Japan
Bank of Japan appointment sparks new round of criticism
By Joe Lopez, March 3, 2003
The former deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, Toshihiko Fukui, was appointed last week to head the central bank. This has brought further criticism of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his gover...
Japan’s involvement in the Sri Lankan peace process
By K. Ratnayake, February 26, 2003
Over the last six months, Japan has been quietly but insistently pushing to play a significant role in the so-called peace process in Sri Lanka. Tokyo is scheduled to host the next round of talks betw...
OECD predicts bleak outlook for Japanese economy
By Joe Lopez, December 6, 2002
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has painted a grim picture of Japan’s economic prospects and called on the government to accelerate economic restructuring.
Financial markets criticise Japanese bank plan
By Joe Lopez, November 8, 2002
The Japanese government’s latest plan to resolve the country’s banking crisis has generally been given the thumbs down by financial market analysts and commentators, who describe it as too...
Japanese stock market tumbles after cabinet reshuffle
By Joe Lopez, October 12, 2002
A reshuffle of the Japanese cabinet on September 30 has fuelled the decline of the Tokyo stock exchange to historic lows. The Nikkei 225 index—which tracks the performance of some of the world&r...
Bank of Japan announces desperate measures to shore up banking system
By Joe Lopez, September 26, 2002
In an unprecedented move, Japan’s central bank, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced late last week that it would purchase stocks held by the nation’s largest and most troubled banks in order...
Koizumi’s visit to North Korea: a first for Japanese imperialism
By James Conachy, September 11, 2002
Junichiro Koizumi is due to make the first ever trip by a Japanese Prime Minister to Pyongyang, where he will hold a one-day summit on September 17 with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. The Japanese m...
US seeks Japanese government support for war on Iraq
By James Conachy, September 3, 2002
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage arrived in Tokyo on August 27, seeking the open endorsement of the Japanese government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for US war plans against Iraq.
Weakening US dollar threatens Japan’s recovery
By Joe Lopez, July 5, 2002
The weakening US dollar, buffeted by the recent financial scandals at Enron, WorldCom and Xerox as well as a growing American trade deficit, threatens to derail the recent export led improvement in th...
Asylum incident fuels anti-China rhetoric in Japan
By James Conachy, May 27, 2002
After more than two weeks of diplomatic controversy between Japan and China, five North Koreans who were dragged from the Japanese consulate in Shenyang on May 8 were permitted by Beijing to fly to th...
IMF says Japan’s economy is "serious concern'
By Joe Lopez, April 24, 2002
International Monetary Fund chief Horst Koehler has called on the Japanese government to speed up the implementation of economic reforms in order to revive its deteriorating economy.
US belligerence encourages Japanese politician to rattle the nuclear sabre against China
By James Conachy, April 22, 2002
The aggressive actions of the Bush administration since September 11 in invading Afghanistan and declaring another three nations part of an “axis of evil” are provoking like-minded respons...
