Morearticles

 
Menu
Search
 
November 26, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

More Commentary stories

COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2002
Don't sweat three warships
By Alfred Balitzer
During the Persian Gulf War, I wrote that "average Americans would think friendlier and more respectful thoughts about Japan if it were able to contribute soldiers -- standing side by side with Americans in the sands of Arabia -- than if it contributes a billion or more dollars." Now, Japanese sailors...
COMMENTARY
May 23, 2002
U.S. idiosyncrasies on Cuba, free trade
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES -- Undoubtedly, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's red-carpet reception in Cuba rubbed President George W. Bush the wrong way.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
May 23, 2002
Intelligence that got the U.S. nowhere
By Bob Keefe
WASHINGTON -- "What did they know and when did they know it?" That is a paraphrase of the critical question that dogged Richard Nixon through the dreadful days of Watergate. Now, the same question is being asked again. What did the intelligence community know about the threat of terrorists -- specifically,...
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
May 23, 2002
Marines on Okinawa are worth keeping
By Grant Newsham
Thirty years after reversion to Japan, the U.S. Marine bases on Okinawa remain a contentious issue. Periodic calls for their reduction or elimination may be good politics, and offer academics and other commentators the satisfaction that they are taking a "progressive" stance on the issue.
COMMENTARY
May 22, 2002
Asylum policy the real scandal
By Brad Glosserman
HONOLULU -- Japan is indulging in righteous indignation over the incident involving North Koreans who tried to take refuge in the Japanese consulate in Shenyang, China, earlier this month. Targets of the mounting fury include the Chinese police, the consular staff and, by extension, the entire Japanese...
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2002
Overhaul the foreign service
By Keizo Nabeshima
The police intrusion into the Japanese Consulate General in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on May 8 has revealed, both here and abroad, the sorry state of Japanese diplomacy.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2002
Time to put Sino-Japanese rivalry aside
By Ahn Byung Joon
Observing the prolonged negotiations over the fate of five North Korean asylum seekers seized by Chinese police from the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang and the widespread criticism in Japan over the way that Japanese diplomats handled the matter, it seems vital to decouple the humanitarian issue...
COMMENTARY
May 20, 2002
Too early to fete a new day for Myanmar
By Harvey Stockwin
HONG KONG -- On May 7, Vietnam inadvertently hindered 50 million Myanmarese from learning that "at last Aung Sang Suu Kyi is no longer under house arrest." The Myanmar government's authoritarian habits prevailed at the very moment when hopes of future democracy were reborn.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
May 20, 2002
Parochialism produces few world leaders
By Jean-pierre Lehmann
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Following the appearance of one of the recent articles in this series on Japan in the global era, a colleague of mine, Dominique Turpin, who has been doing research on Japanese industry for some 20 years, came into my office and said, "Jean-Pierre, when are you going to start...
COMMENTARY
May 20, 2002
Dispel the end-of-era mood
By Morihiro Hosokawa
An interesting new book by Edo Period literary expert Takehiko Noguchi, "Bakumatsu Kibun" (The Mood in the Last Days of the Tokugawa Shogunate), details how shogunate officials and citizens of Edo indulged themselves in lavish consumption and entertainment as they faced the demise of the government....
COMMENTARY
May 20, 2002
Musharraf must bring growth, security
By Farhan Bokhari
ISLAMABAD -- The suicide bomber in Karachi, Pakistan's southern port city, who killed 11 French citizens in broad daylight, could not have found a more opportune moment to strike against the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf. The general has spent the past few months trying to convince skeptics of...
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2002
Monarchy retains role in Thai democracy
By Michael J. Montesano
SINGAPORE -- A decade ago this week, tens of thousands of Thais took to the streets of Bangkok to topple Prime Minister Suchinda Kraprayun. Gen. Suchinda had led the successful February 1991 coup d'etat against the elected government of Chatchai Chunhawan. The terms of a constitution drafted on Suchinda's...
Taiwan stuns Samurai Japan to capture Premier12 title
Japan starter Shosei Togo reacts after allowing a three-run home run against Taiwan in the fifth inning of the Premier12 final on Sunday.
Japan and U.S. to form missile plan in case of Taiwan emergency
A U.S. Marine Corps M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Missile (12SSM) system are put on display at a symposium at a base in Kisarazu, Japan, in June 2022.
Preparations for Osaka Expo well underway amid lack of excitement
The Grand Ring, a symbol of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka
Ishiba shelves proposal for liaison offices with North Korea amid rising tensions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks on Saturday in Tokyo at a rally that was held by a group of families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago to demand the immediate return of all abductees.
'Kohaku' still matters for J-pop bragging rights
Emerging Gen Z J-pop group ME:I will perform on this year's "Kohaku Uta Gassen," national broadcaster NHK’s New Year's Eve spectacle.
Are you leaving your loved ones digital legacies or headaches?
The National Consumer Affairs Center reports a growing number of consultations regarding "digital legacies" — data and online services left behind when people die.
How Japan can exit the fossil fuel subsidies it can’t seem to quit
A man walks past a gasoline station in Tokyo on Thursday.
An iconic 32-foot doughnut might give Randy’s an edge in Japan
Randy's Donuts in Inglewood, California. Replicas of the giant doughnut sculpture will be installed, where possible, at shops in Japan.
Tokyo’s newest three-star chef wants ‘harmony across every detail’
British-born Daniel Calvert earned his third Michelin star last month — a stunning achievement considering his restaurant, Sezanne, has only been open for just over three years.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER