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March 19, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2008
Burden of subsidies grows
By Michael Richardson
SINGAPORE — As the price of oil has surged ever higher in recent weeks, Asian countries that subsidize energy prices have been hit hard. India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Taiwan have been forced to raise fuel prices by cutting their subsidies, despite concerns about stoking inflation,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2008
The EU must go on, with or without Ireland
By Uffe Ellemann-Jensen
Ireland should do the rest of Europe a favor and withdraw from the European Union. That seems to be the only tenable solution to the situation created by the Irish "no" to the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish have created a problem for themselves. They should not let it be a problem for others.
COMMENTARY
Jun 19, 2008
What's Europe's next move?
By David Howell
The Irish have spoiled the party. By decisively voting down in a referendum the proposed Lisbon Treaty on the future organization and governance of the European Union, the Irish have brought the whole process of EU reform to a dead halt.
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2008
Is the India and China hype true?
By Brahma Chellaney
Today it has become commonplace to speak of India and China in the same breadth as two emerging great powers challenging the two-century-old Western domination of the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2008
Neither blatant benevolence nor silent giving
By Peter Singer
PRINCETON, New Jersey — Jesus said that we should give alms in private rather than when others are watching. That fits with the common-sense idea that if people only do good in public, they may be motivated by a desire to gain a reputation for generosity. Perhaps when no one is looking, they are not...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2008
A vanishing Europe and lifestyle
By Giles Merritt
BRUSSELS — What will it mean to be European 25 years from now? Unlike the United States, whose history as a "melting pot" has given Americans a truly multiethnic character, native Europeans are becoming an endangered species. Europe badly needs immigrants, yet is not culturally prepared to welcome...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jun 16, 2008
Reluctant runner viewed as possible Fukuda fill-in
It is expected that a race for Japan's national leadership will start after Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda hosts the summit meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in Toyako, Hokkaido, in July.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2008
Healing Bolivia at a gloomy political junction
By Juan Gabriel Tokatlian
BUENOS AIRES — Since the mid-19th century, Latin America has suffered fewer interstate wars and undergone less state creation than any other region of the world. The continent has been a relatively quiet periphery because its countries tend neither to fight each other nor to divide from within. Bolivia,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2008
The right options for Iran
By Volker Perthes
BERLIN — With U.S. President George W. Bush in Europe getting EU leaders to agree to toughen U.N. sanctions against Iran, and with the ongoing debate between John McCain and Barack Obama about whether the United States needs to talk with Iran's rulers, the issue of Iran's nuclear program is heating...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 15, 2008
Nuggets of 'wisdom' can speak volumes beyond what's said
By Roger Pulvers
"Biting Comments, Curious Statements and Famous Misstatements" is the headline on the lead article in the June 5 issue of the popular Japanese weekly magazine Bungei Shunju. It features dramatic ejaculations of famous politicians, sports figures and entertainers, among others.
COMMENTARY
Jun 15, 2008
Dose of humility overcomes a world of hurt
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES — It is precisely during economic and political tension that more frequent and fervent expressions of sincere humility might serve to smooth over some tough spots. After all, being truly humble can serve to downsize egos that otherwise tend to mushroom minor molehills into major mountain...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2008
Losing Turkey to a new geopolitical course
By Mark Almond
OXFORD, England — Turkey has long been a haven of geopolitical stability. But since 2003, Turkey's virtually unquestioned alliance with the United States has undergone a profound re-evaluation due to the Iraq War. The Turkish consensus on its decades-long EU candidacy has begun to wobble, owing to...
Tokyo pub hit with first-ever closure order for illegal street tables
One pub in Tokyo's Shimbashi district received more than 60 warnings from law enforcement for setting up tables on the street, blocking the way for traffic.
Japan to extend financial aid to more people moving out of Tokyo
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) speaks to officials of Miyada in Nagano Prefecture on Saturday during his visit to the village.
Tokyo gears up for April launch of law against harassment by customers
Tokyo will soon require all companies in the city to make efforts to stop harassment by customers, such as by creating a manual on how to handle suspected cases.
Mount Fuji hikers to be charged ¥4,000 on all trails
Tourists gather at the Fuji Subaru Line 5th station, which leads to the popular Yoshida Trail for hikers climbing Mount Fuji, ahead of its reopening for the season in Narusawa, Yamanashi Prefecture in June 2024.
Geely billionaire goes on a cost-cutting spree to catch rivals
Cars at the Geely Auto production base in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province on Feb. 16
At Ventinove, Tuscan specialties taken to new heights
Tucked away behind the historic Tsuchida sake brewery, Ventinove's location and sleek, angular architecture make for impressive destination dining.
In Tokyo, Dodgers get taste of the Shohei Ohtani experience
Shohei Ohtani greets manager Dave Roberts before the team's game against the Tigers at Tokyo Dome on Sunday.
Private clubs quietly open in Tokyo for free-spending Chinese businesspeople
Sources say a hui suo — a private club, which in Japan caters mainly to Chinese businesspeople — will soon open on the upper floors of the Moutai Building in the Ginza district of Tokyo.
Japan’s youth climate activists still searching for a breakthrough
While climate demonstrations around the world often draw thousands of participants, in Japan such demonstrations rarely break the 100-person barrier.
Augmented reality artist Omega C navigates a precarious scene for XR art
Artist Adrian Steckeweh 3-D prints otherworldly clothes and accessories for himself, in a way augmenting his reality with tangible objects.

Podcast

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

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo
By Alex K.T. Martin

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