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January 23, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Feb 12, 2007

A milestone for justice

In a world where states are sovereign and supreme, international relations are anarchic. Who can call leaders to account apart from their own citizens? The inability to answer that question makes a mockery of the idea of "justice," subordinating the idea to domestic political concerns. The International...

EDITORIALS

Feb 11, 2007

Exam system put to the test

When road signs point to universities, racks at shrines fill with rows of handwritten ema (votive pictures/messages), and a respectful hush falls over the city, you know it's time for one of Japan's most important rituals -- entrance exams.

EDITORIALS

Feb 10, 2007

Boost fire-prevention efforts

The number of people who died in accidental residential fires reached 1,041 in 2003, topping 1,000 for the first time. 2005 saw 1,220 deaths in such fires -- a record since 1979 when the oldest comparable statistics were taken, according to a white paper on fire defense approved by the Cabinet in December....

EDITORIALS

Feb 10, 2007

Mr. Yanagisawa does it again

Language sometimes masks what one really thinks or feels. It also sometimes exposes what is really on one's mind, consciously or unconsciously. The second case appears to apply to the two statements health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa has made in relation to the nation's falling birth rate. In a Lower House...

EDITORIALS

Feb 9, 2007

China's courtship of Africa

Chinese President Hu Jintao is near the end of an eight-nation tour of Africa, which has renewed anxieties associated with "China's rise." Yes, the trip is proof of Beijing's expanding interests and its global reach. And yes, China's readiness to ignore misbehavior by its African friends and trade partners...

EDITORIALS

Feb 8, 2007

More bad news for Mr. Abe

For the first time since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power in late September, more Japanese disapprove of his administration than approve of it. Although Mr. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party emerged victorious in the Aichi gubernatorial election Sunday, he will continue to experience difficulties...

EDITORIALS

Feb 7, 2007

Climate change beyond a doubt

For 60 years, the "Doomsday Clock" has measured mankind's proximity to its own annihilation. The closest it ever came was two minutes to doomsday -- registered in 1953 at the beginning of the thermonuclear age. At the end of the Cold War, the timekeepers moved the minute hand back in recognition of the...

EDITORIALS

Feb 6, 2007

Rough deal for future mothers

The unfavorable social climate for Japanese who want to have babies has recently been highlighted by two incidents. One is the gaffe by health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa, who called women "birth-giving machines." The other is the prosecutors' decision not to indict the head of a Yokohama maternity clinic...

EDITORIALS

Feb 6, 2007

Getting heard in court

The Legislative Council, an advisory body for the justice minister, has proposed allowing victims of crime and members of their family to question defendants and witnesses as participants in trials for serious crimes such as murder, rape and kidnapping. The proposal was made in response to long-standing...

EDITORIALS

Feb 5, 2007

A coldhearted ruling

The Tokyo District Court last week rejected a damages suit filed against the government by elderly war-displaced Japanese from China. The ruling is not only harsh but also appears blind to history. It turned down the plaintiffs' argument that the Japanese state should compensate them for failing to swiftly...

EDITORIALS

Feb 5, 2007

Try again for a first step

The six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs will resume in Beijing on Thursday. The coming round comes amid reported signs that both the United States and North Korea may be ready to make some compromise. But optimism is not warranted. In the 3 1/2 years since the six-party talks started...

EDITORIALS

Feb 4, 2007

Overbearing education proposals

An interim report submitted by the Education Resuscitation Council to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is long on proposals designed to tackle various challenges in Japanese education but short on reasons why some problems have developed. Without in-depth background analysis, it will be difficult to find correct...

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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