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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
Nov 24, 2010
Japan's declining prestige
LONDON — Japan's prestige abroad has continued to decline despite the change from the clapped out Liberal Democratic Party with its series of old hack prime ministers to a government led by the Democratic Party of Japan. Foreign observers thought that surely a DPJ government must represent a change...
COMMENTARY
Nov 21, 2010
To fold on rights is not an option
LONDON — In his recently published self-justifying and self-congratulatory memoir "Decision Points," former U.S. president George W. Bush declared that the waterboarding of al-Qaida suspects, which he had authorized, was justified because the information obtained from the suspects had been instrumental...
COMMENTARY
Oct 30, 2010
A diet for Britain's defense
One of the first acts of the British coalition government was the establishment of a National Security Council. Its primary task was to prepare a new strategic defense and security review. This was published on the day before the government announced its austerity program.
COMMENTARY
Oct 27, 2010
A British lesson for Japan?
The program of cuts to be made in the British budget over the years to the next election due in 2015 was outlined by Finance Minister George Osborne to Parliament on Oct. 20. The program envisages the elimination of the structural deficit by 2015 and the axing of just under half a million jobs in the...
COMMENTARY
Sep 24, 2010
Pope in a secularized state
LONDON — On Sept. 19, Pope Benedict XVI completed a four-day state visit to Britain. This was the first state visit by a pope to a country that had abjured allegiance to the papacy nearly 500 years ago and had played an important role in the Protestant Reformation.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2010
Corruption is not very sporting
Top players in world sports earn salaries that are staggeringly large. But, if various allegations that have recently been published are true, the earnings of top sportsmen, combined in many cases with huge payments from companies using the stars' images to advertise their products, have not been sufficient...
COMMENTARY
Sep 4, 2010
Coalition on the right track
The British coalition government, formed after the last election between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, has not only survived its first quarter in power but has launched some significant reforms that could change the way Britain is governed.
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 2010
Save overseas assistance
LONDON — The British government, faced with the need to make drastic cuts in government expenditure, has nevertheless decided to ring-fence the overseas aid budget and has pledged to continue to work toward the U.N. target of providing aid equivalent to 0.7 percent of GDP.
COMMENTARY
Aug 2, 2010
Go past Koizumi's reforms to restore the Meiji spirit
LONDON — "Japan has lost its place in world, no longer serious economic power."
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2010
U.K. eyes welfare reform
The cost of providing welfare benefits in Britain has risen by 45 percent in a decade and could rise from £87 billion annually to £192 billion by 2015. These costs are a major element in the national budget.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2010
The price of living longer
The British coalition government has announced that it will set from 2016 the qualifying age for old-age pensions for men at 66 instead of 65. Women have hitherto received old-age pensions at 60, but the qualifying age will be brought into line with that for men through a speedier timetable than hitherto...
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2010
Recipes for curbing deficits
LONDON — Following the Greek financial crisis, governments in Europe have been adopting austerity measures designed to reduce public sector deficits. The main reason that cuts in governments expenditure are needed is that unless clear and determined steps are taken to reduce public sector deficits,...
COMMENTARY
Jun 15, 2010
Poor grades for U.K. schools
LONDON — The new British government has declared its intention to do all it can to improve standards of education in Britain. This was also a high priority for the previous Labour administration. As prime minister, Tony Blair used to declare that his mantra was "education, education, education."
COMMENTARY
May 19, 2010
Coalition off to a good start
Britain's May 6 general election was different from previous elections both in the way the campaigns were conducted and in its final outcome.
COMMENTARY
May 9, 2010
Will the euro live through the Greek crisis?
LONDON — The British, who have not joined the single European currency, have watched somewhat complacently the development of the economic crisis in Greece. They have been happy to leave Greece's rescue to the other countries that use the euro and to the International Monetary Fund.
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2010
Which way will the British go?
The United Kingdom will go to the polls on May 6, almost five years since the last general election. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has clung to power as long as he legally could. Now he must face the electorate. The electorate is fickle and the outcome is uncertain.
COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2010
Getting a leg up on health care
LONDON — The signature by U.S. President Barack Obama of his health care bill was welcomed by most people in Britain and Europe. Many thought that the provision of health care for those not covered by insurance or whose insurance could not be renewed because of an existing health condition was long...
COMMENTARY
Mar 12, 2010
Rule of law vs. security
LONDON — Politicians in Britain and in Japan often talk glibly about the importance of the rule of law. But how many of them have a clear idea of what this important phrase means?
COMMENTARY
Mar 3, 2010
Zero tolerance for bullying
The British media have given prominence recently to allegations that Prime Minister Gordon Brown is a bully who intimidates those who work for him. It has also been alleged that some of his staff have briefed against Cabinet ministers with whom Brown disagrees. The government has dismissed these charges...
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2010
Building the best military
What sort of defense capability is now needed and how much can be afforded?
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

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Longform

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