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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2021

What inflation in 2022 will teach us about capitalism

Since the 1980s, capitalism has evolved to keep inflation under control. The risk now is that capitalism has embarked on a regime change.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Outlook 2022
Dec 31, 2021

2022 will offer key tests of Kishida's ability to grow into PM role

An upcoming Upper House poll and the omicron variant are among the things that will test the prime minister's capacity to build on successes and lessons from 2021.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2021

Young talent isn’t following the money to Wall Street

The talent pool is being drawn elsewhere. Traditional investment banks can't win them back just by upping starting salaries.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2021

America would be much happier with more people

Even measured in absolute terms, the increase in U.S. population growth was smaller than during the confluence of World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2021

China vs. the British Commonwealth

A current situation within the Commonwealth can be summed up in four words, 'the Chinese have arrived,' to which the critic can add four more words, 'the British have departed.'
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 28, 2021

Germany wants its Russian pipeline. German allies aren’t sure it’s a good idea.

With thousands of Russian troops massing on the border with Ukraine and a threat of possible U.S. sanctions against the pipeline, the future of Nord Stream 2 remains anything but certain.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 28, 2021

COVID-19, diversity and art were among the things we were talking about in 2021

Paralympics announcer Jason Hancock said it best, 'I feel our generation has the ability to bring a fully inclusive Japan closer to reality.'
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 27, 2021

Prices to take center stage at Bank of Japan’s January meeting

Japan's inflation remains subdued when compared with price growth in other major economies, as firms continue to absorb higher input prices.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2021

A gas pipeline won’t turn Russia and China into buddies

The Power of Siberia 2 pipeline is presented as something akin to a marriage proposal between Russian and China, bringing two leading authoritarian states closer together.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 25, 2021

Beware that nocebo strapped to your wrist

There's good reason to think twice about whether tech users will truly benefit from 24-7 monitoring and arbitrary goals served up by an algorithm.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2021

Is NASA’s new telescope worth the risks?

For decades, America has been at the forefront of astronomy and astrophysics. It'd be a mistake to cede that leadership thanks to needless cost overruns and delays.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Dec 24, 2021

Kumi Yokoyama pushes LGBTQ conversation forward in Japan while raising game on pitch

Yokoyama was praised by U.S. President Joe Biden for showing courage after coming out as transgender earlier this year.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 24, 2021

Israel considers fourth vaccine doses, but some experts say it’s premature

Experts advising the Israeli government have recommended a fourth vaccine dose, but some scientists have warned that too many shots may cause a sort of immune system fatigue.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 24, 2021

South Korea's Moon pardons disgraced former leader Park Geun-hye

Park, 69, became South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office when a court upheld a parliament vote in 2017 over a corruption scandal.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2021

What’s next for the U.S. Democrats’ big bill?

While the success or failure of Build Back Better has important consequences for the nation, it will likely have limited direct effects on midterm or presidential elections.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 23, 2021

Pro-China group continues to spread misinformation, researchers say

More than 2,000 accounts have promoted falsehoods such as COVID-19 misinformation and the denial of human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2021

Yes, vote-buying is illegal. But why?

A public promise of cash payments to a large number of voters isn't illegal; a private promise of money is.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2021

Biden can promise action, but omicron is in charge right now

The U.S. president's biggest policy promise during the 2020 campaign was perhaps his vow to attack COVID-19 in a professional and competent way.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2021

What the Modi Twitter breach tells us about hackers

Pitching bitcoin has become the Rick Roll of the hacking community — a funny prank rather than a nasty attack.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 20, 2021

With its human rights record in question, China turns to an old friend

Perhaps no international organization has a more symbiotic relationship with Beijing than the IOC.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2021

Cash is dying, but we aren’t ready to bury it

As cash vanishes — without a central bank digital currency replacing it — the public's trust in the convertibility of deposits into official money may become an issue.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 18, 2021

Sapporo faces uphill battle convincing public about 2030 Winter Games bid

About half of all respondents to a 2014 survey said they were worried about how much the Games would cost. A lot has changed since then.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2021

Four ways the U.S. can keep Putin from invading Ukraine

The U.S. should consider disconnecting Russia from the Swift international payment system used by banks around the world, a penalty that helped devastate Iran's economy a decade ago.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2021

The U.S. can’t keep dodging the trade issue in Asia

China trades nearly three times as much with the rest of the region as the U.S. does and far outpaces Washington in economic diplomacy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2021

Omicron should be a wake-up call for the world

Almost no low-income countries are on track to meet the World Health Organization's goal of vaccinating 40% of their populations by the end of this year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2021

America's campaign silly season is already under way

People are far more interested in the candidates than they are in policy and they're most interested in the candidates who are already well known, whether or not they're serious contenders.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2021

Should Tokyo boycott the Beijing Olympic Games?

The Japanese government reportedly will refrain from sending a Cabinet minister to the Winter Olympics in Beijing. But that decision has yet to be reached.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2021

Jerome Powell declares inflation big threat as Fed signals rate hikes

In an abrupt shift, the Fed sped up the drawdown of its asset-purchase program and laid out a plan for a series of interest-rate increases over the coming years.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 16, 2021

Putin and Xi show united front amid rising tensions with U.S.

The leaders' meeting seemed intended as a riposte to the 'Summit for Democracy” that Biden hosted last week.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2021

Beijing turns to hybrid 'lawfare' to expand its borders

China has become quite adept at waging “lawfare” — the misuse and abuse of law for political and strategic ends.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?