Saturday....
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2000

Mr. Jospin's star rises

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin celebrated three years in office this week. It was a satisfying moment. The economy is rebounding, France's international status is growing and the prime minister can entertain ambitions for the presidency. But much can change between now and the vote scheduled for...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2000

Official or not, English a must for Japan leaders: symposium

The proposal to make English Japan's official second language has been hotly debated over the past few months, but panelists at a recent symposium say it is Japan's leaders — not necessarily the general public — who need to master the language.
JAPAN
May 25, 2000

Just 29.6% back Mori's Cabinet

A mere 29.6 percent of voters support Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet, according to a Kyodo News public opinion poll released Wednesday, the second worst initial support rate for a Cabinet since 1974.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami