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Takamitsu Sawa

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Takamitsu Sawa
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2013
Abe set to overturn legacies of Koizumi and Nakasone
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is reviving the old Liberal Democratic Party, having undone moves by former Prime Ministers Yasuhiro Nakasone and Junichiro Koizumi toward smaller government.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 16, 2013
Lack of liberal arts education is sapping Japan's creativity
The plight of the Japanese manufacturing industry today is in part caused by its engineers' lack of a liberal arts education.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 18, 2013
Interest in climate change ebbs
It's puzzling why so few arguments have been made in Japan this summer to link the heat waves and local cloudbursts to global warming and climate change.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 14, 2013
Major parties both fall short
It should be of concern to Japan's voters that the LDP's proposed constitutional revisions run counter to the principles of freedom and democracy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2013
Top students shunning Japan
Making English the standard language at graduate schools in Japan won't be enough to attract more of the 'outstanding' students from abroad.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 20, 2013
For a more 'friendly' Japan
A Shiga University professor has some reservations about a government industrial council's proposals to make Japan 'the world's most business-friendly environment.'
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2013
No resting on techie laurels
Only a few years ago, it was forecast that Japan's best growth strategy would be to develop environment-related products. That forecast was off the mark.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2013
Greatest hopes work for less
For the sake of Japan's future, the education ministry and others must work to raise the pay of researchers and professors at national universities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 21, 2013
A nagging Japanese riddle: Who's 'left' and who's 'right'?
In the Dec. 16 Lower House election, the Liberal Democratic Party won a resounding victory while the Democratic Party of Japan suffered a crushing defeat, bringing about a change of government after three years and three months of DPJ rule.
COMMENTARY
Dec 17, 2012
'Green' losers and winners
I have long advocated the path of "green growth" for Japan. During the past two decades, the Japanese economy has suffered from an extremely low annual growth rate averaging 0.9 percent in real terms and minus 0.2 percent nominally.
COMMENTARY
Sep 17, 2012
Greatest lib-con showdown in America since the 1960s
The presidential election in the United States is less than two months away. The Republican Party has nominated Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, to run against the Democratic incumbent, Barack Obama.
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 2012
Measuring a society's value
Guan Zhong, an ancient Chinese savant, once stated that people learn to behave with good manners only when they have sufficient clothing and food.
COMMENTARY
Jul 10, 2012
Completing one's education
Until only a few years ago, Japan prided itself on leading the world in the field of manufacturing. Industry as a whole is usually classified into four sectors: agriculture-forestry-fishery, mining, manufacturing, and services. (The mining industry is virtually nonexistent in resource-poor Japan, and...
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2012
State of economic disparity in the age of dashed ideals
During the 1980s and 1990s, a number of countries were ruled by political parties upholding the credo of "market fundamentalism" as their governments vigorously pushed neoliberalism.
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2012
Who will support aging Japan?
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore more than a decade ago adopted the growth strategy of making the medical industry the core of the nation's industrial development.
COMMENTARY
Apr 10, 2012
Energy conservation is key
If all the reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture remain offline, and if approval is not given for restarting the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture following their just-completed...
COMMENTARY
Mar 19, 2012
Color GDP growth green
It is often said that the 21st century is the "century of the environment." This means two things: One is that the environmental problems of this planet, especially climate change and global warming, have become so serious that they are attracting more people's attention; and the other is that environmental...
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2012
Tradeoff in nuclear power
Trade and industry minister Yukio Edano was quoted by a major vernacular paper earlier this year as saying that the government is contemplating changing the policy of promoting nuclear power generation as a national project in which operations are entrusted to private sector electric power companies....
COMMENTARY
Jan 23, 2012
More crucial than English
On Nov. 21, 2011, the Government Revitalization Unit (GRU) took up the issue of reform of Japan's university system. Five themes were presented by GRU members:
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2011
Motivation for college study
These days we often hear that there are two signs that the Japanese people, especially youths, have become inward-looking: The number of Japanese students going overseas for study has declined sharply, and far fewer employees in the public and private sectors are willing to take up posts outside the...
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.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
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.

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