More Commentary Articles - The Japan Times

November 28, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Jul 20, 2004

Time, terror shadow oil era

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON We cannot afford to be complacent about the future energy supplies needed to maintain our current standards of living and economic growth. Nor can we be complacent about the environmental impact of current consumption levels of carbon fuels.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 19, 2004

Going global with civic virtues

By Ramesh Thakur

How do we instill civic virtue in the global marketplace to civilize and tame it so that we arrive at the place where the market serves the people instead of where people are served up to the market? Around half of the world's 100 largest economies are private companies. This gives the private sector...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 18, 2004

Straight out of North Korea

By Richard Halloran

In the strange case of U.S. Army Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins, four seemingly obscure people have been caught up in diplomatic maneuvering among the United States, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, China and Indonesia.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 18, 2004

Stigma, lack of funds hamper AIDS fight

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

MADRAS, India -- With still no vaccine or cure two decades after the first cases of the disease were reported/detected, AIDS is undoubtedly a terrible threat facing mankind.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 17, 2004

Asia seizing new opportunities in Africa

By Ernest Harsch

In the Senegalese city of Thies, a new enterprise, "Senbus," is assembling 30-seat buses for the domestic and regional markets. The first units of this first vehicle factory in Senegal rolled out the plant's doors in September 2003, thanks to a partnership between Senegalese investors and Tata International,...

COMMENTARY

Jul 17, 2004

A tale of two occupations

By Harvey Stockwin

HONG KONG -- History did not repeat itself in Iraq as the Americans naively expected. While it has become obvious that U.S. intelligence reports and analysis were deficient in the runup to the war, less attention has been paid to the fact that the United States occupied Iraq imbued with a dubious historical...

COMMENTARY

Jul 16, 2004

Lawyers set sights on alcohol producers

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- There's nothing new about lawyers, especially in the United States, attempting to profit from tragedy. When an individual dies after behaving irresponsibly, an attorney always can be found to blame someone with deep pockets.

COMMENTARY

Jul 15, 2004

Prepare for post-Koizumi era

By Brad Glosserman

HONOLULU -- Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro took a beating in last Sunday's Upper House elections. While his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost seats, the real blow seems to be the prime minister's loss of rapport with voters. The magic is gone, and that means his leverage within the party is shrinking....

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 14, 2004

Winning over Hong Kong

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- After Hong Kongers somberly commemorated the 15th anniversary of Tiananmen on June 5, they jolted China's central government by organizing, like last year, another massive July 1 demonstration, setting the stage for another big political standoff with Beijing ahead of the September Legislative...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 13, 2004

EU leaders face voters' wrath

By Jonathan Fenby

LONDON -- George Orwell once called soccer a substitute for war. Looking at the recently finished European Championship held in Lisbon, one might well call it a political metaphor. What happened on the pitch during the monthlong tournament was an uncanny reflection of what is happening on a wider and...

COMMENTARY

Jul 12, 2004

EU visions go head to head

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- At the final summit of the Irish presidency of the European Union in Brussels late last month, European heads of government agreed on the text of a European constitution for the enlarged group of 25 states that came into being at the beginning of May. Representatives of the 10 new states were...

COMMENTARY

Jul 12, 2004

Summits of East Asian unity

By Keizo Nabeshima

East Asia is moving toward regional integration, albeit at a slow pace. In a series of meetings held in Indonesia from late June to early July, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed on a package of measures to expedite economic, financial, political and security integration. This signals...

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

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

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