Search - community

 
 
EDITORIALS
Sep 12, 2002

The limits of military power

What a difference a year can make. Although the fear of terrorism continues to stalk the world, the popular perception of it has changed significantly over the past year. Following the atrocity of Sept. 11, 2001 -- an attack on freedom, as U.S. President George W. Bush put it -- the international community...
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2002

Public responds to mayors' U.S. barbs

Criticism leveled last month by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba at the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has provoked a major reaction both at home and abroad.
COMMENTARY
Sep 12, 2002

Brave trip to settle the past

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's one-day visit to North Korea on Sept. 17 is likely to have a profound effect on the security situation in Northeast Asia. The two nations started normalization talks in 1991, but thus far no substantial progress has been made because of the alleged abduction of Japanese...
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2002

Colleagues remember 9/11 dead

Colleagues of Japanese victims of last year's terrorist attacks in the United States solemnly observed the first anniversary on Wednesday, with many companies holding a moment of silence in remembrance of those who died when the World Trade Center buildings collapsed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Sep 8, 2002

Radio icon pulls plug on show after world-record 45 years

Her achievement is nothing special, she says. But the thing that has kept Chieko Akiyama going throughout her unprecedented career is the human energy radiating from the people she meets.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2002

Ethical dilemma in war of 'self-defense'

NEW YORK -- The recent unjustified killings of Palestinian civilians -- several children among them -- have not only raised the anger of the Palestinian population but also some of Israeli civilians. More importantly, those brutal killings endanger the withdrawal negotiations and threaten to condemn...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2002

Sept. 11 boosts Japan's interest in Islam

As kimono-clad people danced through the streets of the Minami Otsuka district of northern Tokyo during a summer festival last month, a small Pakistani curry stall was doing a roaring trade.
EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2002

Psychiatric abuse in China

The abuse of psychiatry for political purposes has a long and sad history. Defining dissidents as "mentally ill" allows political authorities to evade many of the legal protections built into criminal codes, and oppressive governments have rarely hesitated to use that shortcut when convenient. Such abuses...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 5, 2002

Reaching out to Japanese hit on Sept. 11

Nearly a year ago, on Sept. 11, the Japan Helpline undertook its most difficult aid effort since the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck Kobe back in 1995.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2002

U.S. alliance least served by genuflecting: expert

Japan needs to think strategically and hold dialogue with the United States in that light if it wants to be a true ally, according to a former deputy chief of the Defense Agency.
Japan Times
JAPAN / LEGACIES OF 9/11
Sep 4, 2002

Iraq issue casts shadow on post-9/11 solidarity

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, two things crossed the mind of Shotaro Yachi of the Foreign Ministry: Japan must join the international community in condemning the acts, and must do everything possible to help the anticipated U.S. military response.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Sep 1, 2002

'Dialect broadcaster' leads revival of Okinawan tongue

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- Fumiko Ikari used to spend hours listening to Japanese radio, mimicking broadcasters' inflections and trying to purge all traces of the Okinawa dialect from her speech.
COMMENTARY
Sep 1, 2002

Taiwan's role in promoting democracy

MANILA -- Due to mere numbers, the Taiwanese will always be the underdog in their dispute with China. Arguably, the most important advantage of the islanders in this confrontation is their domestic political order. In spite of constant partisan bickering, Taiwanese democracy may well be termed a source...
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2002

Failure is not an option

Aside from its size, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg is a touchstone that indicates how serious the international community is about reconciling its needs with the world's limited resources. It is billed as the largest United Nations gathering in history.
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2002

Taiwan ditching 'nice guy' diplomacy

Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu was greeted triumphantly upon her return to Taiwan, but her trip to Indonesia yielded mixed results at best. Taiwan may well have raised expectations in Indonesia that it may not be able to fulfill. Moreover, China will now put renewed pressure on Southeast Asian countries...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 29, 2002

Questions over foreigners' phone deposit

Last April, telecoms giant NTT announced the largest annual corporate loss in Japanese history -- 2 trillion yen. More than a third of it came from its cell phone subsidiary, NTT Docomo.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2002

U.S. to keep Tokyo advised on Iraq situation: Armitage

Visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Tuesday that Washington intends to stay in touch with Tokyo regarding any plan to attack Iraq.
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2002

Feeding the frenzy

Make no mistake: The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush wants to wage war against Iraq. Whether it will do so is another matter; whether it should do so is yet another question. The skeptics received a real boost with the publication of a critique of U.S. foreign policy by former National...
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2002

Osaka seminar clarifies provisions of U.N. crime convention

OSAKA -- Twenty-one nations from around Asia concluded a two-day seminar here Friday in which they learned from experts about the specific provisions of the United Nations Transnational Organized Crime Convention.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Ministry seeks 1.04 trillion yen for child-rearing aid

The health ministry is asking for 1.04 trillion yen in the fiscal 2003 national budget to support child-rearing in a bid to curb the declining birth rate, ministry officials said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 23, 2002

Time to act quickly on aging

In about 13 years, when the generation born in the first baby-boom period immediately after World War II reaches old age, Japan will become a full-fledged aged society. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the elderly population aged 65 years or over will number 33 million and will...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2002

World Bank to push for effective aid use

Amid increasing public scrutiny of Japan's overseas aid policies, the World Bank will increase cooperation measures to ensure that official development assistance from Tokyo is used more effectively to fight poverty, according to Yukio Yoshimura, newly appointed head of the World Bank's office in Tokyo....
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 22, 2002

Time to change, or find another planet

First of two parts Next week, tens of thousands of politicians, bureaucrats, activists and policy analysts will descend on Johannesburg, South Africa, for the largest conference in human history: the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2002

Trance music: Taking it to the next level

When deep into the music at a trance party, most people dance a sort of mechanized primal stomp, working their arms like pistons and clomping their feet. Although these maneuvers may look awkward, they are a natural reaction to the music's rigidly 4/4 industrial-sounding beats, which, though sublime...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2002

Researcher urges water consciousness

A common saying in Japanese is "mizu to anzen wa tada" ("water and safety are free"), meaning they can be taken for granted.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 19, 2002

Yasuda returns to cheer on 49ers

No Japanese has ever played in the NFL.

Longform

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