More Commentary Articles - The Japan Times

November 27, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Nov 9, 2002

Overwhelming school ordeals

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair was right when he emphasized that education was the top priority for Britain. It is certainly a major issue in Japan, too. Britain and Japan face real problems in education, but the issues for each country, while interesting to compare, are different and almost equally...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 9, 2002

Public health problems in the Americas

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- Latin America and the Caribbean enter the new century showing measurable gains in several health indicators such as life expectancy, infant survivability and the fight against several infectious diseases. Most countries in these regions, however, still face daunting challenges due to sprawling...

COMMENTARY

Nov 7, 2002

How safe is nuclear energy?

By Ralph Cossa

Recent scandals regarding Tokyo Electric Power Co. safety inspection procedures have added a new sense of urgency to a long-standing question: "Are nuclear power reactors throughout East Asia being operated safely?"

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 7, 2002

Shocking raids open new era in Australia

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- In dawn raids across Australia, gun-toting security police bashed down doors, questioned Indonesian residents, then carted off private papers to check for suspected terrorist activities. Surely this is Hollywood? No, it's "she'll be right, mate" Australia.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 5, 2002

Welcome weapons cutbacks

By Michael O'Hanlon

WASHINGTON -- According to recent reports, Pentagon officials are considering cuts in several weapons programs as they develop their 2004 budget proposal. If defense spending is to be kept within reasonable bounds, these are exactly the sorts of reductions that will be required.

COMMENTARY

Nov 5, 2002

Testing Koizumi's commitment to change

By Brad Glosserman

Last week was likely the most important in the tenure of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Three events -- by-elections, the unveiling of his economic plan and the start of normalization talks with North Korea -- tested his commitment to bringing about change in Japan.

COMMENTARY

Nov 4, 2002

Economy linked to security

By Keizo Nabeshima

The fight against terrorism emerged as the top issue at the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, whose original aim was to promote sustainable economic growth. This reflected awareness among participants at the summit -- held Oct. 26-27 in Los Cabos, Mexico -- that terrorism affects...

COMMENTARY

Nov 4, 2002

Greatest generals gave peace a chance

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- Sometimes the vital struggle for peace and stability is too important to be left to civilian "experts," especially when there are exceptional generals to help save nations from disaster. That was patently the case after Japan's crushing World War II defeat: The Japanese certainly benefited...

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Nov 4, 2002

Contributing to the crisis of capitalism

By Jean-pierre Lehmann

YAOUNDE, Cameroon -- During a conversation at a dinner in Shanghai recently with some Chinese friends, the comment was made that Japanese businessmen in China were now known quite willingly to accept various forms of bribes and kickbacks. The man who was making this comment, who knows Japan quite well...

COMMENTARY

Nov 4, 2002

Market approach to intimacy

By Sarah Benton

LONDON -- The front page of Wednesday's Daily Mirror said: "Angus Deayton is a coke-snorting, hooker-hiring, three-in-a-bed love rat . . ." The front page of the Daily Mail said: "John Leslie is a vile, arrogant man who despises women . . ." Both men were sacked by their TV employers the same day.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 3, 2002

Russian youth dodge conscript military

By Russell Working

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- It took a while to get the young deserter to talk. Roman had fled his army unit and was staying with Tatiana Barykina and her family, and they could see the scars on his wrist and sense the pain that hung upon him like a millstone.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Nov 3, 2002

Terror in our own backyard

By Constantine Pleshakov

A key phrase in my recent e-mail exchanges has been, "The world has gone crazy." The hostage drama in Moscow; the shooting spree in the Washington, D.C. area; the bombing of two nightclubs in Bali; the Finnish teenager who blew up himself and six other people in a suburban shopping mall; the killing...

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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