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May 15, 2024
 

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COMMENTARY

Japan

World
Japan
A new era in Japan-U.S. military cooperation is set to begin after Japan's parliament enacted new laws to establish a joint command headquarters for the nation’s Self-Defense Forces.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Let the real work on Japan’s defense modernization begin
Scheduled to go into effect in March 2025, the Japan Joint Operations Command will centralize command of the country’s military services.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Japan’s gamble to hedge against U.S. political risks
As Japanese companies increasingly invest in U.S. states like North Carolina, friend-shoring ensures economic resilience in the face of political change.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nintendo needs to 'switch' its next console up
The Kyoto firm has been coy about what will come after the highly successful Switch console, but it needs to step up its game and learn from past mistakes.
Japan’s custody system may soon change with the introduction of joint custody, though issues like a lack of protection against domestic violence and abuse must also be tackled.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 10, 2024
Joint custody alone won’t fix Japan’s flawed system
By Waka Konohana
Japan could be on the verge of adopting joint custody. While to some this is a step in the right direction, it may not be enough to protect families.
Japanese people are exposed to less online disinformation compared to other countries, partly due to language barriers and inherent skepticism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 9, 2024
Japan’s accidental resilience in the disinformation age
By Tetsuro Kobayashi and Maiko Ichihara
The Japanese are exposed to less online disinformation compared to other countries, partly due to language barriers and inherent skepticism.
Economic security has evolved to include offensive measures, such as industrial policy. Countries like Japan are increasingly on-shoring strategic industries such as semiconductors, regardless of the cost.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 7, 2024
The shift from economic security to geoeconomics
By Kazuto Suzuki
Economic security started out as a defensive concept, but it has now been weaponized to include an offensive element, morphing into a geoeconomic tool.
Tourists pose in front of a convenience store with Mount Fuji on Friday in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture. Local residents are upset over littering, overcrowding and the inconvenience caused by the visitors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 7, 2024
Thanks, tourists. Views of Mount Fuji are now blocked.
By Gearoid Reidy
Japan needs better long-term strategies to manage tourism sustainably.
Tokyo stands alone in the Group of Seven. Far from shutting down polluting fuel plants, it’s opening them.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 2, 2024
The dog ate Japan’s plan to phase out coal power
By David Fickling
Under the country’s current strategic energy plan, coal will still account for about 19% of generation in 2030.
Diane Severin Nguyen’s film, “In Her Time (Iris’s Version),” 2023-24, about a young actress struggling with her role in a (fictional) movie about the Nanjing Massacre, is on display at the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Artificial intelligence and the "rhetoric around gender and authenticity” were themes in this year's show.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 2, 2024
The winner-take-all economy is ruining art, too
By Allison Schrager
The value of art is not just a matter of taste. To appeal to collectors, artists require the approval of the establishment.
The root cause of yen weakness lies in the U.S., not Japan, with the currency falling to its weakest since around 1990.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 1, 2024
Japan should leave its currency bazooka at home
By Daniel Moss
The root cause of yen weakness lies in the U.S., not Japan. That makes the latter's options very limited.

Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Yen’s fragility raises specter of a new currency war in Asia
Suspected intervention to drag the yen off a 34-year low against the dollar is already seen as unlikely to have a lasting effect if Japan continues alone.
Online booking for Mount Fuji climb to open on May 20
Visitors climb the slopes of Mount Fuji, Japan's highest peak at 3,776 meters. From May 20, climbers will have access to a new online booking system for Mount Fuji's most popular Yoshida trail in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Ex-METI bureaucrat given 10-year sentence for drugging and raping women
The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a former industry ministry bureaucrat to 10 years in prison for drugging six women with sleeping pills and then raping or groping them in 2022.
Political party Tsubasa no To investigated over election obstruction
Officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police raid the Tsubasa no To office in Tokyo on Monday.
In a rare event, the Northern Lights show up in Hokkaido
The Northern Lights in Nayoro, Hokkaido, on Saturday
Is black the new green for Japan’s flagging tea farmers?
George Guttridge-Smith brews tea at Kyoto Obubu Tea Farm in Wazuka, Kyoto Prefecture, where he serves as head of international development.
Japan's logistics firms seek partnerships to cope with driver shortage
Japan Post CEO Tetsuya Senda (right) and his Seino Transportation counterpart Satoshi Takahashi announce their companies' agreement on joint long-haul truck operations, in Tokyo on Thursday.
How the discovery of a giant sword in Nara offers clues into ancient Japan
Archaeologists say a 1,600-year-old wooden coffin at the Tomio Maruyama tumulus in the city of Nara was kept in good condition probably because it was protected by a layer of clay and copper ions that had seeped out of the mirrors that were buried together.
Unlike 10 years ago, Japan's new security bill sparks little debate
The Lower House starts discussing a security clearance bill on April 19 in Tokyo.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle
Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

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