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November 25, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Dec 16, 2000

An isolated government clings to power

By Minoru Tada

The United States and Japan are plagued by political chaos. The fierce U.S. presidential race ended in victory for George W. Bush after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the recounting of disputed ballots in Florida. In Japan, a disturbingly wide gap exists between the fragile support Prime Minister Yoshiro...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 16, 2000

Africa's growing thirst for democracy

By Kofi A. Annan

There is a saying among my people in Ghana: one head alone is not enough to decide. I often think of that when I hear people say that democracy is alien to Africa, or that Africans are "not ready" for democracy.

EDITORIALS

Dec 15, 2000

It's official, it's Mr. Bush

It's over. Nearly five weeks after U.S. voters went to the polls, Texas Gov. George W. Bush can claim to be the official winner and the 43rd president of the United States. It has been a wrenching time, for the candidates, their parties and the American public. Now, the healing must begin. It will be...

COMMENTARY

Dec 15, 2000

Japan ties under Bush hinge on U.S. economy

By Ronald Morse

Call it U.S. exceptionalism or a deep distrust of government. Whatever it is, Americans have demonstrated a historical preference for divided government as a check against one-party dominance. But nobody had ever expected a U.S. election with a hairline split and as much divisiveness as the one that...

EDITORIALS

Dec 14, 2000

Help needed for discontented workers

Despite the continuing bleak employment picture, perhaps partly because of it, many Japanese working men and women say they are unhappy in their jobs. This is not surprising, since changes in the traditional workplace are occurring so rapidly that the old rules and procedures for minimizing employee...

EDITORIALS

Dec 13, 2000

The EU makes nice in Nice

At its make-or-break summit last weekend in Nice, the European Union bent. Faced with the need to reform to accommodate new members and new responsibilities, European heads of state produced the inevitable compromises and fudges. Some choices were made; others, predictably, were put off. Still, the ground...

COMMENTARY

Dec 13, 2000

Look to history for guidance

By David Howell

THE REICHSTAG, Berlin -- Here in this building, 68 years ago, German democracy died, ushering in the darkest period of 20th-century history.

EDITORIALS

Dec 12, 2000

The banks' 'lost decade' continues

Japanese banks' performance for the first half of the current fiscal year delivers a disquieting message: They are still saddled with a large number of problem loans. For years, they have been saying that the worst is over -- and it is true that the danger of a financial meltdown no longer exists. But...

COMMENTARY

Dec 12, 2000

Economic outlook is gloomy

By Yukio Suzuki

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori faces an uncertain future after surviving a no-confidence motion against his Cabinet in the Diet last month. Koichi Kato, a leading dissident in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and fellow rebels had vowed to vote for the opposition-sponsored motion, but they changed their...

COMMENTARY

Dec 10, 2000

Conservation and clean energy

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- The global-warming conference in the Netherlands last month ended without agreement. Some scientists are still debating how real global warming is and how serious its effects are likely to be. Others are still inclined to argue that climates evolve naturally with warm and cold periods alternating....

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 10, 2000

U.S. presidential elections should go global

By Kenichi Ohmae

LOS ANGELES -- Americans watching events play out in Florida since Nov. 7 may feel a surreal sense of powerlessness; their president is being chosen by a handful of Palm Beach residents, it seems. In short, Americans have now gotten a taste of the way the rest of the world feels with each presidential...

EDITORIALS

Dec 10, 2000

Blood in the music

What's in a tune? When it comes to national anthems, a very great deal, it seems. In the first place, people like one they can actually sing, and in the second place, they like one that stirs and rouses the emotions, making them feel briefly part of something larger than themselves.

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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