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July 27, 2024
 

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Leonid Bershidsky
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2016
Snowden is turning into a liability for Putin
The Kremlin does its best to squeeze local critics out of the country or discredit them, but it's stuck harboring a foreigner whose initial gratitude may have worn out.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2016
Putin picks new wave of ideological cronies
Russia's president is doing his best to fill the ideological vacuum created by the fall of communism.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2016
The EU's migration crisis is far from finished
The flow of refugees into Europe won't end as long as the Syrian war and the anarchy in Libya continue.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 7, 2016
A Russian deal with Japan finally may be possible
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be more open than ever to a compromise with Japan that would end the two countries' post-World War II territorial dispute.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2016
Why Central Asia is less stable than it appears
Kept relatively peaceful by a handful of aging authoritarian leaders, the region is a ticking time bomb.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2016
Russia fans the flames in Ukraine once again
Vladimir Putin is sending signals that he's getting restless with the current peace deal in Ukraine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2016
Jingoism is the ugly side of the Olympic Games
The Olympics should focus more on the feats of human athletic attainment and less on the nationalities of the competitors.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2016
Iran's Pokemon paranoia isn't entirely crazy
As usual, a U.S.-based disruptor is offering an exciting technology to the rest of the world — but isn't worried about the consequences.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2016
Washington is letting the Russians win in Syria
The U.S. can only hope that Assad regime forces will somehow be defeated at Aleppo. That, judging by events on the ground, is a thin thread to hang on to.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2016
Of course U.S. candidates have ties to Russia
Russian oligarchs have yet to give Donald Trump a dime, but they have donated thousands of dollars to Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2016
Focus on police shootings obscures larger issue
A new U.S. study shows that whites are more likely to be shot by cops than blacks and Hispanics, but the latter experience non-lethal violent encounters with cops far more often.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2016
Police are killing, and dying, in a vicious circle
What's at stake in the U.S. is the preservation of police legitimacy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2016
Erdogan needs like-minded Putin
What's a mere apology between two dictators who can do a lot to prop each other up?
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2016
The Orthodox Church stays in the Dark Ages
Disagreements and the internal strife in the Eastern Orthodox churches are making the goal of contemporary relevance all but unattainable.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2016
Hate crimes often have way of making it harder to hate
The desire for social order is a powerful reflex that hate crimes only reinforce.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2016
IS an umbrella brand for hate
Islamic State is not an all-powerful octopus of a global terror organization, but it has a talented marketing team.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2016
A contrarian chess player's message lives on
To those who distrusted the Soviet system but lacked the courage or the wherewithal to leave or fight, Viktor Korchnoi was a symbol of freedom.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2016
Why are some politicians impervious to facts?
Many politicians make innaccurate statements, and most people can't be bothered to question them.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2016
Austria's crisis is a dire warning to Merkel
Angela Merkel needs to be mindful that inconsistency on matters of principle can be costly.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2016
Germany's middle class is endangered, too
The middle class is shrinking in both the U.S. and Germany, but the reasons for the contraction tell a lot about the different priorities of the two societies.
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
One dead, three missing as heavy rain batters Tohoku
Camera footage shows the Mogami River bursting its banks in Tozawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Friday morning.
Brazil issues apology for persecuting Japan immigrants during WWII
Enea Almeida (right), chair of the Brazilian amnesty commission, shakes hands with the representative for Japanese immigrants on Thursday in Brasilia.
When did summer in Japan stop being fun?
Summer in Japan is now consistently brutal enough to drive you indoors and keep you there until autumn.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.

Podcast

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

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
By Alex K.T. Martin

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JNTO promotes sustainable tourism initiatives

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