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November 21, 2024
 

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Hugh Cortazzi

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Hugh Cortazzi
Hugh Cortazzi was posted to British Commonwealth Air Forces in Japan in 1946, and he joined the British Foreign (later diplomatic) service in 1949. After retiring, he worked in the city of London and was an adviser to a number of Japanese companies. He was chairman of the council of the Japan Society from 1985-1995. Since 1983 he has researched and written a number of books about Japanese culture and history and has edited and compiled a series of books on personalities active in Anglo-Japanese relations.
COMMENTARY
Mar 25, 2009
Wrestling with job losses as the recession deepens
In Britain the number of unemployed has reached over 2 million (6.5 percent) and there are fears that the number will rise to over 3 million before the recession ends. In America the rate of unemployment is reported to have risen to 8.1 percent. In European countries that have adopted the euro as their...
COMMENTARY
Mar 6, 2009
Human rights in recession
LONDON — "It's the economy, stupid!" declared Bill Clinton during his U.S. presidential election campaign. He was right then as well as now in emphasizing that economic issues are paramount with voters.
COMMENTARY
Feb 13, 2009
Blaming bankers' bonuses
LONDON — U.S. President Barack Obama has called for an annual salary cap of $500,000 for directors of banks receiving government funds. (It is worth noting that this sum is $100,000 more than the president's salary.)
COMMENTARY
Feb 4, 2009
Protectionism not the answer
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has rejected protectionist measures to mitigate the effects of the present world economic crisis and has condemned the anti-globalization lobby as ignorant and misguided. He and Lord Mandelson, the minister responsible for business affairs and a former EU commissioner,...
COMMENTARY
Jan 16, 2009
Enough to put off a multi-tasker
LONDON — President-elect Barack Obama assumes power (Tuesday) at a time when the United States faces huge problems at home and abroad. Americans and people all around the world are looking to him for leadership and a return to the ideals set out in the U.S. Constitution.
COMMENTARY
Jan 7, 2009
Lessons of the credit crunch
The credit crunch and the deepening recession have provided church leaders, politicians, economists, journalists and armchair philosophers with a good excuse for moralizing and for expounding their views on what happened, why it occurred and what to do to prevent a recurrence.
COMMENTARY
Dec 22, 2008
Japan's global invisibility
Friends of Japan abroad understand why Japanese politicians often assume a low profile in international relations. When they don't — as when paying much-publicized official visits to Yasukuni Shrine or taking a recalcitrant position on whaling — they attract criticism.
COMMENTARY
Dec 10, 2008
Don't allow terrorists to win
The horrific attacks in Mumbai have raised a number of serious questions for the Indian authorities. Why was there no forewarning? Were those responsible for gathering and interpreting intelligence negligent or did they lack adequate resources? Why was the counterterrorist response apparently so slow...
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2008
Common sense versus PC
Presumably the recent remarks of former infrastructure minister Nariaki Nakayama about Japan being ethnically homogeneous were correctly reported. If so his remarks were tactless, in view of Japan's Ainu population, but also showed an ignorance of history. The Japanese are generally considered to be...
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2008
Afghanistan and Pakistan: Can terrorism be eradicated?
One of the most difficult problems facing U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, when he takes office next January, is how to deal with the terrorist threat from inside Afghanistan and Pakistan.
COMMENTARY
Oct 22, 2008
Playing the blame game
The financial crisis has attracted an assortment of accusations including those of irresponsibility, negligence, mendacity and greed. The targets of criticism range from politicians, central bankers, financial regulators, retail bankers, mortgage providers and managers of hedge funds to all the greedy...
COMMENTARY
Oct 9, 2008
Criteria for good leadership
The argument that in a time of crisis experience in government is a necessary qualification for high office has some appeal, but it is not a conclusive reason for choosing a leader. This question became a focus of Britain's two main political parties recently at their respective annual conferences.
COMMENTARY
Sep 25, 2008
Will bankers ever learn?
PARIS — For a week it looked as though banking was not "as safe as houses" (a phrase that has seemed singularly inappropriate recently), but instead would turn into a "house of cards" that might be blown down with a puff of wind.
COMMENTARY
Sep 12, 2008
The future of mini-states
LONDON — Russian recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is a cynical ploy aimed at annoying Georgians and their supporters in the West. If these two enclaves within Georgia deserve to be independent, why has Russia not granted independence to Chechnya or Dagestan?
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 2008
All you need to know about Japan's politics
GOVERNING JAPAN: Divided Politics in a Resurgent Economy, by J.A.A. Stockwin. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2008, 298 pp., £19.99 (paper) Arthur Stockwin, who was until recently Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford, is the leading British expert on Japanese politics....
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2008
Terms of amity for Britain, Japan
LONDON — On Aug. 26, 1858, in Edo (now Tokyo), the Treaty of Yedo was signed by six Japanese commissioners and Britain's Earl of Elgin. This treaty, when ratified in 1859, opened diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries.
COMMENTARY
Aug 19, 2008
Watch the post-Game meddling
LONDON — The Chinese government fought hard for the right to host this year's Olympic Games. It remains to be seen whether the huge costs involved in holding them will have brought commensurate benefits to China.
COMMENTARY
Jul 18, 2008
Cliches won't rescue Earth
LONDON — The recent Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido was one of the least memorable summit meetings. Every G8 spews out cliches; the Hokkaido meeting was no exception. Leaders at the meeting were generally a mediocre lot.
COMMENTARY
Jul 11, 2008
Giving corruption the boot
LONDON — Some people regard corruption as a victimless crime. It is nothing of the kind. Corrupt practices lead to the granting of favors not available to those unwilling or unable to offer bribes, increase costs, and limit competition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 29, 2008
Hiroshige's colorful world of Edo
HIROSHIGE: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, by Melanie Trede and Lorenz Bichler. Taschen (ISBN978-4-88783-357-9), 294 pp., 2008, ¥15,750 (paper, with presentation box)
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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