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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2021

Trash and burn: Big brands' new plastic waste plan faces skepticism

Experts say that burning plastic in cement kilns, a practice firms are promoting, emits harmful emissions and amounts to swapping one dirty fuel for another.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Perspectives
Oct 2, 2021

Has Japan’s COVID-19 response really been that bad?

Mainstream media has painted a bleak narrative about how Japan has handled the pandemic, but comparative data shows it has, for the most part, responded much better than its G7 peers.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 23, 2021

Under pressure, U.S. pledges 500 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses globally

Health experts say the planned donations are welcome but insufficient, and that the Pfizer vaccine is difficult to administer in poorer countries that lack sophisticated infrastructure.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 11, 2021

What does it mean to ‘never forget’?

For all its slogan-like simplicity, these twinned words seem freighted with the complexities of guilt, obligation and even presumption — as if we could ever forget.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Perspectives
Sep 11, 2021

What a Japanese diplomat learned from 9/11

The terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, diverted Washington's attention away from China.
PARALYMPICS
Aug 24, 2021

Athletes to watch at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics

A primer on 10 Paralympians who are poised to make their mark on the Games.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 31, 2021

Will Japan’s gold rush end with judo? Not likely.

Japan has won nine golds in judo so far, the most by a single nation at an Olympics. Japan set the previous mark of eight in 2004.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 29, 2021

To sprinters, hot weather in Tokyo feels just right

Tokyo was deemed to be too hot for marathoners, but there's evidence that the heat helps sprinters. A little rain might not hurt, either.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2021

The fight for open societies begins again

Freedom House reports that less than 20% of the world's population now live in what it categorizes as fully free societies, the lowest share in more than a quarter century.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 17, 2021

Nigeria’s cratering economy threatens to spread poverty and violence

Policy missteps, entrenched corruption and an over-reliance on crude oil mean that a country that makes up a quarter of Africa's economy risks becoming its biggest problem.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2021

Herd immunity is closer than you think

When will the world have vaccinated 80% of all adults, the level presumed by scientists to produce herd immunity against COVID-19? Most people’s answer is 2023 or 2024, which suggests deep pessimism about the progress of vaccinations outside the rich world. That is also why pledges at the recent G7...
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 11, 2021

Robust vaccine supply chain is key to ending the pandemic

Japan has a part to play in preventing the spread of infections and stopping the coronavirus from mutating.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2021

Clean energy: Oil and carbon at loggerheads

If the world is to get anywhere near its lower carbon goals, as set out in the Paris Agreement, then all future investment in oil and gas development must cease.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2021

COVID-19 trauma has changed economics — maybe forever

The 2008 crash triggered a rethink, but the framework in place since the 1980s emerged relatively intact. The pandemic then cast those conventions aside around the world.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 7, 2021

From Singapore to Rio, the smart money is on greener buildings

'There's a growing shift toward including the green credentials of a building within what constitutes competitive advantage for a developer,” according to one industry observer.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2021

The 'metaverse' bet: Crypto-rich investors snap up virtual real estate

A new economy of blockchain-based virtual worlds is arising where land, buildings, avatars and even names can be bought and sold as nonfungible tokens.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2021

Who’s afraid of the big bad economic boom?

The revival is likely to be very impressive. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for the world expansion to 6%.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Perspectives
Apr 4, 2021

Can COVID-19 turbocharge the 'Asian century'?

If nothing else, the China-U.S. rivalry has forced Japan to become a genuine leader for Asia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2021

The COVID-19 Revolution

The pandemic, it turns out, is not only a scourge but also a source of revelation.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 24, 2021

If poor countries go unvaccinated, a study says, rich ones will pay

In monopolizing the supply of vaccines against COVID-19, wealthy nations are threatening more than a humanitarian catastrophe.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 23, 2021

A year later, the first post-pandemic city

The long months of harsh lockdown have faded from view in Wuhan, the first city in the world devastated by the new coronavirus.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2021

For a post-nationalist Biden

Economic globalization is no longer compatible with the political balkanization that hypernationalism underpins.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 28, 2020

Anne Frank and Sadako Sasaki: Two girls that symbolize the horrors of war

The 75th anniversary of the end of World War II came amid a pandemic. We take a moment to look back to remember two people in particular who died in that global crisis.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2020

What is driving Asia’s technological rise?

India alone produced three-quarters of the world's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates between 2016 and 2018.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2020

China’s global climate boost

China is thus arguably the modern era's first “hybrid” superpower: a global leader that does not yet have a fully advanced economy.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Nov 30, 2020

Airlines face ‘mission of the century’ in shipping vaccines

Laid low by a COVID-19 outbreak that's decimated passenger demand, airlines will be the workhorses of the attempt to eradicate it, hauling billions of vials to every corner of the globe.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Nov 26, 2020

Diego Maradona, one of soccer’s all-time greats, dies at 60

News of the death brought an outpouring of mourning and remembrance in Argentina, becoming virtually the sole topic of conversation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 22, 2020

The new normal that will arise after COVID-19

In the post-COVID-19 world, the coronavirus should prove far less dangerous, eventually becoming as common as the flu. But that doesn't mean life will completely revert to the way it was.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Great Reset
Nov 22, 2020

The key to reviving international travel

Helping data to cross borders first and setting up a trusted health ID system are key to getting people moving again.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2020

Capitalism caused climate change; it must also be the solution

The coronavirus pandemic has caused the the biggest drop in emissions in history and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick