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January 24, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Feb 21, 2008

Improving the day laborer's lot

The labor ministry has meted out administrative punishment against major employment agency Goodwill Inc. This case and other incidents point to the need for the government and lawmakers to move quickly to improve conditions for temporary day laborers, including revising the manpower dispatching business...

EDITORIALS

Feb 20, 2008

The Republic of Kosovo has declared its independence. A decade after a bloody separatist war with Serbia that claimed thousands of lives, the Albanian enclave that was one of the last remnants of Yugoslavia has promised to create a "democratic, multiethnic state." The move, bitterly denounced by the...

EDITORIALS

Feb 19, 2008

North Korea's progress falters

A year has passed since the six-party talks concluded an agreement in February 2007 on a deal that would end North Korea's nuclear-weapons programs in stages. But the denuclearization process has failed to progress as expected. In October 2007, North Korea agreed to "disable" its facilities at its Yongbyon...

EDITORIALS

Feb 18, 2008

Facing off in family court

The Legislative Council of the Justice Ministry has handed Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama a report proposing that crime victims or family members of crime victims be allowed to attend juvenile court proceedings. In accordance with the proposal, the ministry plans to submit a bill revising the Juvenile...

EDITORIALS

Feb 17, 2008

Medical fee reform falls short

The Central Social Insurance Medical Council has decided on the details of the medical-fee hike for fiscal 2008. The council was expected to distribute the increase in a manner that would slow the drain of doctors from hospitals due to hard work. Although the council has made efforts in that direction,...

EDITORIALS

Feb 17, 2008

Downward risks for Japan's economy

Japan's real gross domestic product grew 0.9 percent in the October-December period from the previous quarter for annualized growth of 3.7 percent growth — more than double the market forecast of 1.5 percent annualized growth. The nation's economy is expected to achieve the government projection of...

EDITORIALS

Feb 16, 2008

Another trauma for East Timor

The attempted assassination of East Timor's president and prime minister this week is a reminder of the plight of Asia's youngest and poorest country. President Jose Ramos-Horta will survive, but his country needs more than his return to health: It needs sustained attention and assistance from its neighbors...

EDITORIALS

Feb 16, 2008

Death of a terrorist

Mr. Imad Mugniyeh, one of the world's most wanted men, was killed this week in Damascus. Mr. Mugniyeh, a commander of Hezbollah, the militant Islamist group, has been sought for his role in a series of terror attacks around the world that killed hundreds of people. Although no group claimed responsibility...

EDITORIALS

Feb 15, 2008

Slower growth in the near future

The Group of Seven financial chiefs who met in Tokyo last week recognized that the global economy "confronts a more challenging and uncertain environment" than when they last met in October. Their statement said, "In all our economies, to varying degrees, growth is expected to slow somewhat in the short...

EDITORIALS

Feb 15, 2008

Burden of prenatal health care

When women become pregnant, they normally start receiving regular checkups at clinics or hospitals. But the number of cases in which women whose contractions have begun suddenly visit medical institutions for the first time is increasing. Failure to receive regular checkups not only raises health risks...

EDITORIALS

Feb 14, 2008

Incident that inflames

Okinawa prefectural police have arrested a 38-year-old U.S. Marine on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl and sent him to public prosecutors. It is hoped that the United States Forces Japan will fully cooperate with Japanese investigators to determine the facts related to the alleged crime while strengthening...

EDITORIALS

Feb 14, 2008

Violence in sumo training

The arrests of former sumo stable master Tokitsukaze and three sumo wrestlers in connection with the fatal beating of a 17-year-old wrestler before and during a training session last June should serve as a warning to the Japan Sumo Association about a culture characterized by tolerance of corporal punishment....

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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