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Takamitsu Sawa

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Takamitsu Sawa
COMMENTARY
Mar 8, 2010
New device apt to kindle greater interest in reading
The first thing that catches your eye when you open the yousho (imported books) section of Amazon Japan's home page is an advertisement for the Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device. The Kindle DX ad, which first appeared last summer, claims that a reader can perform a wireless download of any of more than...
COMMENTARY
Feb 9, 2010
Japan's economy will grow on eco-consumption, immigration
Between fiscal 1991 — when the economic bubble burst — and fiscal 2008, Japan's gross domestic product all but stopped growing, rising a mere 1 percent per year on average. Negative growth was avoided simply because of deflation, as the nominal growth rate averaged only 0.4 percent.
COMMENTARY
Dec 7, 2009
Agriculture must be rebuilt ahead of oil's 'noble' limits
Crude oil prices started plummeting only two months after hitting a record high in July 2008, due to the financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Speculators suddenly shifted their strategies from "buying" to "selling" in anticipation of weaker demand amid the global economic downturn....
COMMENTARY
Nov 8, 2009
Don't bank on 'adverse impact' from Hatoyama's carbon cuts
I would like to commend Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama wholeheartedly for his determination to work toward a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. It is utterly absurd to question the feasibility of attaining this goal. Rather, the entire nation must recognize the...
COMMENTARY
Oct 12, 2009
CO2 emission cuts doable
On Sept. 7 — shortly before taking over the premiership — Yukio Hatoyama met strong resistance from business circles and from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry when he said at the Asahi Global Environment Forum (sponsored by Asahi Shimbun) that his government would aim for a 25 percent...
COMMENTARY
Sep 7, 2009
Duel of market ideologies past due in Japan's polls
The world has undergone drastic change in the first decade of the 21st century. There appears to be no end to terrorist activities and international disputes in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide attacks on the United States.
COMMENTARY
Aug 10, 2009
Hitting the recovery road with eco-friendly products
On July 16 the State Statistics Bureau of China announced that GDP for the April-June quarter grew 7.9 percent in real terms from a year before, surpassing the 6.1 percent rate of the January-March quarter. After the Lehman Brothers shock last September, China's annual economic growth rate — which...
COMMENTARY
Jul 13, 2009
Playing with goal numbers
Salient points of the government's 2020 target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, announced June 10 by Prime Minister Taro Aso, are as follows:
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2009
Feasible anti-emission goal
In July 2008 the Japanese government adopted a target for 2050 of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 60 to 80 percent from 2005 levels. At the same time, a special panel was created to deliberate midterm reduction goals (through 2020).
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2009
Going back to Mr. Keynes
James M. Buchanan, a renowned anti-Keynesian economist, has attributed the fall of the legendary city of Camelot associated with King Arthur to gross intellectual errors. Camelot is an ideal city that appears in a chivalric tale. But legend has it that it collapsed because the inherent nature of human...
COMMENTARY
Apr 14, 2009
Beyond the gasoline era
Mitsubishi Motors will start selling its new battery-powered car dubbed "iMiEV" in Japan this coming July while Nissan Motor plans to follow suit next year. Toyota Motor, meanwhile, says it will launch a plug-in hybrid vehicle sometime in the "early 2010s." I agree with Nissan President Carlos Ghosn,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 9, 2009
Mainstream ebb and flow
It is a well-known fact that a number of schools of thinking exist in economics, the major ones being neoclassical economics, Keynesian economics, institutional school and monetarism.
COMMENTARY
Feb 10, 2009
Consumption amid constraints
During the period of Japan's rapid economic growth — from 1958 to 1973 — the three items that households yearned for most were a black-and-white TV set, washing machine and refrigerator. By 1965, when more than 80 percent of households had these items, the next targets for purchase were a color TV,...
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2009
Darkest hour is just before green
The impact of the current global financial crisis, which originated with U.S. subprime loans and was exacerbated by the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, has gone far beyond the financial markets, as entire economies are now suffering from sharp declines in demand due to tighter reins on credit,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 8, 2008
Forsaken routes to utopia
I have long argued that whereas the 20th century was an age of utopia, the 21st century will be an age without a utopia. "Utopia" means an imaginary ideal place where everything is perfect.
COMMENTARY
Nov 11, 2008
Laissez faire has taken a powder
In the wee hours of Oct. 11 Tokyo time, finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven industrialized countries met in Washington to discuss how to resolve the global financial crisis and agreed to protect all depositors and inject public funds to rescue financial institutions.
COMMENTARY
Oct 13, 2008
Charge up to the fast lane
During a recent visit to China's Zhejiang University, which honored me with the title of visiting professor, I was surprised to learn that faculty members drive their own cars, many of them expensive models by my standard. A professor in his late 40s was driving a ¥10 million Audi; a 30-year-old instructor...
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2008
Finding accord in the fight
On July 7, when leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations gathered at Toyako Lake, Hokkaido, for their annual summit, I happened to be in Istanbul for the opening session of the multinational Global Conference on Global Warming.
COMMENTARY
Aug 18, 2008
Natural enemy of warming
Severe drought reduced wheat production in Australia by as much as 60 percent in 2006. Other forms of climate change led to lower harvests of other farm products throughout the world. In a market economy, a decline in crop output results in excessive demand and spiraling prices, which in turn causes...
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2008
Work traditions worth keeping
When I had a chance to meet with a group of students, I asked them for what purpose each would do the job that he or she got in the near future. A majority replied "something that makes work worth doing and life worth living," although some did say "for money."
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.

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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