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January 24, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Dec 8, 2007

Assistance to crime victims

A government panel is discussing ways to improve assistance to crime victims and their families. It has already decided to increase financial assistance for such people. But it should not forget that stronger support for organizations that assist such people will go a long way toward improving their...

EDITORIALS

Dec 8, 2007

Green light for baseball scholarships

In a change of policy, the Japan High School Baseball Association (JHSBA), following the recommendations of its special panel, has decided to conditionally accept preferential treatment — such as exemptions of admission and tuition fees — for talented baseball players. Previously it had opposed preferential...

EDITORIALS

Dec 7, 2007

Hugo Chavez, democrat

Fears about the future of Venezuela's democracy have abated, at least for now. Despite pre-vote threats about the potential cost of opposing his wishes, President Hugo Chavez has accepted the defeat of his constitutional reform package. The outcome has the potential to rejuvenate a dispirited and divided...

EDITORIALS

Dec 6, 2007

The reality of bullying

A new education ministry survey shows that elementary, junior high and high schools saw about 125,000 bullying cases in fiscal 2006 — up 6.2 times from 2005. The increase is mainly attributed to the ministry's making the definition of bullying less strict.

EDITORIALS

Dec 6, 2007

Time for action

Delegates from some 190 nations have gathered in Bali, Indonesia, to negotiate a new framework to combat global warming. The Bali conference only represents the first round of negotiations that may continue into 2009. But at stake is the sustainability of the Earth itself, which is facing the danger...

EDITORIALS

Dec 5, 2007

A victory for Mr. Putin

In Sunday's election for the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, President Vladimir Putin's party was set to gain more than two thirds of the chamber's 450 seats, enough to revise the Constitution. With Mr. Putin running as the lead candidate of United Russia, the election result represents...

EDITORIALS

Dec 5, 2007

Fruitful talks in Beijing

Japan-China high-level trade and economic talks, which were held in Beijing over the weekend, have helped advance economic ties between the countries and improved overall bilateral relations. The talks did not resolve the issue of China's exploitation of natural gas fields in an area of the East China...

EDITORIALS

Dec 4, 2007

Transparency for political funds

The ruling and opposition camps have reached a long-overdue compromise over a revision of the Political Funds Control Law. It represents improvement on the lukewarm revision, which was made into law earlier this year by the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition. In fleshing out the compromise,...

EDITORIALS

Dec 4, 2007

Pointless nationwide testing

In April 2007, the education ministry conducted a nationwide achievement test for school children — the first such test in 43 years — spending ¥7.7 billion. The results were partially made public in late October. There are plans to hold a similar test in 2008 and 2009. There are many reasons, however,...

EDITORIALS

Dec 3, 2007

Expansion of medical benefits

The health ministry in principle bans the "mixed" use of medical treatment covered by public health insurance and medical treatment not covered by such insurance. If a patient mixes the two types of care in the course of treating a single illness he or she must pay all the costs of medical treatment...

EDITORIALS

Dec 2, 2007

Rising violence on railways

Violent incidents against railway company employees have reached an all-time high this year with almost 800 incidents through October, 250 of which resulted in injuries. That breaks down to nearly three acts of violence against staff per day, every day.

EDITORIALS

Dec 2, 2007

Internationalizing high schools

While the government stumbles around with new educational policies, a quiet revolution in high schools has already happened. The number of foreign students enrolled in Japanese high schools has hit an all-time high of nearly 2,000, with a new peak of over 100 schools nationwide now instructing children...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.

Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go

By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

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