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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Mar 26, 2007

Jury system doesn't guarantee justice

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- My U.S.-Japanese business consultant friend John Gillespie dropped by and, upon hearing that my wife Nancy had been summoned to jury duty, said Japan should introduce a similar system.

COMMENTARY

Mar 26, 2007

Strengthen U.S. trade ties

By Kiroku Hanai

Japan is gearing up to conclude more free trade or economic partnership agreements with foreign governments. So far, Japan has been less enthusiastic about FTAs and EPAs than Western countries but is changing its tack due to difficulties expected in the new round of multilateral trade talks under the...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 25, 2007

Despite vision deficit, Europe survives

By Jan-Werner Mueller

PRINCETON, New Jersey -- The celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome come at an opportune moment. For now is the time for the European Union to call an end to its self-imposed "reflection period" following the rejection of the European Constitution by the French and the Dutch,...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Mar 25, 2007

There's a world of languages Japanese too can learn

By Roger Pulvers

It seems to be conventional wisdom -- if "wisdom" is the word -- that Japanese people do not excel at mastering foreign languages. Some surveys of the results of international English-proficiency tests have them occupying the murky depths, below even the likes of North Koreans. Does the "Dear Leader,"...

COMMENTARY

Mar 24, 2007

Baseless threats of cold war

By Brad Glosserman

HONOLULU -- U.S. plans to deploy an antiballistic missile defense system in Europe have raised fears of a new Cold War. Russian responses to the proposal have been fierce: Moscow has warned countries that hosting interceptors would make them targets in the event of conflict. In fact, the planned deployments...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 23, 2007

Two-edged sword of values

By David Fouse

WASHINGTON -- Japan's recent decision to develop a foreign policy based on support for universal values is a step forward in the development of a more coherent, strategic vision to pursue its national interests. The new policy is likely to make coordination with the United States easier and allow Tokyo...

COMMENTARY

Mar 22, 2007

Does religion do more harm than good?

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON -- In an opinion poll published in Britain recently, 82 percent of the people polled said that they thought religion does more harm than good. My first reaction, I must admit, was to think: That's what they would say, isn't it? It's not just that suicide bombers give religion a bad name. In "post-Christian...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 22, 2007

Limits to security cooperation

By Brendan Taylor

WASHINGTON -- Australia and Japan have just signed an historic security agreement. This new pact formalizes the security cooperation that began in secret between the two nations in the 1970s, and which has been moving forward in leaps and bounds since the early 1990s. It specifies a number of areas for...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 22, 2007

Why Musharraf survives

By Pervez Hoodbhoy

ISLAMABAD -- Recent threats by the Bush administration to cut off billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan have sparked panic in government circles. Likewise, according to the Pakistani ambassador in Washington, military strikes by the United States aimed at al-Qaida and Taliban havens inside Pakistan's...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 21, 2007

Bush must do far more to win over Latin Americans

By Sebastian Edwards

LOS ANGELES -- After ignoring Latin America for years, President George W. Bush is desperately trying to improve hemispheric relations. But his just-completed trip to Latin America came too late. Years of neglect could not possibly be erased by a trip long in photo opportunities and short in substance....

COMMENTARY

Mar 21, 2007

Crusading to cut carbon emissions

By David Howell

LONDON -- The obvious route is not always the best one. Throughout Europe the governments and political parties, as well as the central European Union Commission in Brussels, are all vying with each other to prove who is the greenest. The simplest way of doing this is to produce ever more ambitious plans...

COMMENTARY

Mar 20, 2007

China is sidelined and upset

By David Wall

LONDON -- Just before the beginning of this year's meeting of the National People's Congress, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao sent a message to NPC members about to arrive in Beijing: Chi- na is still a socialist country led by a communist party and will remain so for at least another hundred years....

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

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