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U.S. President Donald Trump’s public humiliation tactics, such as belittling foreign leaders and political opponents, mirror those of dictators like Stalin and Mao, reflecting his authoritarian tendencies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2025

Fear and loathing in the Oval Office

Trump should be thought of as a dilettante despot, the Roman emperor of reality TV.
The Nikkei stock average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Many firms on the TSE have price-to-book ratios of less than 1, lowering the perceived quality of the exchange, which should consider taking steps to increase valuations and trading volume.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 14, 2025

Tokyo Stock Exchange must weed out underperforming firms

Tokyo wants to become Asia's top financial hub, but faces big obstacles. Among them, the presence of too many companies with low profitability and growth prospects.
President Donald Trump’s order making English the official language of the country is unnecessary, as nearly 80% of people in the U.S. already speak it at home.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2025

America doesn’t need an official language

After all, what is our shared culture if not the mix of cultures — including languages — that make and remake America every day?
U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, marked by betrayal and disregard for relationships, has weakened America’s global alliances, prompting countries to consider alternative allies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2025

America is surrounded by enemies — that it created

This is not just a Trump problem; America’s whole reputation is shot.
A protest called "America, wake up" is held in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on March 8, days after U.S. President Donald Trump paused American military and intelligence support for Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 14, 2025

Ukraine needs U.S. weapons — but it needs intelligence more

The problem is that, on issue after issue, Trump changes course on a whim.
Instead of spending billions to resurrect woolly mammoths, we could focus on preserving endangered species, saving ecosystems, and securing biodiversity for the future.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2025

Got $10 billion? Don’t blow it cloning a woolly mammoth.

Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based biotechnology and genetic engineering startup valued at $10 billion, has raised $435 million to "de-extinct” the woolly mammoth.
There seems to be a preference for similarly educated and similarly earning spouses in modern marriages, reflecting a trend that prioritizes parity over "marrying up."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2025

What really changed the marriage market

The internet connects us with so many potential mates that our puny human brains can’t handle it.
By promoting healthier aging through measures to extend workforce participation, increase social engagement and improve health care systems, Asia’s policymakers could create a “silver demographic dividend” that helps to sustain the region’s economic dynamism.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2025

Reaping Asia’s silver demographic dividend

Concerns that older workers are not as productive as their younger counterparts are overblown.
Japan, despite facing multiple territorial disputes, lacks a dedicated university program on the issue, unlike Western countries, and would benefit from an interdisciplinary academic initiative to foster expertise.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2025

Japan needs academic programs focused on territorial issues

While many countries have territorial disputes with their neighbors — in fact, there are at least 150 active disputes worldwide — Japan faces issues with nearly all its neighbors.
Shohei Ohtani gets a kiss from his dog Decoy at a game in August 2024. The Japanese slugger-pitcher’s return to his country to kick off the Major League Baseball season has sparked immense excitement, highlighting his unparalleled career and symbolic role as a national hero.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2025

Superstar Shohei Ohtani for prime minister

He’s unavoidable in Japan: His face adorns ads for cosmetics, mattresses, English conversation schools and, most recently, convenience store rice balls.
U.S. President Donald Trump reviews troops aboard the USS Wasp in Yokosuka, Japan, in May 2019. The shifting global security landscape has sparked discussions in many countries, including Japan, about developing nuclear weapons in response to changing U.S. commitments.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2025

Changing U.S. commitments spark nuclear armament debates, including in Japan

Given Japan's unique history in 1945, it will take more than fear or harsh rhetoric to push the country into considering the development of nuclear weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet in Pyongyang in June 2024. Moscow has ditched its historic hostility to North Korea's nuclear program, a clear sign of Russia's scramble for allies amid its international isolation.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2025

It’s time to flip Russia’s script on North Korean nukes

Countries who want deterrence and stability must stop Russia from influencing perceptions of North Korea's nuclear program — one that, in an about-face, Moscow now supports.

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