More Editorials Articles - The Japan Times

January 22, 2025

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

EDITORIALS

Feb 25, 2006

Building a suicide safety net

Every year, slightly more than 30,000 people kill themselves in Japan. Compared with other countries, the situation is particularly grim. The nation's suicide rate, calculated in terms of the number of suicides per 100,000 people, stands at 25.3 -- compared with 38.7 in Russia, 17.5 in France, 13.5 in...

EDITORIALS

Feb 24, 2006

Putting the squeeze on Hamas

For Hamas, the radical Islamic group, winning an election may prove to be the easiest part of the political process. Having claimed an outright majority in last month's Palestinian parliamentary elections, the party is now trying to assemble a Cabinet. That task, difficult at the best of times, has been...

EDITORIALS

Feb 23, 2006

Race is on at the United Nations

The race to succeed Mr. Kofi Annan as the next U.N. secretary general has begun. The job is one of the most high-profile in the world, and one of the most thankless. For all its prestige, the United Nations is a dumping ground for many of the world's most intractable concerns. The secretary general must...

EDITORIALS

Feb 22, 2006

Expressway reform bears bitter fruit

A decision made earlier this month with regard to expressway construction underscores the concerns over expressway reform legislation that existed when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pushed it in 2004. He used to say that the reorganization of Japan Highway Public Corp. and three other expressway corporations...

EDITORIALS

Feb 21, 2006

Mr. Koizumi's running on empty

The Diet is in turmoil over a fresh scandal. At a session of the Lower House Budget Committee last Thursday, an opposition party member alleged that Mr. Takafumi Horie, the disgraced former chief executive of the Internet company Livedoor, had sent an internal e-mail to subordinates before the Sept....

EDITORIALS

Feb 20, 2006

Travails of Mr. Thaksin

Thailand's prime minister, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, is a survivor. Since taking office five years ago, he has weathered allegations of corruption and malfeasance, charges of nepotism, an insurgency in Thailand's southern provinces and even a public rebuke by the king. Yet, he has bested every challenge...

EDITORIALS

Feb 19, 2006

Thank you, Jeeves, that will be all

I cons come, and icons go. And in today's sped-up, high-tech world, some come and go pretty fast. Last month we were told that Sony plans to euthanize its groundbreaking robotic dog Aibo, who at not quite 7 years old is still a pup in shelf-life terms.

EDITORIALS

Feb 18, 2006

What right to torment?

Muslim furor in the Middle East and other parts of the world touched off by the appearance of cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad has led to diplomatic rows, embassy burnings and violent protests. It now begs serious thought about how the media should exercise the rights to freedom of the press...

EDITORIALS

Feb 17, 2006

Numbers to grow by

With Japan's economy following a recovery path, how fast it should grow in coming years is a subject of vigorous debate in the government and the ruling parties. The debate, however, is being conducted largely in numerical terms, with the focus on how to set target levels for nominal growth rates (excluding...

EDITORIALS

Feb 16, 2006

Help for loan victims

The Supreme Court has made a ruling helpful to those who have borrowed money from consumer and "shoko" (industry and commerce) loan firms -- which lend operating funds to small companies -- as well as from illegal loan sharks. The ruling will affect the practice of having borrowers pay interest rates...

EDITORIALS

Feb 15, 2006

Skirting justice in Yokohama

The Yokohama District Court last week made a disappointing ruling in a case stemming from the state's wartime suppression of freedom of speech. The court could have shed light on the dark side of modern Japanese history by delving into a variety of related issues, including the questionable conduct of...

EDITORIALS

Feb 14, 2006

Ottawa's distance from Washington

A new administration led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party, which won the general election Jan. 23, has been inaugurated in Canada. The Conservatives have not held the reins of government since November 1993.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports