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November 25, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Feb 10, 2001

Upheaval on the horizon

By Kenzo Uchida

Diet debate started Tuesday on the fiscal 2001 government budget. The debate is likely to see head-on confrontation between the ruling and opposition forces. The government and the ruling coalition are hoping to pass the budget before fiscal 2000 ends March 31 in order to prepare for an Upper House election...

EDITORIALS

Feb 9, 2001

A mixed outlook for North Korea

North Korea, hit hard by unprecedented power shortages, is seeking emergency supplies from South Korea. Officials from the two nations are expected to conclude three days of talks in Pyongyang today after agreeing on needed arrangements. Visitors to the North say factories are running at just 20 percent...

COMMENTARY

Feb 9, 2001

Which 'global standard'?

By Glen S. Fukushima

At the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland last month, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara reportedly attracted more attention than Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 9, 2001

Musharraf blows chance to end impasse

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

NEW DELHI -- For a while, it almost seemed that the recent Gujarat earthquake would help advance the peace process for Kashmir, when Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, not only sent relief goods to the victims but also telephoned the Indian prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to convey...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 9, 2001

Hope fades for reconciliation in Kosovo

By Glyn Ford

The West's intervention in Kosovo was a reaction to the Serbs' final solution to the problems of the recalcitrant province. The Serbs attempted to drive out the Albanian majority using soldiers and civilians for mayhem and murder. It was not an arbitrary, irrational act, merely a final inhuman escalation...

EDITORIALS

Feb 8, 2001

Fear is the winner in Israel

Israelis have elected a new prime minister. Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon has trounced Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a historic vote. The results cap a stunning comeback for Mr. Sharon, who was written out of Israeli politics after the 1982 invasion of Lebanon which he masterminded. The results also...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Feb 8, 2001

With Cabinet approved, Bush gets down to business

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush is off to a good and fast start. In his first days as U.S. president, he has begun to soften his relationships with his adversaries, organize his control over the vast bureaucracy of the federal government, initiate innovative programs and promote his promised legislative...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 7, 2001

Few lessons for Wahid in Estrada's fate

By Harvey Stockwin

There are a growing number of students on the streets of Jakarta who are hoping to do to Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid what was done last month to Philippine President Joseph Estrada: depose him through the deployment of people power.

EDITORIALS

Feb 7, 2001

Averting tragedy in the sky

One week after a frightening near miss between two Japan Airlines jetliners over Yaezu in Shizuoka Prefecture, it seems almost certain that the near midair collision was caused by a combination of human errors. While investigators have yet to reach a conclusion, two human factors -- incorrect instructions...

COMMENTARY

Feb 7, 2001

In defense of Davos' ideals

By David Howell

DAVOS, Switzerland -- President Vicente Fox of Mexico was received very warmly at this year's World Economic Forum summit in Davos. His message was clear: that globalization creates dangers, such as a deepening divide between rich and poor, and that these must be addressed if the globalization "backlash"...

EDITORIALS

Feb 6, 2001

Reaching out to problem children

School teachers throughout the country recently held brainstorming sessions as part of a voluntary effort to promote educational reform. Reports and discussions at those meetings, attended by members of the Japan Teachers Union (Nikkyoso) and the National Teachers Union (Zenkyo), reinforced the perception...

COMMENTARY

Feb 6, 2001

Civil servants are not serfs

By Hugh Cortazzi

The "shunju" (spring and autumn) column on the first page of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun often contains comments that are right on target. The Jan. 27 column commented on the sometimes arrogant and unwarranted demands made by Japanese politicians on Japanese diplomats in missions abroad.

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

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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