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January 20, 2025

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EDITORIALS

Jun 26, 2003

Europe peeks at a new constitution

The European Union unveiled its draft constitution last weekend. The document overhauls the institutions and procedures of the union of 15 countries to better prepare it for the expansion scheduled for 2004 when 10 new members are added. The constitution navigates between two imperatives: safeguarding...

EDITORIALS

Jun 25, 2003

IWC: a mix of water and oil

The International Whaling Commission ended its annual session in Berlin last week after approving stronger protective measures, including a resolution calling for the creation of a conservation committee. The meeting, as ever dominated by antiwhaling nations, was yet another blow to Japan's long-standing...

EDITORIALS

Jun 24, 2003

Threats from the sky and the seas

In late May, a Boeing 727 that had been parked on the Luanda airport tarmac for 14 months lumbered into the Angolan skies and vanished. Nearly a month later, the whereabouts of that plane are still unknown. There is much mystery in African aviation -- the paperwork on many aircraft is questionable --...

EDITORIALS

Jun 23, 2003

Tax system for an aging society

With Japanese society aging rapidly, what kind of tax reform is needed to cover soaring social security costs? The government's tax panel answer is that taxpayers must assume a greater burden. In a report presented to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last week, the Tax Commission called for raising personal-income...

EDITORIALS

Jun 22, 2003

What price Tokyo?

It's a funny thing about lists, isn't it? Regardless of the category, it's human nature to want to be at the top of whatever it is being listed. So it was last week when an international cost-of-living survey, published Monday, ranked Tokyo as once again the world's most expensive city, ahead of Moscow,...

EDITORIALS

Jun 21, 2003

Tehran under assault

Iran is under mounting pressure from within and without. Just as the international community is becoming increasingly concerned about Tehran's nuclear program, the regime faces increasing domestic unrest. Conspiracy-minded individuals see the two as linked, the product of U.S. efforts to undermine another...

EDITORIALS

Jun 20, 2003

Iraq remains a dangerous place

When the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein collapsed more than two months ago, many thought that peace would return to Iraq in short order. That was wishful thinking. Much of the country is still a combat zone, with U.S. troops fighting Hussein loyalists, Islamic militants and other opponents. This is hampering...

EDITORIALS

Jun 19, 2003

A good month for the EU

It has been a good month for the European Union. Both Poles and Czechs voted to join the EU last weekend. Despite fears that apathy would invalidate the results, a comfortable majority in both countries cast ballots in favor of EU membership. The votes signal a break with the Cold War past and herald...

EDITORIALS

Jun 18, 2003

The pension system in peril

Japan's protracted economic slump, combined with the accelerated aging of the population, is putting increasing strains on the public pension system. The government-managed corporate-sector pension program, which now has 30 million subscribers, registered a large deficit in fiscal 2001. For the first...

EDITORIALS

Jun 17, 2003

Clamp down on illegal exports

The Metropolitan Police Department last week arrested executives of a Japanese engineering company, Seishin Enterprise Co., on suspicion of illegally exporting to Iran sensitive military-related equipment that could be used in the manufacture of solid fuel for missiles. Investigations have also revealed...

EDITORIALS

Jun 16, 2003

Controversial bill reaches Diet floor

There is no question that Japan should do what it can to help bring stability and democracy to Iraq. Although the world remains divided over whether the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was justified, rebuilding the country is an international undertaking that should be supported by as many nations as possible...

EDITORIALS

Jun 15, 2003

Trust in tatters

We've known all along we shouldn't believe everything we read in the newspapers, but this is getting ridiculous. First came the double blow to the credibility of the New York Times -- America's oft-proclaimed "paper of record" -- by disgraced reporters Jayson Blair and Rick Bragg.

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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