More Opinion Articles - The Japan Times

November 30, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Nov 10, 2003

Britain needs political center

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- The British Conservative Party has once again kicked out its leader. Ian Duncan Smith had shown himself unable to control his party and capitalize on the mistakes and failings of the current British Government led by Prime Minister Tony Blair. He lacked charisma and displayed a sad lack of...

EDITORIALS

Nov 9, 2003

Two paths to justice

On opposite sides of the world, two trials have been winding their way to justice along very different paths. In each case, the guilt or innocence of the defendants is not seriously at issue. These trials are hardly "whodunits." In a sense, each has been a ritual rather than a substantive procedure,...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 9, 2003

Is Japan to mainland Asia what Britain is to Europe?

By Takashi Inoguchi and Ramesh Thakur

The European landmass lies to the south and east of Britain, the Asian landmass to the north and west of Japan. A newspaper headline in Britain once famously declared: "Fog over the channel, continent isolated." Japan may lack such endearing chauvinism, but is far more homogeneous and closed as a society...

COMMENTARY

Nov 9, 2003

Iraq changes U.S. presidential scenarios

By Harvey Stockwin

HONG KONG -- Seen from East Asia, American politics appear to be undergoing a sea-change. Mainly under the pressure of events in Iraq, President George W. Bush's re-election in 2004 has become much more uncertain, and it has become easier to see some of the Democratic Party's potential candidates becoming...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 9, 2003

APEC future rests on political relevancy

By John Barry Kotch

SEOUL -- Another APEC summit has come and gone but has anything really changed? The question that needs to be asked is whether the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum is still relevant? No one attending the recent APEC summit in Bangkok really wanted to leave -- especially after the magnificence...

EDITORIALS

Nov 8, 2003

A sense of diplomatic uncertainty

During his two and half years in office, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has faced a series of major diplomatic challenges, including the U.S. strike on Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, the nuclear-weapons program in North Korea and the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents. In a way,...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 8, 2003

Double blow to peace efforts in Sri Lanka

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

MADRAS, India -- The Sri Lankan peace process is under serious threat. Worse, there is a constitutional crisis provoked by President Chandrika Kumaratunga's dismissal of three key ministers, including the island nation's defense chief.

COMMENTARY

Nov 8, 2003

Pressure won't bring peace

By Gregory Clark

Visit Shanghai and while you may not see the future -- contrary to what Sydney and Beatrice Webb once foolishly claimed when they visited the Soviet Union in the 1920s -- you will certainly see very little of the past.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 8, 2003

Solution in sight for Bhutanese refugees

By Anand Kumar

NEW DELHI -- The complicated issue of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal seems to be heading toward a solution after some major breakthroughs were achieved during a two-day meeting of diplomats of two countries in Thimpu on Oct. 20-21.

EDITORIALS

Nov 7, 2003

Another keyword in campaign

What should be done to rebuild Japan's tightly-knit, bureaucrat-led society? The question is gaining urgency as local governments clamor for greater autonomy. In response, the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is moving toward streamlining the complex system of grants and subsidies,...

EDITORIALS

Nov 6, 2003

Proper management of Iraqi aid

The International Conference of Donors for Iraq's Reconstruction, held in Madrid last month, pledged assistance totaling nearly $40 billion (about 4.4 trillion yen), with direct financial contributions alone amounting to $33 billion. The World Bank estimates that Iraq will require $56 billion (about...

EDITORIALS

Nov 5, 2003

Tax debates at cross-purposes

As the campaigning for the Sunday general election draws to a close, the debate on the consumption tax remains low key. The simple reason is that a tax increase is always politically unpalatable, especially at election time. Nonetheless, the fact that practically all parties are making it a campaign...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.

Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat

By Greg Dvorak

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

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