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January 31, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2008
Ending the use of cluster bombs
About 100 countries, including Japan, signed a treaty Dec. 3 in Oslo to ban cluster bombs. It goes into effect about six months after 30 countries have ratified it. Japan should start the ratification procedure as soon as possible.
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2008
Failure of latest round
The latest round of the six-party talks on the denuclearization of North Korea ended Thursday, after the parties failed to agree on a protocol spelling out ways to verify an inventory of North Korea's nuclear programs. The North's refusal to put verification commitments into writing caused the failure....
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2008
Responsibility for food safety
A panel of the Cabinet Office on Nov. 25 made public a report on a scandal involving the reselling of contaminated rice for human consumption, which had surfaced in September 2008. The report said officials of the farm ministry lacked a sense of responsibility for their role in ensuring the safety of...
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2008
Sony cutting back
Sony Corp. has announced a major restructuring plan. It will be cutting about 16,000 jobs worldwide — 8,000 regular jobs and another 8,000 irregular jobs — by the end of fiscal 2009 (March 31, 2010). The 8,000 regular jobs account for about 5 percent of Sony's 160,000-strong worldwide workforce in...
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2008
Retaining nursing-care workers
The government and the ruling bloc have decided to raise the payment for nursing-care services by 3 percent from April 2009. Since the inauguration of the nursing-care insurance system in fiscal 2000, the payment has been reviewed twice — once every three years — and reduced every time. The increase...
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2008
Education loan accountability
The Japan Students Services Organization (JASSO), a student loan provider under the wing of the education ministry, is suffering from a high delinquency rate on loan payments. Starting in fiscal 2010, it will tell all new borrowers that it will report long-term delinquent borrowers to an organization...
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2008
Precipitous drop in popularity
A Cabinet is said to have entered "dangerous waters" if its public approval rating sinks below 30 percent. Only 2 1/2 months after Mr. Taro Aso came into power, the approval rating for his Cabinet has fallen to 25.5 percent, a drop of 15.4 percentage points from November, according to a Kyodo News poll....
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2008
Health net for children
A September survey by the health and welfare ministry has found that about 32,900 children throughout the country were not covered by health insurance because their parents had failed to pay premiums to the National Health Insurance system (Kokumin Kenko Hoken). Irregularly employed workers, unemployed...
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2008
Budget in disarray
The government has adopted a basic policy for the fiscal 2009 budget compilation. It will maintain budget caps introduced in 2006 by the Koizumi administration, which include a 3-percent annual cut in public-works spending and a ¥220 billion reduction each year in the natural growth of social security...
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2008
Betrayal of public trust
An investigative committee on Nov. 28 handed welfare minister Yoichi Masuzoe a report stating that workers at local offices of the Social Insurance Agency systematically falsified pension records of company employees. Falsification consisted of (1) recording employee salaries as lower than their actual...
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2008
Remember Pearl Harbor
Just 67 years ago, Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor in Oahu and sank four battleships and other vessels of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, killing some 2,400 Americans. This attack and the landing — one hour earlier — of Imperial Japanese Army units on Malay Peninsula expanded Japan's...
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2008
Temps weather the storm
It is becoming increasingly clear that the economy is sinking deeper. Domestic sales of new vehicles in November plunged 27.3 percent from a year earlier. The U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research found that the U.S. recession had started in December 2007. As the U.S. and European economies are unlikely...
Japan begins feeling the pain of BOJ rate hikes more concretely
People were more concerned about the direct and specific impact of the Bank of Japan's latest rate hike on their personal lives, according to an artificial intelligence-driven analysis of various platforms, including social media.
Sumo’s newest yokozuna is all smiles — but major challenges await
Hoshoryu (front, second from left) celebrates after being promoted to yokozuna on Wednesday in Tokyo.
Japanese man ends his 6,000 kilometer Africa rickshaw trek in Cape Town
Yuji "Gump" Suzuki, the Japanese runner and social media sensation, runs with supporters while pushing his rickshaw as he nears his goal in Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday.
No survivors from jet and helicopter collision in Washington, officials say
Part of the wreckage is seen as rescue crews search the waters of the Potomac River Thursday morning after a passenger plane on approach to Reagan National Airport crashed into the river after colliding with a U.S. Army helicopter, near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday evening.
Cherry blossom season predicted to begin in Tokyo on March 21
Tokyo is expected to lead the season with its first cherry blossoms on March 21, followed by Fukuoka, Kochi and Hiroshima prefectures as well as the city of Yokohama on March 22.
For two weeks only, cold-water yellowtail can give you chills
Yellowtail caught during the coldest period of the year is delicious enough — but paired with a classic method of marinade and pan-searing, it's divine.
In meat- and fish-loving Japan, veganism is making a comeback
Though vegan restaurants have been on the upswing since 2017, Japanese vegans still lack a wide variety of options.
Who are the key figures involved in the growing Fuji TV scandal?
Fuji TV adviser Hisashi Hieda in 2005
What we learned at Fuji TV's marathon Nakai scandal news conference
Members of the media raise their hands for questions as outgoing Fuji TV President Koichi Minato attends a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
Kanoa Igarashi dreams big as surfing championship tour gets underway
Kanoa Igarashi surfs in the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach competition in Oahu, Hawaii, on Feb. 18.

Podcast

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

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick
By Alex K.T. Martin

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