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November 22, 2024
 

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Tom Plate

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Tom Plate
Tom Plate, a veteran American columnist and career journalist, is the Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Affairs at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. His many books include the "Giants of Asia" series, of which book four, "Conversations with Ban Ki-Moon: The View from the Top," is the latest.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2013
Ban talks about Japan in the world in exclusive interview
In a series of seven two-hour sessions that included informal get-togethers with his wife Soon Taek, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, the well-regarded former South Korean foreign minister, shares his insights exclusively with American journalist Tom Plate. The following excerpts from Plate's...
COMMENTARY
Aug 22, 2012
Brother of Thai leader upholds a feisty profile
Thaksin Shinawatra is undoubtedly the most controversial politician ever to become prime minister of Thailand, an oft-ignored country in Southeast Asia with a population and landmass greater than Britain or Italy. (But who besides a Thai knows this?) Elected several times in national elections deemed...
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2012
Wedding gift for the first couple of North Korea
I guess I am a sucker for old-fashioned romance. When I heard about the stunning marriage of Kim Jong Un, the young new leader of North Korea, to the lovely Ri Sol Ju, apparently a professional singer, I hurriedly buried the ideological hatchet and grabbed the latest BRIDES magazine to figure out what...
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2012
Where is the political savvy hiding in China?
China allegedly has at least 1.3 billion people residing within its current ample borders. (Has anyone ever counted?!)
COMMENTARY
Jun 25, 2012
A success story with or without 'Tiger Moms'
High up in the category of news that's too familiar to be newsworthy is the latest poll that finds Asians to be the most-educated and highest-earning population in the United States.
COMMENTARY
Mar 23, 2012
Bowing out with a farewell of great expectation
What was most amazing to Westerners at least -and perhaps, especially, to the Chinese people — was that his comments were broadcast live on official China TV. After all, his official observations weren't exactly pretty. Here is the back-story.
COMMENTARY
Feb 29, 2012
Why China resists Western intervention in Syria
Intellectual precision is especially vital in times of geopolitical passion. The full totality of evil of the Syrian government is now on display for the entire world to see. The brutality of President Bashar Assad is beyond immense. And so the blame game has begun.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Jan 25, 2012
Conversations with Thaksin, Thailand's prime suspect
THE SHOCKING COUP: "The situation is no good." "It's just a matter of time," a top minister had told him. "We only have a few weeks left before they act." Another had told him: "Our days are numbered."
COMMENTARY
Jan 20, 2012
Finessing the dramatic opening to Myanmar
Perhaps a democratic system of government will not prove the final answer for Myanmar. Just take a look at the Philippines if you're crazy about another possible "for sale" democracy in Asia. But considering what the good people of what used to be called Burma have had to endure — an intellectually...
COMMENTARY
Dec 26, 2011
The Korean god that failed and then was gone
Major historic chapter-ending news often seems so terribly sudden. Many North Koreans were said to be sincerely weeping over the demise of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il, but for other people around the world, the end came none too soon. Their eyes are quite dry and will so remain, for as long as there is...
COMMENTARY
Nov 22, 2011
Guess who's suddenly inviting Uncle Sam to dinner?
Real-life diplomacy reveals, as Lord Palmerston, twice British prime minister (1855-8, 1859-65), famously put it: "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow." Over the decades the Palmerston Principle...
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2011
Asian leader receives coveted American award
They honored the controversial, though increasingly appreciated, Asian statesman Lee Kuan Yew at the historic Ford Theater in Washington recently, and I wish I had been there.
COMMENTARY
Sep 19, 2011
'Our prosperity is not a threat to our neighbors'
Modern-day China still seems to search for a clear-headed sense of its true self and its proper place in the 21st-century sun.
COMMENTARY
Aug 17, 2011
Rising superpower floats an aircraft carrier
China's new (and first) aircraft carrier isn't fully operational yet. But whatever its ultimate naval potency, we know that it does at least float! It's currently in a mainland dock for further dressing up and hosting of crew training before setting sail.
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2011
No 'one size fits all' for democracy
"Political man" is a complicated species. Cultural conditions and history differ widely. Humility in the interpretation and prediction of human nature is the wisest bet.
COMMENTARY
Jun 22, 2011
Kissinger analysis key to understanding China
It is very tempting to proclaim "On China" as the most important new nonfiction book of 2011. But that it may well be.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2011
Round two for a U.N. workaholic
What's surprising about the probable confirmation of incumbent United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for a second five-year term is not its near-certainty. It is the virtual lack of controversy surrounding it.
COMMENTARY
May 25, 2011
Risky business, IMF style
We need to have a clear understanding about what is happening with the International Monetary Fund. Do not for a minute believe the current scandal is just one of those more or less happening things. It may not be the total end of the world for the IMF, but if the world's largest money-granting bureaucracy...
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2011
Whirlwind shakes out Singapore minister
It may be quintessentially American to believe that elections are good things and their absence inherently bad — in theory. In reality, everyone knows that elections sometimes seem more trouble than they are worth and can produce unwanted results. This is what happened in the tiny city-state of Singapore...
COMMENTARY
May 7, 2011
Hoping for a return to normal temperatures
Just when you begin to worry that maybe the United States cannot do anything right, this happens. And suddenly things seem just a little better — and the barometric pressure in American a little bit lighter. This is to say that the loud noise you here coming from the 50 states of the United States...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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