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November 27, 2024

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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Jul 28, 2003

Commodore Perry's legacy of curiosity

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- In the sesquicentennial of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry's visit to Japan, I am happy to imagine that I must be one of the few owners of the original edition of his report: "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, Performed in the Years 1852, 1853,...

COMMENTARY

Jul 27, 2003

50-year testament to the absence of war

By Harvey Stockwin

HONG KONG -- Sunday is the 50th anniversary of the signing of a document that has lasted much longer than expected and has had a profound influence on the course of modern Asian history.

COMMENTARY

Jul 27, 2003

China shifts toward activism

By Brad Glosserman

HONOLULU -- Northeast Asia watchers were treated to a curious sight last week: high-profile foreign policy activism by Beijing. The Chinese government was publicly pushing the United States and North Korea to the negotiating table. It's unclear whether this approach marks a new phase of Chinese diplomacy...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 26, 2003

Take another shot at Four Party talks

By John Barry Kotch

SEOUL -- While the United States and North Korea remain stuck in a standoff over the format of future meetings to deal with the North's programs to develop weapons of mass destruction, a scout on the upper deck has sighted an iceberg -- not landfall ahead. The warnings of this seasoned statesman issued...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 26, 2003

Killers in U.S. rely on mercy of Mexico

By Russell Working

LOS ANGELES -- Anabella Vara was pregnant at 14 and married at 15, and by the time she was 21 she was living in fear. On Valentine's Day 1999 her husband, Daniel Perez, looped a rope around her neck and tried to strangle her. She and her 5-year-old son fled to her parents' house, but two months later...

COMMENTARY

Jul 26, 2003

Timing on dispatch of SDF turns up Koizumi weak spot

By Kenzo Uchida

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was brimming with confidence after a bill proposing special measures to support the reconstruction of Iraq passed the House of Representatives in the National Diet. A likely political scenario for the fall -- one that anticipated a long-term...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 24, 2003

Howard aims for leading regional role

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- A weeklong diplomatic flourish through East Asia behind him, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has no time to pause for breath before the next push into Australia's newfound activism in regional security, the South Pacific's most chaotic young nation, the Solomon Islands.

COMMENTARY

Jul 24, 2003

Revolution's legacy at risk

By Andre Fontaine

PARIS -- After endless debate, which led for several weeks to huge strikes -- mainly in the transportation system -- and massive demonstrations, the French Parliament has largely approved, in spite of opposition from most unions, a bill reforming the laws on retirement. It will have two major effects:...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 24, 2003

Enough nonsense about the liquidity trap

By Christopher Lingle

Tokyo's cutting interest rates was once the response to borrowing costs being too high or credit too tight. Despite no indications that the financial system is deprived of liquidity, the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve Board continue to hold or push down interest rates.

COMMENTARY

Jul 22, 2003

Foot-in-mouth disease spreads among pols

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Foot-in-mouth politicians are a major cause of public disillusionment with politics. Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, not only has a bad reputation for attempting to interfere in the legal process, but also for making stupid and embarrassing gaffes. His latest gaffe at the European...

COMMENTARY

Jul 21, 2003

Japanese-style management deserves updated appraisal

By Yukio Suzuki

Japanese-style management was once widely acclaimed as ideal. Since the collapse of the bubble economy, though, it has been discarded as a model for its incompatibility with reform. Now the system is being revaluated, and active debate is going on in the business community on how to adapt it to changing...

COMMENTARY

Jul 21, 2003

Make way for the New Way

By David Howell

LONDON -- Politicians and gurus from around the world have been gathering in London recently for a grand conference on resuscitating the Third Way -- the hopeful idea that the future can be guided along a path lying somewhere between socialism and free-market capitalism.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.

Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat

By Greg Dvorak

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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