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November 26, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Jan 30, 2002

Japanese-British links after 100 years

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was signed on Jan. 30, 1902. It was a significant and unique step for both countries. Britain had not previously concluded alliances of this nature in an area so distant from its shores; it was Japan's first alliance with a European power and confirmed its status...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 29, 2002

Encouraging households to spend more

By Pascal Nguyen and Soichi Nakamura

After much hesitation, Junichiro Koizumi's government has finally agreed to work on a second supplementary budget. More than ever, Japan's intrepid prime minister appears to be caught in the crossfire between the necessity to rationalize public spending and the obligation to shore up a flagging economy....

COMMENTARY

Jan 29, 2002

Work-sharing accord nears

By Kiroku Hanai

Amid the prolonged recession, Japanese officials are giving serious consideration to a work-sharing system that has been common in Europe for a long time. Last month, government, labor and management officials held a top-level meeting to discuss the issue under orders from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi....

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 28, 2002

Commission a model of global cooperation

By Ramesh Thakur

Responding to the call by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in September 1999, then-Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy set up an independent, 12-member International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty to try to bridge the divide between international intervention and national sovereignty....

COMMENTARY

Jan 28, 2002

Congress should do more than just spend

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- With Congress back in session, economics is likely to come to the fore in Washington. President George W. Bush may be winning the war on terrorism, but congressional Democrats think they can recoup by blaming him for losing the surplus. This party of big spenders is ill-equipped to take...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 28, 2002

Indo-Pakistani crisis: a catalyst for peace

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

In a way, the Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament was a blessing. It may have pushed two nuclear powers to the edge of a disaster. But the threat of war often helps feuding nations pause and re-examine their priorities and how they affect bilateral relations.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Jan 28, 2002

The plastic nature of historic judgment

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- There is something mesmerizing about America's fascination with its own people of prominence, especially presidents. There is an endless stream of biographies, and some become immensely popular.

COMMENTARY

Jan 28, 2002

Toughen the antigraft law

By Keizo Nabeshima

"The establishment of political ethics is fundamental to parliamentary politics," states the code of political ethics approved by the Diet in 1985. "We must conduct ourselves with integrity and strive to eradicate political corruption."

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jan 27, 2002

Film sours 30-year romance

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- The new international blockbuster film "The Lord of the Rings" has not hit Russian screens yet, but the first pirated videocassettes are already here, causing almost as much of a stir as a change in vodka prices and definitely much more than the recent news of the shutdown of independent television...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 27, 2002

Globalization role of APEC's other half

By John Barry Kotch

SEOUL -- Earlier this month in Honolulu, parliamentarians from 25 Asia Pacific nations renewed debate over the digital divide at the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum, headed by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 27, 2002

Israel may push U.S. to deal with Iran

By David Hirst

BEIRUT -- As America's campaign in Afghanistan winds down, who the next target will be in the promised "phase two" of the "war on terror" remains firmly in the realm of conjecture. Speculation has focused most intensely on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein himself. Yet, if Israel gets its way, Iran could...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 27, 2002

Outsiders didn't dig the Argentine hole

By Bruce Stokes

WASHINGTON -- It is always politically incorrect to blame the victim. But Argentina is an exception. Argentines have no one to blame but themselves for their current economic mess. They have long lived beyond their means. And now the piper must be paid.

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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