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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2021

Gas won’t save a nation that can’t fill up its tank

Despite its world-beating exports of coal and liquefied natural gas, Australia is seriously short of oil.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2021

Turning the tide on two centuries of emissions

Climate and energy plans presented in China's 14th Five Year Plan this month represent the most important policies in determining the fate of the planet.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2021

Banker bonuses always send a powerful message

Banking is a competitive sport where the star players will go wherever they feel there are the fewest barriers to their own wealth.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 18, 2021

China to begin trials for two Canadians detained amid Huawei feud

Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig will face their first court hearings on Friday and Monday, respectively, Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 17, 2021

Clubhouse’s founder is in a state of perpetual motion

Over the past 15 years in Silicon Valley, the Clubhouse chief executive officer has explored the depths of how technology can be used to connect people in new ways.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2021

The Scottish drama Shakespeare couldn’t make up

Sturgeon has been weakened, no doubt, but in Westminster only one question matters: how best to keep the union intact.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2021

Putin's Potemkin empire

Putin's Russia is shakier than most believe.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2021

The future of money is digital, but is it Bitcoin?

The Bank of Japan has no immediate plans, but it acknowledges the possibility 'of a surge in public demand” for official digital cash going forward.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2021

Why the Chinese love big food even more than big tech

Every time there's a price spike in pork or vegetables or fruit or Moutai somewhere in the country, China's investors rush to buy their Big Food stocks.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2021

Jack Ma’s SCMP latest Hong Kong outlet to face Chinese threat to press freedom

Fears are growing among staff that a Chinese state-owned company could take over from Alibaba and put the 117-year-old newspaper under Beijing's thumb.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2021

Virus keeps refusing to follow anyone’s partisan script

Among the world's rich countries, the U.S. has a middling COVID-19 death rate: better than the U.K. or Italy, worse than France or Sweden.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 16, 2021

Germany and France halt AstraZeneca vaccine despite regulator assurances

Suspensions across Europe mark a U-turn for some countries that had previously said inoculations should continue while reports of serious blood clotting are investigated.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Mar 14, 2021

Iranians question decision to host World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain

Iran head coach Dragan Skocic and Mehdi Taremi, one of the nation's highest-profile players, have questioned the decision to hold the country's World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain when play resumes in June.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 13, 2021

How the world's biggest party is going antisocial

While vaccines are being rolled out globally, the COVID-19 pandemic still continues, threatening to severely dampen the Olympic spirit ahead of the Tokyo games.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2021

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo rejects more calls for his resignation

The governor has insisted he will not resign while allegations of his sexual misconduct are investigated, pushing back against a chorus of fellow Democrats urging him to step down.
Japan Times
JAPAN / SPELLING BEE
Mar 12, 2021

Winner of Japan Spelling Bee looks ahead to U.S. contest

Yugen Padhye won the 12th Japan Spelling Bee on March 6, after correctly spelling the winning word — 'dodecahedron.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2021

Policy credibility is hard to earn and easy to lose

The key distinctions all come down to trust. In countries that have earned it, officials statements are taken seriously, policies are believable and political systems relatively stable.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 12, 2021

Achieving solidarity requires more than words

With the anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, we're reminded of the solidarity of the people of Tohoku. Now if only we could find that unity in our politics.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Remembering 3/11
Mar 9, 2021

From shock to resignation: Japan’s responses to 3/11

March 11 had enduring impacts on Japan, but they aren't at all obvious.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2021

Who is a Jew? Israel’s Supreme Court expands the answer

The case before the Supreme Court involved the vexed question of the meaning of the word 'converted:” Which conversions count as qualifying a person for citizenship under the law?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2021

China’s weaponization of rare earths is bound to backfire

There was a time when China could cause the world to tremble by threatening its supply of rare earths. It's long in the past.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2021

Who is afraid of bursting the bubble? Not Japan’s elite

We will never know whether the elite's proactive bursting of the bubble brought more or less pain and hardship on society than a laissez-faire approach would have.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2021

Vaccine comparison shopping hurts everyone

Medical professionals are holding out for some vaccines over others which are seen to have lower efficacy rates, risking delaying vaccination programs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 5, 2021

Suga announces two-week extension to state of emergency in Tokyo area

The move is understood to be aimed at easing burdens on hospitals — and wrestling back prominence as a leader, in the public eye, from Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2021

Making chips requires lots of water, and Taiwan has a drought

The global center of chipmaking is facing water restrictions that could impact Taiwan's most important export.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2021

Government recommends extending virus emergency for Tokyo region

The government recommended extending by two weeks its virus state of emergency for the Tokyo region set to expire Sunday, trying to maintain a declining trend in infections as it looks to host the Olympics in about four months.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 5, 2021

South Korea presidential hopeful prods Biden over North Korea

Lee Nak-yon, who served as Moon's first prime minister until January 2020, has emerged in opinion polls as a top contender to represent Moon's progressive bloc in elections next year.

Longform

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