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EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2005

Keeping to the PKO principles

With the signing of a peace agreement in Sudan, ravaged by more than 20 years of civil war, the government is weighing plans to have the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) participate in U.N. peacekeeping operations (PKO). Japan has received an informal request for cooperation from U.N. Secretary General Kofi...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2005

Howard Baker will be missed

The image of ambassadors has changed greatly over the years. Until the mid-20th century, ambassadors were said to be "dwellers among the clouds" -- a Japanese phrase for the nobility. This metaphor showed what ordinary people thought of nobles. To the commoners busy with their daily work, the privileged...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 29, 2005

Margaret Powell

Headquartered in Reading, England, GAP Activity Projects is a nonprofit organization that arranges gap year activities for young people. In the U.K., the gap year is offered between high school and university. GAP was originated in 1972 by a teacher who knew that some students were eager for overseas...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 25, 2004

Now may be the time to finesse U.S. 'bully'

Beneath the buzz of news last week, it was easy to overlook one important story -- as much of the media did. On Thursday, the Russian Federation submitted to the United Nations its ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, beginning a 90-day countdown to the protocol's entry into force. As a result, on Feb....
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2004

Lack of action here gives human-trafficking low profile: ILO

Public awareness of human-trafficking is low in Japan because of slow government action and a lack of legislation that directly addresses the problem, according a draft report by the International Labor Organization obtained Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 30, 2004

Michael Holmes

It's a long way from being a cub reporter on a local newspaper to becoming anchorman for CNN International, but it didn't take Michael Holmes long to cover the distance. Being good at his work was essential for his progress. Undoubtedly his cheerfulness and buoyancy helped him to forge ahead, along with...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2004

Credit some viewers for trying to think

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- As one of the millions of television viewers glued to his screen trying to keep pace with the overwhelming flow of international news, I often find myself pondering the pluses and minuses of present-day advances in computers, electronics and information technology. The other day...
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2004

Summits of East Asian unity

East Asia is moving toward regional integration, albeit at a slow pace. In a series of meetings held in Indonesia from late June to early July, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed on a package of measures to expedite economic, financial, political and security integration. This signals...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 8, 2004

Hidden plight of detainees

'What did I do to the Japanese people," asks Merdem Yousif. "I came to Japan because I thought the people would be warm-hearted. It was my big mistake. I should have gone to another country."
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2004

'One China' principle is all but dead

HONOLULU -- No matter how the dispute over Taiwan's presidential election is resolved, it has become ever more clear that the "One China" principle is unraveling.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2004

'Fink-on-a-foreigner' Web site hit as xenophobic, faces review

The Justice Ministry will review a controversial Immigration Bureau Web site where people can anonymously report suspicious foreigners who might be illegal aliens.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2004

Rokkasho in dark, or wary, about ITER

OSAKA -- Just weeks before a decision is made on whether Japan or France gets to host the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, Japanese officials are conducting a last-ditch international campaign to secure support.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 29, 2003

250 reasons to be happy, then some

I'm happy! The reason I'm happy is I love art, and this month a total of four -- yes four -- new contemporary art spaces opened in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2003

New tests challenging TOEIC stronghold

Scoring 500 points on the TOEIC English proficiency test is a prerequisite for promotion to section chief or a higher managerial position at construction machinery maker Komatsu Ltd.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2003

Liberal ideals gain ground in the Asia-Pacific region

MANILA -- In past decades, liberal democracy and economic freedom have made great advances in all parts of the world. This general trend also applies to Asia, as is documented in the annual "Freedom in the World" surveys published by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation and the "Economic Freedom...
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2003

Japan missing out on Chinese legal advice: lawyer

Japanese firms should make better use of local legal services to control the risk of doing business in China as the country continues its progress toward the "rule of law," a Shanghai-based lawyer said at a recent seminar in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2003

Chaotic images of Indonesia

HONOLULU -- Turmoil in Indonesia was underscored Tuesday when a terrorist bomb exploded in a hotel in Jakarta killing at least 14 people and wounding about 150 more. It has added to the already surging concern of American officials in Washington and at the U.S. Pacific Command's headquarters in Hawaii,...
COMMENTARY
Jul 9, 2003

Human rights under siege worldwide

LONDON -- Terrorism is a serious threat to our societies and way of life. We must give top priority to combating it, but if we ignore or undermine the protection of human rights in the process we shall endanger the principles of humanity for which we are purportedly fighting.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2003

Hijacker's wife denies Pyongyang kidnap role

The wife of one of nine Japanese fugitives wanted in the hijacking of a Japan Airlines jetliner to Pyongyang in 1970 has admitted arranging for a Japanese university student to go to North Korea in 1980 but denies the action constituted an abduction.
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2003

What price Tokyo?

It's a funny thing about lists, isn't it? Regardless of the category, it's human nature to want to be at the top of whatever it is being listed. So it was last week when an international cost-of-living survey, published Monday, ranked Tokyo as once again the world's most expensive city, ahead of Moscow,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2003

Clamp down on illegal exports

The Metropolitan Police Department last week arrested executives of a Japanese engineering company, Seishin Enterprise Co., on suspicion of illegally exporting to Iran sensitive military-related equipment that could be used in the manufacture of solid fuel for missiles. Investigations have also revealed...
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2003

They impeach murderers, don't they?

NEW YORK -- U.S. President George W. Bush told us that Iraq and al-Qaeda were working together. They weren't. He repeatedly implied that Iraq had had something to do with 9/11. It hadn't. He claimed to have proof that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed banned weapons of mass destruction....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 14, 2003

Bernard Doyle

In 2000, a U.N. General Assembly resolution designated June 20 as World Refugee Day. Bernard Doyle, regional office e-center coordinator for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, says special programs are planned for Japan this year. They aim to raise general public awareness of refugees....
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
May 22, 2003

Political scientist gained key perspective in Japan

On March 19, just hours before U.S. forces began their raids on Baghdad, more than 50 U.S. government intelligence experts as well as scholars and embassy staff from several South Asian countries assembled in a top-floor room at John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies for a...
COMMENTARY
May 5, 2003

Rudderless world economy

From 1993 to 2001, the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton based its policies on the Democratic Party's platform of compassion toward the underprivileged and tolerance toward dissent. In the past, this ideology had prompted Democratic administrations to try to legislate an end to racial discrimination....
COMMENTARY
Apr 28, 2003

Fair, transparent foreign aid

Last September the Japanese government was stunned by a lawsuit filed with the Tokyo District Court by 3,861 residents of Indonesia's Sumatra Island. The plaintiffs said their life had been disrupted by a dam for hydroelectric power and flood control built with Japan's official development assistance....
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2003

Revival of the 'twin deficit' threat

A budget crisis is returning to the United States. Along with worsening trade deficits, record budget shortfalls projected for the fiscal year 2003 and beyond are reviving a nightmare threat of "twin deficits." It is worrisome for global growth and security that the world's only military and economic...
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Feb 7, 2003

Osaka survey follows ethnic lines

OSAKA -- While Osaka's foreign residents are divided on the need to provide information for medical services in foreign languages, they are in general agreement that schools should teach more about the history, language and culture of other countries.
EDITORIALS
Jan 15, 2003

Sidetracking the territorial issue

Japan and Russia remain far apart on the territorial dispute over the Northern Territories, a group of northern Pacific islands known to the Russians as the Southern Kurils. The meeting over the weekend in Moscow between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no...
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2002

How safe is nuclear energy?

Recent scandals regarding Tokyo Electric Power Co. safety inspection procedures have added a new sense of urgency to a long-standing question: "Are nuclear power reactors throughout East Asia being operated safely?"

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?