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March 04, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2009
Mr. Ozawa's secretary on trial
The trial of Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa's chief secretary began in Tokyo District Court on Dec. 18. The secretary is charged with violating the Political Funds Control Law by allegedly falsifying records related to the receipt of ¥35 million in political donations from...
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2009
DPJ administration's first budget
After some drama and confusion, including a screening unit's slashing of budgetary requests before public eyes and tough demands by Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, the Hatoyama administration has compiled the fiscal 2010 budget, its first budget since its inauguration in mid-September....
EDITORIALS
Dec 26, 2009
Mr. Ozawa is out of line
Ripples from the controversy over Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's exceptional audience with the Emperor on Dec. 15 have not died down. Statements on the relationship between the Cabinet and the Emperor made by Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa raise serious concerns.
EDITORIALS
Dec 26, 2009
Not a benchmark to celebrate
The 100th day of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's administration was marred by disgrace. On Thursday, two former secretaries to Mr. Hatoyama were indicted for falsifying political funds reports. The case is not linked to corruption, but it casts serious doubt over the transparency of the Hatoyama office's...
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2009
Children's rights treaty turns 20
Acknowledging that children often require special care and protection, and pushing for the world to recognize that children have human rights, in 1989 world leaders moved to draw up a special convention for people under the age of 18. The resulting Convention of the Rights of the Child spelled out the...
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2009
Holding steady on gasoline tax
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Tuesday decided to maintain the current rates on gasoline and other road-related taxes throughout fiscal 2010 even though the road-related tax system will be overhauled by April 2010. The abolition of surcharges on road-related taxes was a main campaign pledge of the...
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2009
Japan pressed on Futenma
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki to the State Department on Monday for an unscheduled meeting. She reportedly called for Japan to promptly implement the 2006 bilateral accord to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station...
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2009
Erratic confessions addressed
On Dec. 15 the Supreme Court upheld lower court decisions ordering a retrial of two men convicted in a 1967 murder-robbery case in the town of Tone, Ibaraki Prefecture. Although no material evidence came forth in the case, the life sentences given to the two men were finalized in 1978 on the strength...
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2009
Consequences of a bank policy
The Supreme Court on Dec. 7 scrapped an earlier ruling that had found three former executives of the now-defunct Nippon Credit Bank guilty of window-dressing and ordered the Tokyo High Court to retry the case. The three had been convicted of submitting false financial statements for the business year...
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2009
Pragmatism, realism prevail
They struck a deal in Copenhagen. As expected, it satisfies few and angers many. That means it is probably the best deal that could have been reached given the profound differences among the 193 nations that negotiated the agreement. The document that was finalized urges, but does not require, deep cuts...
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2009
People and climate change
The U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen has failed to reach a deal on the reduction targets of industrialized and emerging nations for greenhouse-gas emissions, although it set a goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius over the coming years and developed nations made a financial...
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 2009
Which promises to keep?
Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa has submitted a list of budgetary demands for fiscal 2010 to the administration. Unfortunately the process of compiling the demands lacks transparency. As Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama moves toward a final decision about the budget, his political...
Seven & I and Nissan deal fallout leaves Japan companies vulnerable
The rapid collapse of the plan to take Seven & I private reflects how personal egos and domestic competitiveness ultimately outweighed the nationalistic desire to fend off Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, whose pursuit of the Japanese retailer emerged last August.
China’s military puts Pacific on notice as U.S. priorities shift
A photo released by the Australia Defense Force showed an Australian Navy ship in the foreground and two Chinese navy ships in the Tasman Sea in February.
Not even Japan is safe from counterfeit luxury goods
While Japan's luxury goods market remains strong, its seconhand resale market is proving just as much a draw for tourists searching for great bargains — as long as they can manage to get their hands on the real deal.
Japan struggles to fend off a world without enough matcha
Once a boon to tea farmers' bottom lines, the global matcha craze is now pushing producers and distributors to their limits with few options to adequately meet demand.
7-Eleven owner to appoint first foreign CEO, report says
Seven & I Holdings CEO Ryuichi Isaka is stepping down from his position, the Nikkei newspaper has reported.
Why the latest Iwate wildfire is so difficult to extinguish
Firefighters work to extinguish the forest fire in the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, in this screenshot of a video footage from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency on Friday.
Japan’s climate heroes show potential and limits of local initiatives
Hidetaka Ishii, an official at the Chiba Municipal Government, says close coordination with private-sector operators is key for regional decarbonization efforts.
Aboard Japan’s most luxurious train, the journey is the destination
The luxury Seven Stars in Kyushu train trades the hyper-efficiency of typical rail travel in Japan for a slower, more decadent version.
Taiwan comics on the rise: Local storytellers, global aspirations
Taiwanese comic artist Rishiazao and interpreter Yun-wen Huang greet an attendee at the 2025 Angouleme International Comics Festival in France.
Not even Japan is safe from counterfeit luxury goods
While Japan's luxury goods market remains strong, its seconhand resale market is proving just as much a draw for tourists searching for great bargains — as long as they can manage to get their hands on the real deal.

Podcast

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

Longform

Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.
As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows
By Alex K.T. Martin

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