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The Asahi ShimbunThe Asahi Shimbun |
In 2006, Anna Politkovskaya came home alone from a neighborhood supermarket in Moscow, carrying a shopping bag. She was shot dead in the elevator of...
Tempura of “taranome,” or sprouts of “taranoki,” (Japanese Angelica tree), and “udo” (Aralia cordata) dressed with vinegared miso are two...
In this year’s “shunto” spring wage negotiations, many major companies have offered higher pay increases than in previous years. If the...
In a ruling on a same-sex marriage lawsuit, the presiding judge of a high court made a sincere appeal to the Diet, emphasizing the urgent need for...
“Koya Hijiri” (The Holy Man of Mount Koya), one of the best-known novels by Kyoka Izumi (1873-1939), is written in the first person singular. Set...
Two weeks after it was held in the Lower House, the Deliberative Council on Political Ethics was finally convened in the Upper House on March 14 to...
A small book titled “Sekai ga Moshi 100-nin no Mura Dattara” (If the World Were a Village of 100 People) became a best-seller in Japan in 2002....
Nonfiction author Hideyuki Takano, who loves traversing the globe, said Japan is losing its footing as a powerful economy. Whereas Japan has prided...
Nissan Motor Co. has been unilaterally reducing its payments to numerous subcontractors in the illegal squeezing of suppliers. The auto giant has been...
In its 1954 debut film, Godzilla goes on a rampage in Tokyo’s Ginza district, setting the Matsuzakaya department store ablaze and knocking down an...
Hiroko Ishikawa, 65, who recounts her experience of March 11, 2011, to visitors at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial...
I once started writing “like a broken record” and stopped, realizing this could all be Greek to the younger generations. An idiom that means “to...
Thirteen years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated the northeastern region of Tohoku. Even after the catastrophe, which...
On the day the Great East Japan Earthquake struck 13 years ago, Yoko Suzuki, 73, was the principal of Kadonowaki Elementary School in Ishinomaki,...
A nation that bills itself as a “staunch force for peace, stability and progress of the world” has failed to take a resolute stance against a war...
The 9-year-old girl could not believe her eyes. When she arrived at Tokyo’s Ueno Station on a night train after being evacuated, the nation’s...
Here’s a question: Why have the Olympics and their affiliated organizations lost public trust and how come doubts have been raised about their...
More than 40 years ago, Arale-chan was the nickname of my classmate with round glasses, while another pupil who loved to eat was called Gatchan. Both...
"I've been unable to prevent my daughter from being forced to bear the same problem I've suffered for 30 years," lamented a 56-year-old high school...
Babies are born from large cabbages, one after another, in the film “The Fairy of the Cabbages.” In another film, titled “A Sticky Woman,” a...
One year has passed since the South Korean government announced its "solution" to the long-festering issue of Japan’s compensation for former Korean...
Author Nami Kishida was walking the backstreets of Tokyo when she was approached by six people--or three couples--within half an hour, all of them...
Icy rain fell as the National People's Congress opened on March 5 in the Chinese capital of Beijing. There is an atmosphere of stagnation in China...
Whenever a child protection law or system is debated in Britain, there is a case that is invariably brought up for reference. In 1973, a 7-year-old...
A prefectural governor has taken an action that can only be interpreted as a simple attempt to dodge unwanted questions with lame excuses. If such an...
U.S. economist Joseph Dodge (1890-1964) arrived in occupied Japan in 1949 as the financial adviser to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers....
The mayor of Ginan, a town in Gifu Prefecture, will resign on March 5 after being accused of numerous acts of harassment against municipal government...
There exists a famous paradox involving a Cretan who claims, “Cretans always lie.” If we assume this statement to be true, it implies that the...
Japan has experienced “three instances of exposure" to radiation: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and fallout from a thermonuclear...
A photograph can bring the past back to life. Even if it’s black and white, the picture is in vivid color in the viewer’s mind, where the image...
Industries and services that operate at the expense of the health and livelihoods of workers are not sustainable and should not be maintained as they...
How did the word “bikini” come to denote a two-piece swimsuit? On July 1, 1946, almost one year after Japan’s defeat in World War II, the United...
When author Mizuki Tsujimura was in elementary school, her teacher said to her, “You are 8 years old, but actually you’re only 2.” Tsujimura’s...
Once again, a scandal of violence has emerged in Japan’s professional sumo world. Any form of malicious and mean violence or bullying must have no...
What aspects of everyday life are deemed to be essential in Japan? And, what, exactly, are “fuyo-fukyu” (nonessential or non-urgent)? We were...
Many dictators have come to a miserable end by concentrating power in the hands of just one leader or their kin and thereby undermining national...
Power cuts triggered by surges in renewable energy sources like solar and wind power are increasingly common. Electricity outages result when...
The impression one gets from watching a film for the first time may keep drastically changing with every viewing. For me, a case in point is the 1984...
It was recently learned that Maritime Self-Defense Force members, including a senior officer, visited Yasukuni Shrine as a group. The finding came on...
“It is hoped that the entire Japanese public opinion will calmly and wisely judge and act from the broad perspective of Japan in the world.” This...
Feb. 24 marks two years since Russia, trampling on international norms, began its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Only Russia can end the...
On Feb. 24 exactly two years ago, acclaimed Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov was jolted awake by the boom of a missile landing in Kyiv. There were three...
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index continued its upward march on Feb. 22, breaking through its record high set during the “bubble economy” era...
When watching a Hollywood movie, the first thing you see is the production logo, the “face” of the film production company, so to speak. The...
The convening of the Diet’s Deliberative Council on Political Ethics to question Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers over the scandal concerning...
“Dandara” is a wordplay pun based on the 17-syllable haiku format, with its seven-syllable part represented by two expressions or phrases that are...
It is not only natural, but also a humanitarian obligation, for Japan to support the people of Ukraine who are suffering from the drawn-out war of...
When I visited the United States on business years ago, I turned the TV on in my hotel room to find popular actor George Clooney on the screen. I...
Nobita, one of the main characters of the “Doraemon” manga series, is a complete underachiever who just can’t do anything right. He receives a...