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November 22, 2024
 

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Leonid Bershidsky
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2014
EU should encourage Ukraine's aspirations
The European Union should strive to turn Ukraine into a success story that can serve as an example for Russians who now see no alternative to Vladimir Putin.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2014
Why Putin doesn't trust the West
Today's bitter relationship between the United States and Russia contains a divorced couple's cynical disappointment with each other.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2014
Putin has plenty of non-crazy friends in Europe
Whether the current Western leaders like it or not, pragmatism in relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin is part of the political mainstream in Europe, not the domain of fringe crazies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2014
Why Merkel is playing long ball with Putin
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's strategy of dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin stems from her keen understanding of 20th century history.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2014
Putin-bashing at G-20 meeting was juvenile
What were Western leaders trying to achieve by humiliating Russia President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2014
Russia's future looks bleak
As Russia's present is too unbalanced to discuss and President Vladimir Putin prefers to rehash the past, some commentators have set out to fathom the country's future based on its current trajectory. Their scenarios are bleak.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2014
Putin's cronies fight for Russia's textbooks
Larger school textbook publishers who have no problem with Russia's growth into an ideological state under President Vladimir Putin are allowed to make money.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2014
Bovine voter registration in rebel-held Ukraine
A cow, literally, could have voted in the elections for rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine on Sunday. Nobody really cared who would win.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2014
Does being gay make Tim Cook a better boss?
Strange as it may seem in 2014, Apple's Tim Cook is the first chief executive of a Fortune 500 company to come out in public about being gay. Members of this exclusive club are still unsure whether that's wise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2014
Ukraine starves as its leaders play Monopoly
With a new parliament elected last weekend, the Ukrainian political establishment has no more excuses for failing to make vital changes in economic regulation and the way the country is governed. Unfortunately the winners have resorted to their tired political circus.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2014
Putin can't be the leader of anti-U.S. resistance
The world may need powers that can challenge the U.S. But Vladimir Putin's Russia doesn't fit the bill because it is not an example anyone would want to follow.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2014
If growth is not the priority
Both President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany defy their critics by continuing to pursue policies that are bad for economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2014
Winners make Russia sanctions smell like fish
The Faroese, Icelanders and fish farmers of remote Chile are now taking in more Russian orders than ever before because of the food embargo. It just goes to show that when politicians act to disrupt trade flows, it's like cutting off pwer to a home that has a reserve generator.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2014
Putin's Herculean, bizarre birthday presents
As he turned 62 last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin was said by official pollsters to be more popular in Russia than ever before. Gifts and dedications to the president took on the most bizarre forms ever.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2014
U.S., not the EU, needs to tackle Apple's taxes
Apple, the world's most valuable company, receives much of its profit in Ireland but pays taxes on a fraction of it. The U.S. primarily has the power to make Apple and other offshore companies pay more.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2014
New anti-Semitism in Germany isn't the same
It's not the old-style, neo-Nazi anti-Semites who are trying to burn down synagogues or calling the Jews out to fight these days, as they have a problem with the currently dominant strain of anti-Semitism — its carriers have darker skin.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2014
Fewer obstacles to Putin-style nationalization
The house arrest on Sept. 16 of one of Russia's richest men is part of an attempt to nationalize his oil business. It also shows how the recent Western strategy of isolating Russia is perversely benefiting President Vladimir Putin's close circle of friends:
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2014
Russia, Europe in a race to the bottom
As Europe and Russia head into another round of sanctions, economic data are driving home the point that nobody stands to win in this tit-for-tat battle.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2014
Ukraine's uneasy compromises please no one
The concessions Kiev made to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine come at an enormous cost in human lives, lost trust and broken relationships between Ukraine and Russia.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2014
Which countries will NATO protect from Putin?
There is logic to the U.S. and EU response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's Soviet revanchism that even Putin appears to accept, if not acknowledge. It is that European countries have been divided into three levels of NATO 'protection.'
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.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'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.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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