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July 16, 2024
 

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Keizo Nabeshima
COMMENTARY
Nov 19, 2001
Japan needs a new foreign minister
In a recent speech before the United Nations General Assembly, former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa proposed that an international conference be held urgently to discuss ways of bringing peace to Afghanistan and rebuilding the war-torn country. Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, not the 82-year-old Miyazawa,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 6, 2001
For an unfettered peace role
The Diet last Monday enacted an antiterrorism bill that would allow the Self-Defense Forces to give an unprecedented level of support to U.S.-led forces overseas, along with two related bills. The main bill, which provides for rear-area support, does not let the SDF take part in combat operations. It...
COMMENTARY
Aug 14, 2001
Cleaning up after Tanaka
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi faces a serious problem: How to restore confidence in Japanese diplomacy, which has been eroded by Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's inept conduct in the first 100 days of his administration.
COMMENTARY
Jul 27, 2001
Budget test for sacred cows
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "structural reforms with no sacred cows" received a boost from the G7 economic summit in Genoa, Italy.
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2001
Avoid temptation of populism
The July 29 Upper House election is effectively a national referendum on the "reform without sacred cows" program of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration. The central question is whether "Koizumi reform" will jump-start Japan's stalled economy and put it back on the long-term recovery course....
COMMENTARY
Jun 28, 2001
The right to collective defense
WASHINGTON -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is scheduled to meet U.S. President George W. Bush June 30 at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. Most likely Koizumi will receive an enthusiastic welcome amid expectations that Japan will change.
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2001
Urgent tasks for Koizumi
Peace and stability in East Asia in the coming years will hinge on Japan's political and economic leadership, North-South rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula, China's policies as an emerging regional power and strategies of the United States, the sole superpower.
COMMENTARY
Jun 2, 2001
Tests for Koizumi's 'vision'
...
COMMENTARY
May 19, 2001
Diplomacy fails to measure up
The administration of President George W. Bush has disclosed major changes in U.S. military and diplomatic strategies. These include the stepped-up deployment of U.S. missile defense systems, the discontinuation of the "two major war" approach and the overhaul of policies toward North Korea.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2001
It's Koizumi vs. the LDP
The public-approval ratings of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's new Cabinet skyrocketed to unprecedented levels of more than 80 percent. Koizumi pledged that his Cabinet would spare no effort in implementing his drastic reform plans.
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2001
Diplomatic tests await Japan
In just the past six weeks, with Japan plunged into a political vacuum following the virtual declaration of resignation by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, several incidents have occurred that have shaken the world: the simultaneous fall of stock prices in Japan, the United States and Europe; the withdrawal...
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2001
A turning point for the LDP
The result of the election to choose a new president of the Liberal Democratic Party will be announced today. This will end a domestic political vacuum that has persisted since Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori revealed his intention of stepping down, over a month ago.
COMMENTARY
Mar 23, 2001
Challenges for Japan-U.S. ties
The joint statement issued in Washington Monday by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and U.S. President George W. Bush is the first political declaration issued by Japan and a Republican administration in the United States in eight years. It marked a starting point for redefining terms of the Japan-U.S. security...
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.
COMMENTARY
Feb 24, 2001
Mori's lame-duck maneuvers
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is coming under increasing pressure to resign. One likely scenario, according to sources in the ruling coalition, goes something like this: In early March, after the fiscal 2001 government budget clears the Lower House, he announces his intention to step down, and later that...
COMMENTARY
Feb 19, 2001
Defense issues move to the fore
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, in a policy speech to the Diet Jan. 31, stated: "Emergency legislation (designed to defend Japan in the event of foreign aggression) is necessary to ensure the security of the state and the people. I intend to initiate considerations in this regard." Earlier, on Jan. 26,...
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2001
Plagued by scandal yet again
Fukushiro Nukaga was forced to resign Tuesday as minister for economic and fiscal policy over allegations that he received 15 million yen from the mutual-aid organization KSD in return for favors. Nukaga denied accepting the money himself but admitted that one of his secretaries had received it. He said...
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2001
Still waiting for real reform
A slimmed-down national government debuted Jan. 6, when Japan's central bureaucracy was reorganized. The realignment cut the number of ministries and agencies, under the Cabinet Office, to 12 from the previous 22.
COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2001
It's time for bold diplomacy
In the 21st century, Japan should rise to the diplomatic challenge of developing strategies to create a new order in East Asia, where confusion still reigns after the end of the Cold War.
COMMENTARY
Dec 18, 2000
At long last, signs of progress
During his Tokyo visit in October 1998, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and then Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi signed a joint declaration on the bilateral partnership for the 21st century. In the document, Obuchi expressed "keen remorse" and apologized for the historical fact that Japan, through...
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

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Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

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