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EDITORIALS

May 5, 1999

Yugoslavia’s real hostages

Yugoslavia has released the three U.S. soldiers captured in the first days of the NATO military campaign. The Rev. Jesse Jackson is to be thanked for winning the freedom of the three servicemen, another success for the charismatic civil-rights leader. The release of the three men is welcome, but it does...

EDITORIALS

May 5, 1999

All smiles at the summit

Judging from the mood at this week’s summit between Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and U.S. President Bill Clinton, the bilateral relationship is on its best footing in years. The Japanese economy appears poised for a rebound, and the security alliance has been strengthened. It is a reassuring...

COMMENTARY

May 5, 1999

Hold off on U.S.-style layoffs

By Kiroku Hanai

Japan’s big businesses once had a reputation for not firing workers even in hard times. Not anymore. Now major corporations are going full blast to restructure, with older workers bearing the brunt of the austerity drive. The lifetime employment system, once touted as a symbol of corporate Japan, is...

COMMENTARY

May 5, 1999

A game plan for Ishihara

By Yukio Suzuki

I was not surprised at all by Shintaro Ishihara’s overwhelming victory in the April 11 Tokyo gubernatorial election. Several journalist friends of mine and I had correctly predicted the election results, including the order of all the major candidates by the number of votes. More than anything else,...

EDITORIALS

May 4, 1999

A shrinking pool of jobs

The latest employment figures confirm that Japan’s job market is continuing to contract. The number of unemployed hit a record 3.39 million in March, as the jobless rate rose 0.2 points to 4.8 percent. Both figures mark the worst-ever downturn since the government began keeping such records in 1953....

COMMENTARY / World

May 4, 1999

India rightly resists the Chinese model

By Bharat Jhunjhunwala

India has often been advised to follow the path of China in public investment in human capital. China has done well in the last decade, but it would be a disaster if India were to follow her example. China’s approach can be called “two quick steps forward, one slow step back.” India’s approach, in contrast,...

EDITORIALS

May 3, 1999

Hope in East Timor

The people of East Timor have been given the chance to choose their own destiny. Indonesian President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie decided last week to hold a referendum on independence in the province. On Aug. 8, East Timorese will vote for independence or autonomy within the Indonesian state under an...

COMMENTARY / World

May 3, 1999

Balkans destroy old certainties

BY SARAH BENTON LONDON -- The consequences of the war in Kosovo are almost unimaginable. But whatever they turn out to be, one is already clear: the rough fashioning of the 19 members of NATO into a cohesive fighting force.

COMMENTARY / World

May 3, 1999

Cultural understanding holds the key

By George Sioris

In a recent article in The Japan Times, former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa dealt with a topic rather unusual for a politician: the importance of culture and the awareness of it in post-1970s Japan. I endorse his view wholeheartedly. A few years ago I wrote similar thoughts in one of the first articles...

EDITORIALS

May 1, 1999

A promise of change for women

It sometimes seems that the government chooses vague-sounding titles and odd release times for white papers and other official documents that contain information likely to embarrass Japanese officials when dealing with their foreign counterparts. This was the case when the Prime Minister’s Office issued...

COMMENTARY

May 1, 1999

Obuchi confounds the skeptics

By Kenzo Uchida

The Lower House on Tuesday approved a legislative package for implementing the updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines and sent it immediately to the Upper House. The action came after agreement among the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party (the LDP’s junior coalition partner)...

EDITORIALS

Apr 30, 1999

On the road to recovery

The outlook for the world economy is improving. The most recent World Economic Outlook, issued last week by the International Monetary Fund, forecasts 2.3 percent growth this year, and should climb to 3.4 percent in 2000. IMF First Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer opined earlier this week that...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.

What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

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