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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2021

World shouldn’t laugh at U.S. too soon

It's OK to have a fun few days laughing at America's discomfiture and at the breast-beating exaggerations of its pundits and politicians.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2021

South Korea needs more babies and immigrants

The country greeted the new year by recording its first annual population decline.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2021

Facebook’s Trump ban is necessary triage

Both Facebook and Twitter have struggled in recent months to take a harder stance over Trump's often inflammatory posts.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2021

Will arrests keep Hong Kong out of the 'abyss’?

Let's be clear. The primary that authorities have labeled subversion is simply democratic politics as it has been conducted in Hong Kong for more than a decade.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 6, 2021

China’s dreams of self-reliance still depend on Japan Inc.

For signs of how China’s ambitions to become a self-made, high-tech industrial powerhouse are faring, look to Japan Inc.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2021

Why China is sentencing a tycoon to death

At first glance, the sentence may be meant as a reminder to naughty business tycoons of Beijing's lethal legal arsenal.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2021

NYSE just gave China Inc. one more reason to leave

The New York Stock Exchange said late Monday that it no longer intends to move forward with the delisting of China's three state-owned telecom operators.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2021

Why the winners in Georgia runoffs might not be known for days

The future of Democrat President-elect Joe Biden's agenda hinges on two Senate races.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2021

The pandemic doesn’t have to hurt women most

Women make up a larger share of workers in industries that ground to a halt, and they typically shoulder more of the unpaid labor at home.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2021

Another body blow for the frequent-flyer class

There will have been about 6 million fewer European flights in 2020 compared with 2019, according to air traffic management organization Eurocontrol. That's a 55% decline.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2021

Trump, in taped call, pressured Georgia official to ‘find’ votes to overturn election

The president vaguely warned of a “criminal offense” as he pressured Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the call, according to an audio recording.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2021

Pandemic regrets … experts have a few

Two big trends emerged: lockdowns (too blunt) and testing (too slow). With months left to go before vaccination can curtail the pandemic, 2020's regrets should be 2021's lessons.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 3, 2021

How Taiwan plans to stay (mostly) coronavirus-free

Consider for a moment, in this time of anguish and loss and death, of mass unemployment and flattened national economies, the Twilight Zone alternate reality that is Taiwan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 3, 2021

Uncertainty hijacked media coverage in 2020

Sorting through the media highlights of a year overshadowed by a global pandemic
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2021

COVID-19 exposes the cracks in the world's big democracies

The U.S., U.K. and India have suffered at the hands of incompetent leaders and a severe lack of preparedness.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jan 1, 2021

Japan to play placeholder role in Asia as Biden gets his house in order

Tokyo will be particularly interested to see how the next U.S. president tackles China, trade, regional security as well as its relationships with Southeast Asia and the two Koreas.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2020

Tokyo’s pandemic border policy highlights insecure status of foreign residents

Chaos, lack of debate and fears of public backlash are thought to have been behind unequal treatment of foreign nationals residing in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2020

America can't compete with Chinese tech by walling itself off

As China approaches technological parity with the U.S. in a variety of high-value industries, the U.S. has acted to maintain supremacy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2020

Undoing Trump regulations may divide Biden’s coalition

Some of the Trump administration's midnight rules will deserve wholesale repudiation. But others should be approached with a scalpel, not an ax.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2020

Only one number mattered to global markets in 2020

The money that landed in the laps of investors this year found its way into the stock market, pushing the global value of stocks to more than $100 trillion for the first time.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Dec 29, 2020

Athletes head into 2021 uncertain over Olympic qualification outlook

Many Olympic sports are still working to schedule events that will give athletes a fair opportunity to earn a place in the postponed Tokyo Games.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2020

A dismal year everywhere was even worse for Iran

After a year in which the regime has failed on every other front, it will almost inevitably double down on its only other source of legitimacy: its visceral anti-Americanism.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2020

2020’s retail wipeouts warn of permanent pain

The 10 largest public U.S. firms that are either clothing retailers or department stores will have $38 billion of revenue wiped out this year, or 23% of their collective 2019 sales.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 27, 2020

The blast that blew away Lebanon's faith in itself

The lack of answers over the catastrophe is making it difficult for an already crippled nation to rise from the ashes again.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2020

Trump leaves a mess behind at NASA

President-elect Joe Biden needs to focus on what has made the U.S. space program distinctive in recent years: the power of private competition.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 26, 2020

She chronicled China’s crisis. Now she is accused of spreading lies.

Woman who became a symbol of Beijing's efforts to deny its early failings in the pandemic set for first known trial of a chronicler of China's coronavirus crisis.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg has another answer to Bitcoin

As German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz put it, referring to Libra's name change, 'a wolf in sheep's clothing is still a wolf.”
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2020

How the Biden administration can help get the U.S. vaccinated

If fewer than four out of five people are vaccinated, it may not be enough to stem the coronavirus's spread.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2020

Christmas is canceled for Boris Johnson

The situation on Britain's borders is clearly serious, but will it wound Johnson fatally? That all depends on how many Britons are inclined to blame the virus for the chaos.

Longform

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