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November 30, 2024

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EDITORIALS

Nov 16, 2003

A word for everything

"McJob" is just one of 10,000 new words, or new meanings for old words, listed in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition. Browse the company's online sampler of the latest additions for a fascinating glimpse of what the English language -- as eclectic a scavenger as the crow -- has picked...

EDITORIALS

Nov 15, 2003

SDF dispatch plan needs a review

The worsening security situation in Iraq is raising serious doubts about Japan's plan to send troops for humanitarian and reconstruction aid. It looks as if the whole country is slipping into a new "war," with terrorists and guerrillas stepping up attacks on occupation troops as well as civilians. Reinforcing...

COMMENTARY

Nov 15, 2003

Prospects for six-party talks

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- U.S. President George W. Bush's recent offer to provide Pyongyang with written assurances that the United States does not intend to attack North Korea and the North's willingness "to consider" this offer provide the basis, however tentative and contentious, for a negotiated solution to the...

COMMENTARY

Nov 15, 2003

Election heralds dawn of new political era

By Kenzo Uchida

The Nov. 9 election of the House of Representatives ushered Japanese politics into a new era in which two parties will dominate: the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan.

EDITORIALS

Nov 14, 2003

Divisions within Sri Lanka

Ending the 20-year civil war in Sri Lanka was never going to be easy, but that task has become considerably more difficult with the outbreak of fighting within the Sri Lankan government. The battle between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe over the peace talks has...

EDITORIALS

Nov 13, 2003

A nonproliferation victory in Iran

The bad news is that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded that Iran operated a secret nuclear program and formally breached its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The good news is that the agency caught the clandestine program and forced Tehran to admit...

EDITORIALS

Nov 12, 2003

Mr. Koizumi's postelection challenges

Continuity and unity underscored Monday's meeting of the heads of the three ruling coalition parties, which gained a solid majority in Sunday's Lower House election. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, is certain to be re-elected at the outset of a special Diet...

COMMENTARY

Nov 12, 2003

Democracy: a most contentious ideal

By Ronald Meinardus

MANILA -- No other philosophical or political idea is as contentious as the concept of freedom. All principal writings of political philosophers deal with the issue of freedom in one sense or another, leading to an enormous -- and at times confusing -- body of sources. Freedom defines the relationships...

EDITORIALS

Nov 11, 2003

A viable two-party system?

In Sunday's election, the voters opted for stability -- with a twist. They gave the three-party ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party a continued mandate to run the country but, at the same time, handed the LDP a slap on the wrist: the loss of a majority in the 480-seat influential Lower...

COMMENTARY

Nov 11, 2003

A step toward a dynamic Japanese government

By Sam Jameson

Japanese voters on Sunday took a big step toward creating a two-party political system, but history shows that Japan still has a long way to go before it becomes a country in which changes of government occur periodically.

EDITORIALS

Nov 10, 2003

Being prepared for SARS

We must fully prepared for any new outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome this winter. Four months have passed since the World Health Organization declared that SARS was under control. The WHO is of the opinion that even if SARS flares up again, infection will not spread as long as countries take...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 10, 2003

China can learn from Japan

By Mamoru Ishida

China faces mounting pressure to revalue its allegedly undervalued yuan. I am concerned that China could repeat the mistakes that Japan made in exchange-rate policy. China can learn much from Japanese experiences in economic management and currency diplomacy.

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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