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Tuesday, August 18, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
ENERGY-JAPAN: Nuclear Accident Shakes Public Confidence
Japan's worst accident at a nuclear power plant has shaken public confidence in the industry's safety record with activists blaming the country's lax nuclear regulations for the mishap that killed four and injured seven others at the plant west of the capital.JAPAN: Rebel Teachers Spark Debate About Identity Crisis
Nearly 60 years after it renounced the militarism of the 1930s and 40s, at the end of World War II, Japan still cannot decide what kind of country it wants to be. And this has manifested itself in the current row over the singing of the national anthem in schools.SOCIETY-JAPAN: Rising Violent Teen Crime Worries Many
Japan's image as one of the safest countries in the world took a beating when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed strong concern about the rise in violent juvenile crime in the country.HEALTH-JAPAN: Legal Case Set to Highlight Anti-Smoking Fight
After years of suffering silently, Koichi Yasui, a 70-year-old taxi driver, has decided to seek reprieve from the courts. He suffers from pulmonary emphysema, a smoking related disease, and plans to sue the Japanese government for making him sick as a result of its active support for the tobacco industry.JAPAN: Koizumi’s Iraq Policy Comes Under Test in Elections
Mariko Ishibashi, 26, a company receptionist, has already decided she will not cast her ballot next month in an election that could crucially determine Japan's deployment of troops to join a multinational force in Iraq.JAPAN: Audiences Switching from Western to Asian TV Programmes
Nothing will persuade Michiko Suda, a 38- year-old homemaker, to leave home on Saturday evenings when her favourite drama is showing on television.POLITICS-JAPAN: Koizumi Ushers In Active Foreign Policy
The commitment made by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the international community that the country's Self Defense Forces (SDF) would join a planned multinational force in Iraq, has far-reaching implications globally.POLITICS-JAPAN: Koizumi Ushers In Active Foreign Policy
The commitment made by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the international community that the country's Self Defense Forces (SDF) would join a planned multinational force in Iraq, has far-reaching implications globally.JAPAN: Released Hostages Represent Country’s New Generation
A Japanese activist who has filed a lawsuit against his own government, blaming it for the ordeal he suffered as a captive in Iraq, shows a new side to Japan's young people.JAPAN: Released Hostages Represent Country’s New Generation
The filing of a suit against his own government by a Japanese activist, blaming it for his ordeal in Iraq when he was briefly held captive there, is an indication of a new side to Japan's young people./ARTS WEEKLY/JAPAN: Mystery Novel Gives Women a New Voice
The stunning success in Japan, and recently in the United States, of a mystery writer's novel, about a husband-killer and psychopath gangsters, has injected new life into the conservative Japanese publishing world that previously only carried works depicting women as loyal housewives devoted to their husbands.ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Small Hydroelectric Dams Fill Clean Energy Gap
Amid the serene green rice fields of Kuroitsu village, in northern Japan, rises the gurgling sound of a small, man-made waterfall that powers the blades of a steel waterwheel to churn out electricity.JAPAN: Debate Grows over An Empress at the Throne
Media reports suggesting that Japan's Crown Princess Masako is suffering from severe depression - linked to heavy pressure on her to produce a son - has revived a debate over the idea of allowing an empress to reign over the 2,000-year-old Chrysanthemum Throne.JAPAN: Experts Put New Spin on Sex Education
Japanese health experts and officials are revising sex education in schools so they focus more on individual teaching yet accept traditional Asian values - pragmatic changes that they hope will make the subject more interesting and relevant to young people.JAPAN-NORTH KOREA: Ties More Tense, Vulnerable after Summit
Frosty bilateral relations are supposed to have thawed a bit after the weekend summit between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, but ties also appear to be on a more tense and vulnerable footing now, say analysts here.EDUCATION-JAPAN: Visa Crackdown Adds to Foreign Students’ Woes
It took Chaturani Perera two years to convince Japanese immigration officials to grant her a student visa. The 20-year-old Sri Lankan had to prepare the necessary documents and accrue a hefty 10,000 U.S. dollars - her family's life savings - in a bank accountSOCIETY-JAPAN: Calls Rise to Open Doors Closed to Foreign Labour
While officially Tokyo refuses to budge from its stance of staying closed to foreigners seeking jobs here, record statistics and programmes launched by the private sector to promote better access to employment are already pointing to the contrary.POLITICS: Hostage Crisis Forces Japan to Grow Up
As shocking as the hostage-taking of Japanese nationals is in Iraq, it has also signalled Japan's entrance - if cautiously at first - onto the world stage and is testing its mettle, analysts here say.SOUTH KOREA: Reform Party’s Win Confirms Democratic Roots
This week's stunning victory by the liberal Uri Party in South Korea's parliamentary elections proves that the country's democratic system has grown deep roots and has shaken off its conservative past, say analysts.SOUTH KOREA: Reform Party’s Win Confirms Democratic Roots
This week's stunning victory by the liberal Uri Party in South Korea's parliamentary elections proves that the country's democratic system has grown deep roots and has shaken off its conservative past, say analysts.POLITICS-JAPAN: Abductions Upset Tokyo’s Focus on Its Role in Iraq
Just as Japan has focused its foreign policy on its involvement in the reconstruction of Iraq, this week's abduction of three of its volunteers there has jarred a largely pacifist population - and may well undercut Tokyo's attempt to play a bigger role in international affairs.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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