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November 26, 2024

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COMMENTARY / World

Jun 27, 2001

Is Canberra doing right by its refugees?

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- Nowhere was the poignancy of World Refugee Day on June 20 felt more acutely than in Australia. Here, the plight of thousands of refugees held in detention camps gnaws at the national conscience.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 26, 2001

Is Japan moving to the right?

By Tadae Takubo

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in a discussion with U.S. experts on Asian problems. Several of the U.S. participants stated that the new junior high-school history textbook issued by Fuso Publishing Co. was a "swing to the right." Since Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka has said publicly...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 26, 2001

Justice takes a step backward in Texas

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry's decision to veto legislation that would have banned the execution of mentally retarded criminals is a setback to the elimination of a barbaric policy that has almost universal repudiation. This decision comes at the same time as the release from prison -- where he...

EDITORIALS

Jun 26, 2001

Promise of reform carries the day

Riding on the dynamics of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's popularity, the governing Liberal Democratic Party expanded its plurality strength from a pre-election total of 48 seats to 53 in Sunday's election for the 127-seat Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Together with the 23 seats grabbed by New Komeito,...

COMMENTARY

Jun 25, 2001

Another blast from Mr. Bix

By Sam Jameson

To more than 80 percent of Japanese voters, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi looks like a populist reformer. But to the American winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction, Koizumi is a "rightwing nationalist."

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Jun 25, 2001

Debunking America's 'Good War' myth

By Hiroaki Sato

The movie "Pearl Harbor" may be copying what happened after Japan's actual assault: a spectacular initial success followed by a string of disappointments. But since I'm invoking history, I must hasten to add that there won't be anything remotely resembling an unconditional surrender in store for the...

EDITORIALS

Jun 25, 2001

Supporting the nation's scientists

Professor Shuji Nakamura, of the University of California, Santa Barbara, is known as the inventor of a semiconductor diode, an electronic element that emits a bluish purple color. Of course, he is one of the most noted Japanese scientists in the world. He is also the hero of the scientific equivalent...

COMMENTARY

Jun 25, 2001

Montagnards still paying for Vietnam War

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- It's understandable. Now 85, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, in his new book "Wilson's Ghost," is urging that America get involved in foreign crises only under the umbrella of multinational efforts. And you would take that view, too, if you had been the boss of the U.S....

COMMENTARY

Jun 25, 2001

Textbook criticism on target

By Kiroku Hanai

China and South Korea are demanding revisions in Japanese history textbooks approved by the government for use at middle schools, arguing that they contain distortions of facts. In making the demands, China singled out a textbook compiled by the Society for History Textbook Reform; South Korea directed...

COMMENTARY

Jun 25, 2001

How to best honor Clinton? Forget him

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- "Since Bill Clinton left office, we've been through a lot together," writes political consultant James Carville in his letter to me. But Clinton supporters "have much to be proud of." So please give to the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation.

EDITORIALS

Jun 24, 2001

Cool and cooler

Summer is back, with its alternating days of broiling sun and warm, sticky rain. Time to unpack the sweaters and scarves again.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 24, 2001

More than words are needed in Myanmar

By Nyunt Shwe

Myanmar is no longer a closed-door country and people who have an interest in it and its people now enjoy much greater access than in the past. Information that would have remained secret in the past quickly becomes public knowledge in today's global village. The old adage "Honesty is the best policy"...

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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