Search - author

 
 
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2021

A dangerous new variant of populism

As anti-greens and anti-vaxxers join forces, any number of stray populist demagogues might seek to lead movements against environmental and COVID-19 vaccination policies.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 11, 2021

'Hours on a footnote’: Scientists felt joy and frustration in making climate report

Specialists, all 234 of them working for free, reviewed more than 14,000 scientific studies published since 2013 to draft the latest version.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 10, 2021

New technologies demand new thinking about power and strategy

As the world enters the fourth industrial revolution and Society 5.0 emerges, we need a more fulsome understanding of technology.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 10, 2021

A money-loser, yet a medal-winner: The dichotomy of hosting the Games

Hosting an Olympic Games is an economic disaster, even in nonpandemic times. After more than a century and over 50 installments, there are enough case studies to conclude that the home nation is invariably the biggest loser from the world’s largest sporting event.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2021

The Black reporter who exposed a lie about the atom bomb

Charles Loeb defied the American military's denials and propaganda to show how deadly radiation from the strike on Hiroshima sickened and killed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2021

The great COVID-19 stonewall of China

Beijing has been doing everything in its power to prevent an independent forensic investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2021

The far-right’s new-old war on women

Ultimately, the real problem for many on the far right is liberalism, and particularly the liberation of women from laws and social norms enforcing male domination.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Aug 6, 2021

Duterte in a bind over Philippines’ golden Olympic moment

Amid a brewing nationalist brouhaha, President Duterte never stops praising China while gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz calls for the assertion of Philippine claims in the South China Sea.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 6, 2021

Atlantic Ocean currents weaken, signaling big weather changes, study says

The Atlantic Ocean's current system, an engine of the Northern Hemisphere's climate, could be weakening to such an extent that it could soon bring big changes to the world's weather, a scientific study said on Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2021

China’s demographic manipulation

Officially, China's demographic situation was nothing to be alarmed about. But less than a month after the census was released, Beijing suspiciously loosened the family-planning rules.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 6, 2021

Second best in the world at the Tokyo Games, but still saying sorry

Many Japanese athletes who fell short of gold have wept through interviews and apologized profusely — sometimes, even after winning silver.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2021

Shocked investors scour Xi’s old speeches to find next crackdown target

China's abrupt education overhaul has prompted even seasoned investors to reassess how they interpret statements from Xi Jinping and top officials.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 5, 2021

Katie Kitamura and the cognitive dissonance of being alive right now

Her new novel, “Intimacies,” introduces readers to the perceptive, digressive mind of an interpreter at The Hague who is dealing with loss, an uncertain relationship and an insecure world.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 5, 2021

$5,800 whiskey bottle, a gift from Japan to Pompeo, is missing, U.S. says

The State Department is investigating the whereabouts the bottle, according to two people briefed on the inquiry and a document made public this week.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2021

Biden puts Southeast Asia in U.S. sights — at last

The Biden team has shifted into high gear, dispatching officials and announcing policies to reinforce U.S. ties with Southeast Asia in a belated diplomatic offensive.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Aug 2, 2021

Tokyo today: A city in a state of perpetual rebuilding

When you think of Tokyo, what do you think of? Is it the chaotic commercialism of Shibuya or the temples nestled in the city's backstreets?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2021

Xi opens a Pandora's box with antagonism of India

Chinese aggression and the breaching of border agreements has made the rise of a more antagonistic and militarily stronger India a certainty.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2021

How behavioral economics views mask mandates

What we know from behavioral economics suggests that universal mask requirements will undermine the effort to get as many people as possible vaccinated.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2021

Doctors blast Biogen Alzheimer approval as ‘regulatory failure’

The New England Journal of Medicine opinion piece is another sign of persistent furor over the agency's decision.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 27, 2021

Promise and peril in a changing cybersecurity sphere

A relentless increase in cyberattacks is prompting a reassessment of responses and an increasingly popular option is going on offense.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2021

Even as Beijing's grip tightens, Hong Kong maintains status as finance hub

More than a year after the crackdown began, signs of an investor exodus are hard to find.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2021

China crackdown rocks investors: ‘Everybody’s in the crosshairs’

With losses in Chinese tech and education exceeding $1 trillion, investors question where regulators might strike next.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 26, 2021

Extreme weather renews focus on climate change as scientists update forecasts

The list of extremes in just the last few weeks has been startling.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2021

The stablecoin illusion

Stablecoin stability is an illusion. They are unlikely to replace Federal Reserve money, revolutionize finance or realize the dreams of their libertarian enthusiasts.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2021

The problem with Europe’s green unilateralism

Rarely, except in wartime, have market economies been subjected to the sort of rigid central planning that the European Commission now proposes in order to curb carbon dioxide emissions.
OLYMPICS
Jul 22, 2021

For karateka at the Games, the goal is gold. For karate the sport, the goal is inclusion.

Karate is getting its moment to shine at the Olympics, but are the Games simply catching up to something a lot of us already know?
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 22, 2021

Elegy for a heartbroken Japanese Olympic medalist

Despite earning a bronze in the marathon at the Tokyo Games in 1964, Kokichi Tsuburaya was plunged into a downward spiral until his tragic end.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 22, 2021

COVID-19 may have claimed as many as 5 million lives in India

The numbers, derived from research and local authority data, range from three to 10 times the official count, hinting that the true cost of its outbreak has been massively underreported.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2021

The 'Recovery Olympics' take a back seat amid COVID-19 concerns

The Games were supposed to showcase Japan's recovery efforts following the devastating 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. Such efforts have been thwarted by the pandemic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2021

Generation Z should fear a guaranteed income

A new paper suggests the skeptics may be right: A universal basic income may cause more harm than good for a very high cost.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake