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November 22, 2024
 

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Sarah Benton
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2005
EU elites missing the signals
LONDON -- The "no" vote that seems to have blown apart the whole European project is a crisis of the elites and institutions of Europe, not of the people. In fact, if the jubilant faces of many French people on Monday was a true signal, it might be taken as a triumph for the citizens against those elites,...
COMMENTARY
May 5, 2005
Britain's apolitical election
LONDON -- So powerful has been Prime Minister Tony Blair's dominance of British politics that Thursday's General Election has resolved into one question: Are you for or against his leadership?
COMMENTARY
Apr 9, 2005
School kitchens need a nanny
LONDON -- Turkey twizzlers once divided the nation; now they appear to have united it in a surge of national purpose for reform. This is thanks to a new political hero, chef Jamie Oliver, who, from one of the most despised backgrounds in Britain -- white working-class boy from Essex -- has shown imagination...
COMMENTARY
Mar 6, 2005
Trashing liberties we die for
LONDON -- At the end of last year, 69 men, it is thought, were being held in British prisons as terrorist suspects. Only 11 of these had been convicted of any offense. Twelve were being held in Belmarsh prison without trial (since then, one has been moved to Broadmoor, a high security mental hospital)....
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2005
Fear of rips in the EU fabric
LONDON -- The fear here is that the whole of Europe has succumbed to the virus of racism and that new political parties based on some variant of racism will swell in popular support, win elections, run institutions of state -- including the European Union -- and destroy the civilization that has been...
COMMENTARY
Jan 3, 2005
Modern England leaves Granny behind
LONDON -- "What are we coming to" cried one of the grannies at my Christmas dinner, meaning we, the English. Her small anguish was prompted by the thought of the bank holidays and festive refusal of work that wraps everyone in a haze of food and alcohol, gifts and family, and lets the outer world fend...
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2004
Labour's path to nowhere
LONDON -- Tuesday was one of those quaint ceremonial occasions that cling like barnacles to the slow-moving body of the British ship of state: The queen announced the next year's legislative program.
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2004
International hubris may throttle Labour
LONDON -- There has been more money at the Labour Party conference the past few years than the delegates' parents might ever have dreamed of, let alone the impoverished founders of the workers' party. There has been, and is, more money because the power is with the parliamentary leaders of this party....
COMMENTARY
Sep 3, 2004
Labour seeks a constituency
LONDON -- A ruler can obtain power only with the help of his own people. He uses them to fight against those who revolt against his party. They fill his administrative offices and he appoints them to prestigious and lucrative positions. They help him to achieve his ascendancy. This is true so long as...
COMMENTARY
Aug 2, 2004
Global warming remains the deadliest foe
LONDON -- Perhaps philosophers have a name for it -- this modern phenomenon of continuing to enjoy life in a way that we know is leading to destruction because we feel that there is nothing we can do about it anyway.
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2004
Iraq handover spells relief
LONDON -- Day One of modern Iraq. Never before have the people of Iraq had their political destiny in their own hands. There have been no celebrations. The sound of gunfire is of killing, not festivity.
COMMENTARY
Jun 13, 2004
Personality could crown Gordon Brown
LONDON -- Britain is governed by an unhappy couple -- a pair of men whose relationship excites more attention than any other aspect of British politics.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2004
Blair's hard sell of a new EU
LONDON -- "It's ghastly," Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, said with a shudder. He was speaking of the referendum -- that Prime Minister Tony Blair has declared, after no consultation with his Cabinet, will now be held -- on the draft EU constitution. Why is a referendum ghastly? Because,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 3, 2004
Secret operations rock Blair's boat
LONDON -- From the moment Tony Blair let it be known that he had decided to send troops to Iraq, his days of smooth government were over. The decision unleashed all the dark forces of suspicion and a sense of illegality that are usually contained by democratic institutions. As the prime minister battles...
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2004
British society's fatal divide
LONDON -- Last week the inquiry by Senior Appeals Judge Lord Hutton into the July 18 death of weapons expert Dr. David Kelly cleared all state politicians and civil servants -- bar one -- of any blame for Kelly's death and indicted the media, in particular the BBC, for Kelly's wretched end. The one state...
COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2004
Fantasy of the final solution
LONDON -- WMD: a new acronym for a new century and what a terrible augury of the century. If weapons of mass destruction are ever used for their intended purpose -- to annihilate mankind -- this century will be mankind's last. Perhaps the flippancy of the new century's young adults should after all be...
COMMENTARY
Dec 6, 2003
Keep doors open to refugees
LONDON -- If you're reading this on a plane or in a hotel, you're part of the problem. But even if you're sitting snugly, smugly at home, you may not be the solution.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2003
Britain's institutions fall on hard times
LONDON -- The world I grew up in was dominated by the Tory Party, which had governed for as long as any child could remember, by its icon the royal family, which smiled serenely from every magazine, and by the Church of England, which hosted every major national occasion and ritually adjured us to respect...
COMMENTARY
Oct 8, 2003
Blair style reassures nonunion masses
LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair strides onto the platform, shirt and skin softly gleaming, his gait erect, his manner proud, determined, with a measure of sorrow and a tinge of repentance; his appearance is heart-winningly boyish with his large blue eyes and easy smile, but now there is an...
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 2003
Looking for a few bad men
LONDON -- Will Prime Minister Tony Blair's government fall as a result of the inquiry being led by Lord Hutton into the apparent suicide of weapons expert Dr. David Kelly? Unlikely.
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.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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