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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2019

Americans and their love of Fahrenheit

What's so great about Fahrenheit? Not much, but Americans are sticking with it. The global conversation about climate needs to adapt to that reality.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 2, 2019

Australian defense chief Christopher Pyne latest to quit as election looms

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a new Cabinet member on Saturday after a wave of high-profile ministerial resignations added to opinion polls that suggest the center-right government faces heavy defeat at elections due in May.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 1, 2019

As Joe Biden weighs 2020 bid, Democrats ask: 'Does he meet the moment?'

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said this week he was "very close" to deciding whether to make a 2020 White House bid and will run only if he thinks he can win the Democratic Party's nomination.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Feb 28, 2019

Focus on North Korea's nuclear arsenal obscures threat posed by chemical and biological weapons

As U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held their summit in Vietnam, the narrow focus on nuclear weapons obscured a major danger: Kim holds the whip in a three-ring circus of weapons of mass destruction. The other two rings, adjacent and in many ways more frightening, feature...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 28, 2019

After months of setbacks, Theresa May's Brexit deal starts to fall into place

Wednesday night's votes in Parliament suggest that Prime Minister Theresa May is closer to leading Britain out of the European Union with a Brexit deal than at any other point since her negotiations with Brussels began. Instead of another humiliating defeat, Parliament told her to stay the course. Crucially,...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2019

Can the U.S. avert an India-Pakistan war?

North Korea and Venezuela are getting the headlines, but the world's most dangerous crisis is taking place in South Asia.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2019

A month ahead of election, Thailand's billionaire rising political star is energizing young voters

Young people line up to take selfies with him. His hashtags are trending. And when billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit promises an end to Thailand's military "dictatorship," supporters of his Future Forward Party roar their approval.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 26, 2019

The complicated perception of heroism

As the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art's final Heisei Era (1989-2019) exhibition, this ambitious and somewhat provocative show looks back on the socio-political roles art played in the midst of the past 90 or so years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2019

How the Americans can escape the graveyard of empires

The key will be persuading both sides to accept a compromise that is far from perfect for either, but allows Afghanistan to move forward.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2019

All the American presidents' pronouns

U.S. leaders' rhetoric has grown less analytical over the past century and more confident. But Trump may be as far as that trend can go.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2019

Big teams rarely come up with innovations

Innovations are more likely to arise from lone researchers or very small groups.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2019

China seeks new islands to conquer

Allies in the Pacific are worried that the U.S. and Europe are no longer reliable.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2019

Chinese tourists won't be weapons for much longer

As the number of independent travelers rises, Beijing will have a harder time using them to punish countries such as New Zealand.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2019

Abe's consumption tax hike has a target on its back

China's slowdown may provide an excuse to shelve next October's scheduled increase.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2019

Former New Zealand PM Jenny Shipley denies writing pro-China article in Communist Party paper

A former New Zealand prime minister has denied writing an article attributed to her by the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party that praised the Asian giant's economic development at a time of strained ties.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 21, 2019

As population zooms toward 100 million, Egypt tells poor families 'Two is Enough'

Nesma Ghanem is hoping for a fourth child even though her doctor says her body can't handle a pregnancy at the moment. She has three daughters and would like them to have a brother.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2019

Amazon's winner-take-all approach to small businesses

If small businesses are to survive in the digital age, the online economy can't be allowed to be winner-take-all.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 20, 2019

Ahead of Trump-Kim summit, focus shifts from immediate denuclearization to longer-term approach

With the second North Korea-U.S. summit just a week away, the focus of that meeting has shifted from demands that Pyongyang immediately relinquish its nukes to whether the two parties have the wherewithal to lay the groundwork for such an ambitious goal in the long term, interviews with leading U.S....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2019

The endgame of Brexit is approaching at last

The immediate outcome is reduced to two routes, neither very attractive but at least going forward.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2019

In Germany, the Green New Deal works

Don't use one of the world's most competitive economies as an argument against it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2019

U.S. spies say China and Russia are getting closer

Beijing and Moscow are teaming up to diminish Washington's global influence, spread tyranny and undermine democracy.
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2019

A faulty reading of history

I enjoy Brahma Chellaney's perspectives: They are often fresh and thought-provoking. However, judging by his "The shackles of history in a democracy" Opinion piece in the Feb. 5 edition, he should find a new history teacher.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2019

The 100-year life and public pension reform

Is it possible for people who live to 100 to receive sufficient pension benefits for 35 years?

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat