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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2020

Trump brushes off polls showing Joe Biden leading in U.S. election

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he does not believe opinion polls showing his likely Democratic opponent Joe Biden leads him in the 2020 race for the White House.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2020

The coronavirus is not Trump’s Vietnam

Sentient humans like to benchmark their successes and failures. So it’s understandable that in trying to put the coronavirus’s toll in perspective, some Americans have fastened their eyes on one particular grim milestone: The 58,300-plus deaths in the United States from COVID-19 over the last three...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2020

Diplomacy is another victim of the virus

China's “wolf warriors” are just responding to pressures that envoys everywhere are feeling in the age of social media.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Apr 17, 2020

In China, demands for more free speech outlast coronavirus lockdowns

Even as China seeks to revive its economy under a host of restrictions meant to prevent another outbreak, some are urging looser limits on speech.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Mar 25, 2020

Maverick presidents Bolsonaro in Brazil and Lopez Obrador in Mexico both in denial over COVID-19

The presidents of Mexico and Brazil scored stunning election victories in 2018 in defiance of the political establishment, but now their unwillingness to follow consensus on the coronavirus pandemic has left the two increasingly exposed.
Reader Mail
Mar 20, 2020

School closures are a cruel blow to children

About 300 million children worldwide are unable to go to school, not because of war, terrorist attack or natural disaster, but because of the coronavirus ("School halted for 290 million worldwide" in the March 6 edition). As a student, I would like to share my opinion about this unparalleled situation....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2020

COVID-19: A strategic shock shakes the world

For Japan, COVID-19 has taken a 2020 that was meant to be a stable and historic year with the Olympics and has thrown it into disarray.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 9, 2020

Amid strained ties, Fukushima fears grow anew in South Korea

Concerns over radiation from the defunct Fukushima No. 1 power plant remain strong in South Korea nine years after the March 2011 triple core meltdown triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 22, 2020

Japan can't run out the clock on coronavirus

Next month the Olympic torch will arrive in Japan for a four-month relay to launch the opening ceremonies for the Tokyo summer games. But rather than anticipating the sight of Olympic torchbearers, much of Japan is fixated on a different relay: hundreds of masked passengers grimly walking off the quarantined...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 21, 2020

Michael Bloomberg seeks reset after rough debate debut as Democrats sprint to Super Tuesday

Democratic presidential contenders began a frantic dash for votes on Thursday, as big-spending billionaire Michael Bloomberg sought to move past a bruising debate debut and several of his rivals jockeyed to be the moderate alternative to liberal front-runner Bernie Sanders.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2020

COVID-19's economic hit is all in your mind

Psychology can be more powerful than facts when it comes to an epidemic's impact
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 19, 2020

Changing attitudes, not regulations, is the key to Japan's future

There is little indication that the Japanese public will change and allow the reforms required to put Japan's economy on a more stable footing and facilitate growth.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 31, 2020

Ox walking, heckling and other strange Diet practices

Understanding Japanese politics, as with many things in Japanese society, is often an exercise of scratching beneath the surface to discover the true meaning.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 30, 2020

Stiff Little Fingers' 'Inflammable Material' is still the definitive political punk album 40 years later

Stiff Little Fingers bring 'Inflammable Material' to Tokyo for two shows, letting fans hear the album, which deals with Northern Ireland's 'troubles,' in its entirety.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2020

Age discrimination is bad for business

Not acting forcefully on ageism will increasingly carry a heavy cost for politicians.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jan 27, 2020

Soccer player Shiho Shimoyamada helps blaze trail for Japan's LGBT athletes

Soccer player Shiho Shimoyamada has been encouraged by the response she has received since she became Japan's first openly gay professional athlete in February last year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2020

Round one to Trump in U.S.-China trade war

The U.S. president emerges with the economy intact and his credibility enhanced.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 4, 2020

From hangover cures to prairie dogs, tabloids end 2019 with a bang

For their final issues of December, the weeklies — their covers trimmed in gold color (except for the Sunday Mainichi, which came out in yellow-orange) — typically publish two-week bumper issues with extra pages. This gives many of them leeway to write about lots of timely topics. For instance, journalist...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 2, 2020

3 in 5 Hong Kongers support protesters' demands, survey shows

Hong Kong's protest movement is supported by 59 percent of city residents polled in a survey conducted for Reuters by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, with more than a third of respondents saying they had attended an anti-government demonstration.
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 18, 2019

Hakuho more than deserving of special elder status

When you think of sumo, what's the first word that comes to mind?
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 12, 2019

Disasters and downturn challenge New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern going into election year

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern faces tough challenges as she heads into a general election campaign next year, with economic growth slowing, divisive referendums looming and a country reeling from disasters both natural and man-made.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 10, 2019

The grammar point known as 'to iu'

When you're trying to describe what something is in Japanese, the structure 'to iu' can come in very handy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Dec 6, 2019

Stunning turnaround as Suu Kyi set to defend Myanmar against charge of Rohingya genocide

The last time Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi traveled to Western Europe, she was feted as the freshly elected civilian ruler of a fledgling democracy who had brought an end to half a century of military dictatorship.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 3, 2019

Stimulus can fix a lot of policy errors

Japan's misguided consumption tax hike makes a big fiscal package inevitiable.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Dec 3, 2019

Year-end, work-related drinking parties are falling into disfavor

A Kyodo article looks at the annoyance of mandatory end-of-year parties and outlines the best type to have — short and seldom.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 25, 2019

China's growing threat to academic freedom

Professor Nobu Iwatani's detention in China marked a potential new, dangerous phase in the CCP government's undermining of academic freedoms for its expansive regime security interests.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2019

Europe and U.S. are refighting the Cold War

Trans-Atlantic dispute sheds light on the best approach to China and Russia today.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 20, 2019

Hong Kong's next flashpoint: The first election since unrest began

Even as Hong Kong grapples with a violent university siege that has captivated the world, things could potentially get even worse this weekend if the government scraps the city's first exercise of democracy since the unrest began in June.

Longform

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