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January 22, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Mar 21, 2006

Court misses the big picture

Protecting a news source is the most important ethic of a reporter. But the Tokyo District Court has mounted a frontal attack on this principle, endangering freedom of press and the people's right to know. The court decided March 14 that when the possibility exists that a news source is a public servant,...

EDITORIALS

Mar 20, 2006

Unfinished business for women

Twenty years after the much heralded gender-equality law went into effect in Japan, women still face discrimination in the workplace -- in ways less apparent but just as effective in limiting their promotional opportunities and so also widening the wage gap with male colleagues.

EDITORIALS

Mar 19, 2006

Speaking clearly in the Diet

So, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has gone out on a limb and suggested that Japanese lawmakers engaging in debate in the Diet should speak in Japanese. Last week he reportedly chided an opposition member for asking a question sprinkled with English-language terms. On the one hand, that seems reasonable....

EDITORIALS

Mar 18, 2006

Heed Iwakuni's message

An overwhelming majority of residents in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, voted "no" in a plebiscite held Sunday on a plan to relocate 57 U.S. carrier-based aircraft and 1,600 U.S. military personnel to their city. This was the first plebiscite of its kind since Japan and the United States agreed in October...

EDITORIALS

Mar 17, 2006

Foreign Ministry mind game

Mr. Bunroku Yoshino, 87, director general of the Foreign Ministry's American Bureau from January 1971 to May 1972, was in charge of negotiations with the United States on the reversion of Okinawa to Japanese control. In recent media interviews, Mr. Yoshino admitted that Japan secretly shouldered $4 million...

EDITORIALS

Mar 16, 2006

Justice for Milosevic's victims

In death as in life, former Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic was contemptuous of the world. The heart attack that claimed his life while being tried for war crimes may have kept a tribunal from declaring him guilty, but there was no doubt about the eventual outcome. Mr. Milosevic was wrong -- and on...

EDITORIALS

Mar 15, 2006

Asbestos aid falls short

The Diet enacted a law in early February to financially help people suffering from asbestos-related health problems not covered by labor accident compensation. Eligible people can start filing requests for the aid under the law on March 20. Enactment of the law was quick -- in about seven months -- after...

EDITORIALS

Mar 14, 2006

Breathing room for detainees

The treatment of suspects arrested for questioning in criminal cases and of defendants undergoing trial has long been a human-rights issue in Japan. This problem will be partially resolved by a government bill to be sent to the Diet. Still, a bigger problem exists: the use of police holding cells as...

EDITORIALS

Mar 13, 2006

BOJ's intentions must be clear

The Bank of Japan has decided to lift its quantitative easy-money policy, an emergency and unprecedented measure introduced five years ago to pump vast amounts of interest-free money into a stagnant economy plagued by falling prices. The much-heralded decision, made Thursday, opens the way for a return...

EDITORIALS

Mar 12, 2006

A tribute to a brave soul

In May 2004, a woman named Dana Reeve delivered a commencement speech at her alma mater, Middlebury College in Vermont, where she and her husband were being awarded honorary degrees. It was an upbeat speech. There was nothing unusual about that. Commencement speeches are supposed to be upbeat. Most of...

EDITORIALS

Mar 11, 2006

Political storm batters U.S. ports

The controversy over the proposed sale of U.S. port facilities to a government-owned company of the United Arab Emirates was, in large part, political theater. The deal was a gift issue in election season: It allowed members of Congress to demonstrate their commitment to U.S. security and U.S. jobs....

EDITORIALS

Mar 10, 2006

Nuclear principle vs. pragmatism

Last summer the United States and India agreed to an historic deal, one that was designed to transform their relationship. The core of the agreement was a reassessment of India's nuclear program. The U.S. sought to end India's pariah status and to normalize Delhi's relations with the global proliferation...

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

mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers

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