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January 16, 2025

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COMMENTARY / World

Jun 28, 2000

Coalition holds on to power

By Rei Shiratori

The Liberal Democratic Party had dubbed Sunday's election a "battle in mourning," in hopes that the untimely death of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi would get out the "sympathy vote." As it turned out, the LDP and its coalition partners suffered a major set- back, contrary to the wishes of Prime...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 26, 2000

China between a rock and a hard place

By David Wall

OXFORD, England -- There has been much discussion recently about whether China is heading for a soft landing or hard landing. My first reaction to such discussions is always to ask landing from what? In this case the answer is relatively easy, the Asian financial crisis of 1997, from which China allegedly...

COMMENTARY

Jun 26, 2000

English is not the answer

By Kiroku Hanai

Earlier this year, the Forum on 21st Century Japan, a private panel to the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, proposed a national debate on whether English should be used in Japan as a second official language. That proposal has added fuel to the long-standing discussions on English education in this...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 26, 2000

Sense and nonsense in nuclear-arms policy

By Abul Kalam

For his key role in establishing Japan's commitment to nonnuclear principles in 1967, Prime Minister Eisuke Sato went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet it was recently revealed that he privately referred to the three principles as "nonsense" and allowed a U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier to enter a Japanese...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 25, 2000

Operational advice for New York's finest

By TED RALL

NEW YORK -- New York's mayor, a man so relentless that he won't let prostate cancer get in the way of his horniness, feels sorry for the cops. "It seems like the cops just can't win no matter what they do," Rudolph Giuliani complained to a caller to his weekly radio show.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 25, 2000

Is elitism such a bad thing?

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Gordon Brown, the British chancellor of the Exchequer, has been stirring up media attention by attacking the way in which Oxford and other British universities recruit students. He launched his diatribe against the universities by condemning Magdalen College Oxford (where Prince Chichibu and...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 25, 2000

Making humanitarian aid more effective

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- One of the greatest challenges facing governments and international aid agencies today is how to respond better to humanitarian disasters.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 24, 2000

The answer is in the heavens

By Ronald Morse

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is doing everything he can to discourage Japanese voters from taking tomorrow's election seriously. He is succeeding. On top of his efforts, is getting help from the media, which are already predicting a comfortable margin of victory for the current ruling coalition.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 24, 2000

Korean summit remains a blank sheet

By Harvey Stockwin

HONG KONG -- Perhaps it is in the nature of joint declarations that their merits tend to be exaggerated. The British did it with their joint declaration with China regarding Hong Kong, the Indians did it with their joint declaration with Pakistan at Lahore. Now the South Koreans, plus many foreigners...

COMMENTARY

Jun 23, 2000

Victory predicted for LDP

By Minoru Tada

The major Japanese newspapers that conducted polls on the June 25 Lower House election this week made these stunning forecasts:

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 22, 2000

Thailand refuses to face its bloody past

By Peter Eng

BANGKOK -- The Thai Ministry of Defense recently released a 605-page report of a team that investigated a May 1992 uprising in which soldiers shot dead dozens of prodemocracy demonstrators. To people abroad, the news headlines may make it appear as if Thailand finally is coming to terms with political...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Jun 22, 2000

Can Daley win it for Gore?

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- I saw it coming. Tony Coehlo, chairman of the Gore 2000 presidential campaign, was reported to be hospitalized for some form of unidentifiable stomach problem and his aides are reporting that he is suffering from fatigue. Yes, his end was coming.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.

Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers

mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers

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