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January 24, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Nov 23, 2007

Mr. Fukuda makes progress in Asia

This week Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda stepped up efforts to recalibrate Japan's foreign policy. His visit to the ASEAN summit and its associated meetings were designed to focus attention on the Asia component of Japan's foreign relations. Key to that effort are his meetings with Chinese Prime Minister...

EDITORIALS

Nov 22, 2007

ASEAN's broken heart

It was supposed to be a landmark event. To celebrate its 40th anniversary this week, heads of state from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a charter that was intended to push the region toward more complete integration and more coherence. The final product — ASEAN's new charter...

EDITORIALS

Nov 21, 2007

Admission of a medical crisis

Medical services are collapsing in many parts of the nation. Doctor shortages are especially acute in obstetric-gynecological, pediatric and emergency care departments. It is high time that the government, lawmakers and the public seriously start discussing how to increase the number of doctors and nurses...

EDITORIALS

Nov 21, 2007

Reformatory crowd may get younger

The revised Juvenile Law has taken effect, providing for harsher treatment of juvenile offenders. Under the revision, the youngest age at which one can be sent to a juvenile reformatory has been lowered to "around 12" from 14. While juvenile offenders under 14 cannot be held criminally responsible, the...

EDITORIALS

Nov 20, 2007

A symbolic summit

The trip had to be made. It is traditional for a Japanese prime minister to make his first overseas trip to the United States, to affirm relations with the country's only ally. With reports of tensions growing in the bilateral security relationship, Mr. Yasuo Fukuda's visit to Washington last week took...

EDITORIALS

Nov 19, 2007

Expansion of asset-backed loans

Financial assistance to smaller enterprises will be effective in narrowing the economic gaps between urban and rural regions, because it will help strengthen local economies. Hopefully the government's policy measures for such assistance will prove helpful.

EDITORIALS

Nov 19, 2007

Fallout from an indictment

Public prosecutors have indicted a family court-appointed psychiatrist for leaking secret investigative materials on a teenager who set fire to his house in Tawaramoto, Nara Prefecture, in June 2006, killing his stepmother and two siblings. But they have decided not to indict the freelance journalist...

EDITORIALS

Nov 18, 2007

New wine in old bottles

Seasons change in Japan in two ways, according to nature and according to marketing. This last week started the season for Beaujolais Nouveau, the freshly harvested wine that has become an annual worldwide phenomenon. Marketing and traditional values, the two major forces on Japanese consumer behavior,...

EDITORIALS

Nov 17, 2007

Staving off recidivism

The Justice Ministry's 2007 white paper on crimes focuses on repeat offenders, using analyses of statistics from 1948 to 2006. It points to the importance of education and support programs for criminal offenders as a means of preventing the recurrence of crimes, and shows that the duty to prevent crimes...

EDITORIALS

Nov 16, 2007

Shopping rules tourists

Tourist-wise, Japan has a somewhat divided character. Despite Japan's fascinating history and vast cultural treasures, tourists apparently come here primarily to go shopping. A recent Japan National Tourist Organization survey found that nearly 35 percent of the visitors were in Japan for the shops....

EDITORIALS

Nov 16, 2007

Another tradition fading

A recent Cabinet Office survey shows a considerable shift in the views of male-female roles over the past decade. Nowadays, more than 50 percent of Japanese men oppose having women stay at home solely as housewives. Yet, with so many women now working full and part time, it is surprising that nearly...

EDITORIALS

Nov 15, 2007

The will to find common ground

The Diet has unanimously enacted a law that will financially help victims of natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes. This revision of a former similar law resulted from consultations between the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition and the Democratic Party of Japan. As the first...

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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