Search - question

 
 
COMMENTARY
Nov 10, 2004

Dealing with the nuclear-threat hydra

LONDON -- The U.S. government has named Iran and North Korea as rogue states. Iran is accused of seeking to develop nuclear weapons and breaching the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). North Korea may already have a few nuclear devices and has announced its withdrawal from the NPT. The two states...
EDITORIALS
Nov 9, 2004

Making money politics not pay

In yet another case of political corruption, former Lower House member Muneo Suzuki, who once held important posts in the Cabinet and the Liberal Democratic Party, has been sentenced to two years in prison by the Tokyo District Court for bribery and other offenses. Significantly, the court did not grant...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 9, 2004

What do you think of Japan's health-care system?

Magdalena Korb Consultant, 31 I have both Japanese health care and private health care. Here, it's like, take this medicine, but they never explain what the medicine is or what it's for. In Europe they give you a list of what could happen to you.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2004

Neocon lessons for Democrats

WASHINGTON -- As Democrats comb the 2004 election results for lessons, one should be obvious: we need bolder, newer ideas, particularly in this post-9/11 world in the realm of foreign policy. Just as neocons have provided much of the spark and intellectual energy behind modern-day Republicanism, Democrats...
EDITORIALS
Nov 8, 2004

Signpost to cooperation

As the world's leader, postelection America faces two challenges: One is to regain its reputation as a nation that is respected abroad; the other is to establish an enduring system of cooperation with the international community.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2004

Japan now has to get serious about greenhouse gases

When Russian President Vladimir Putin put the finishing touches on his country's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on Friday, reducing greenhouse gas emissions also moved one notch higher on Japan's policy agenda.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2004

Koizumi, Bush like two peas in a pod

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi displayed typical forthrightness last month when he openly backed President George W. Bush -- a man he calls his friend -- in the U.S. presidential election.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Nov 6, 2004

Magic a surprise out of gate; Lakers looking pretty lame

NEW YORK -- "It's never too early to revolutionize opinions or retract them," that's my saying.
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2004

Get ready for rising prices

For the first time in eight years, Japan's consumer prices (excluding those of perishable food) are forecast to rise on an annual basis, albeit only slightly. A 0.1 percent increase in consumer prices is expected for the fiscal year starting April 1, 2005, according to an economic and price outlook released...
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2004

Ministry proposes 2,400 yen per ton carbon tax plan

The Environment Ministry unveiled a carbon tax Friday to discourage use of fossil fuels and promote the use of energy-saving appliances so Japan can meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2004

A nation that remains divided

A lthough the final results, as in the 2000 election, will be delayed, U.S. President George W. Bush has won a second term in office. Democratic Sen. John Kerry could have dragged out the fight with legal challenges and demands for a recount, but he decided that the president's lead margin was too large...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Nov 4, 2004

Thinking of naming your baby 'Spiderman'? Think again

Unlike that of many countries, the Japanese government has the legal authority to prevent parents from giving their children certain names -- say the kanji incarnation of "Spiderman."
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 4, 2004

Nintendo DS: A wacky winner

Let's discuss the hard facts first.
EDITORIALS
Nov 3, 2004

Time to review Iraq policy

The Japanese hostage crisis in Iraq has ended in the death of Mr. Shosei Koda, a 24-year-old traveler, whose decapitated body was found in central Baghdad on Sunday. He had been detained by Islamic militants demanding that Japan withdraw its troops from the country. The government, having failed in its...
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
Nov 2, 2004

The world holds its breath

A mericans go to the polls on Tuesday, with President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry running neck in neck down to the wire. Once again it is an election too close to call -- a reminder of the 2000 race, whose final outcome hung in the balance for 36 days because of disputes over vote counting. One...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2004

Weak-dollar policy said needed by 2008

The U.S. administration to emerge from Tuesday's presidential election will have to shift to a weak-dollar policy at some point in the next four years, a U.S. expert on trade issues told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2004

Bin Laden exploiting Western divisions

SEOUL -- Ban Ki Moon, ordinarily a mild and discreet gentleman, could barely contain smoldering anger over the "October surprise" as he sat down for breakfast with me just hours after Al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language news network, released a videotape apparently starring the inimitable Osama bin Laden....
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2004

Opposition demands SDF pullout from Iraq

Opposition parties demanded Sunday that the government withdraw the Self-Defense Forces from Iraq after a 24-year-old Japanese traveler who had been abducted by militants was found beheaded.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 31, 2004

At-home dads

Kazuyuki Yamamura is a tall, good-looking man in his 30s, who was also good at his job. In fact, not so long ago he bought a house for himself, his wife and their kindergarten-age daughter in a leafy suburb of Tokyo. Then, unexpectedly, his company found itself in choppy financial waters -- and he was...
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2004

Hosoda scrambles to defend Emperor's comment

Emperor Akihito did not violate the Constitution when he said teachers and students should not be forced to sing the national anthem and pay homage to the flag, the top government spokesman said Friday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 29, 2004

Nagoya takes on Osaka

Psst! Heard about the hottest "new" place in Japan? The city that's rapidly gaining a national reputation for being at the cutting edge of women's fashion and is, perhaps, the country's most vibrant economic center?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 28, 2004

For Japanese, family names are the worst growing pains

Japanese family relationships have never been simple.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 28, 2004

Where the candidates stand on your environment

When it comes to politics, I'm a one-issue voter, and the environment is my litmus test. More often than not, if a politician is responsive to environmental concerns, then he or she is likely to support other policies I care about.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2004

U.S. has no reason to fear that ICC will abuse rights

NEW YORK -- After the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1998, laying out the foundations for the International Criminal Court, many believed that this organ of justice would never materialize. There were already indications that the United States would not support such a court in all its aspects. Rejection...
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2004

Subsidy reforms under siege

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's initiative to give local governments more fiscal freedom is meeting stiff resistance from within his own administration. He wants to achieve his goal by cutting state subsidies. To make up for subsidy cuts, the central government needs to shift more of its tax-collecting...
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2004

ODA looks wasted on China

This year Japan marks the 50th anniversary of the official development assistance program it launched after getting out of the postwar economic chaos. The Foreign Ministry's 2004 white paper on ODA boasts that Japan, now one of the world's largest ODA providers, has made major contributions to the economic...

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