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November 28, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Dec 23, 2002

Contrived crisis in education

By Kiroku Hanai

Educational reform is becoming a political issue in Japan. At the center of the controversy is the Education Basic Law, which took effect in 1947 when the Constitution was established. Earlier this year the Central Council for Education, an advisory panel to the education minister, published an interim...

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Dec 23, 2002

Bleaker times may await the grandkids

By Jean-pierre Lehmann

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In four weeks this series will have run for a year, and it will be time to bring it to an end. These last four articles, therefore, will constitute a combination of conclusions and parting thoughts.

COMMENTARY

Dec 23, 2002

Fundamentalism twists ethics of religions

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Because of the events of 9/11 and al-Qaeda terrorism, we have all become deeply concerned about the malevolent aspects of Islamic fundamentalism. It is not always easy to remember that most followers of Islam are moderate and tolerant.

EDITORIALS

Dec 23, 2002

Pay cuts demand job security

It has been a long time since the word "shunto" -- the spring labor offensive -- stood for its traditional meaning. With the domestic economy caught in a deflationary spiral, the idea of winning across-the-board wage concessions from management on top of regular pay increases no longer holds water. So...

COMMENTARY

Dec 23, 2002

Fix the U.S.-ROK alliance

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- Now that the South Korean presidential elections are over, it's time for outgoing President Kim Dae Jung to take the necessary steps to ensure a proper legacy. No, I am not talking about his "sunshine policy" of engagement with North Korea. His bold, if only partially successful, efforts...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 22, 2002

From bluster to the risk of catastrophe

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- The United States and North Korea have once again reached an impasse in their long distance negotiations through the press. The North Koreans have demanded that the U.S. sign a nonaggression pact as part of a settlement of disputes on the Peninsula.

COMMENTARY

Dec 22, 2002

Abductee hysteria in Japan

By Gregory Clark

That old saying about democracies being their own worst enemies is getting a good workout in Japan's abductee dispute with North Korea. By any standards, North Korea's willingness to release five Japanese abducted in the 1970s following Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Sept. 17 breakthrough visit to...

COMMENTARY

Dec 21, 2002

Asia can learn from Europe

By Brad Glosserman

SINGAPORE -- Ever since Asian policymakers and analysts began thinking about their part of the world as a collective of nations -- as a "region" -- they have made one thing clear: Asia is a unique place and Europe's experience on this matter just does not apply. That thinking has dominated discussions...

EDITORIALS

Dec 21, 2002

Continuity and strain in South Korea

The election of Mr. Roh Moo Hyun as South Korea's next president promises continuity in Seoul. His victory is a triumph for departing President Kim Dae Jung, who launched Mr. Roh's Grand Millennium Party and inaugurated many of the policies that Mr. Roh inherits. Mr. Roh's pledge to continue Mr. Kim's...

EDITORIALS

Dec 20, 2002

A bigger Europe for what purpose?

At a summit last weekend in Copenhagen, the European Union reached a historic agreement to add 10 new members. Expansion will nearly double the size of the union, but it only underscores a long-standing question: What is the ultimate goal of the EU? There is, as yet, no convincing answer.

EDITORIALS

Dec 19, 2002

A belated but welcome apology

The USS Greeneville, a massive nuclear submarine, accidently rammed and sank the Ehime Maru, a Japanese fisheries training vessel, off Hawaii on Feb. 9, 2001, killing nine. This week, nearly two years later, the Greeneville's former captain, retired Cmdr. Scott Waddle, traveled to Japan to apologize...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 19, 2002

Lifetime of serving humanity helps nurse survive stint in Indonesian jail

By William Nessen

BANDA ACEH, Aceh -- On a lonely stretch of road in the midst of a distant war, Joy Lee Sadler, a 57-year-old nurse from Iowa, did what she has done all her life.

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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