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December 13, 2024
 

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Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda gives a news conference in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ jolted financial markets by loosening its grip on bond yields.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023

BOJ yields some control, but also throws a curveball

In trying to keep several plates spinning as it pertains to monetary policy and inflation, BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda steps on his message.
While the pace of deploying clean-energy solutions is faster than it has ever been, with climate change, the world overall is racing in the wrong direction.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

What the climate fight is really about

Now that a future of higher average global temperatures is inevitable, managing the problem well requires that we cut off the tail end of the extreme-weather distribution.
As artificial intelligence grows more sophisticated, transparency has taken a back seat and could harm its quality and safety.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023

Secretive chatbot developers are making a big mistake

Before we can ponder existential threats of the new technology, Silicon Valley must be forced to disclose more about how their tools are created.
Bradley Fighting Vehicles on Jan. 25 at the Transportation Core Dock in North Charleston, South Carolina, ahead of shipment as part of a U.S. military aid package to Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 8, 2023

Is China going unchecked while the West supports Ukraine?

Some have criticized Washington's efforts to help Kyiv as having a negative impact on its ability to deter a possible contingency from Beijing.
A new high-rise is erected in Beijing in October 2021. The same year, 41% of the assets in China’s banking system were accounted for by property-related loans and credit.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

Is Japan’s economic past China’s future?

China is facing a long period of low growth similar to Japan’s experience since the 1990s.
Ukrainian Olga Kharlan (left) and Russian Anna Smirnova compete during the women's sabre senior individual qualifiers at the FIE Fencing World Championships in Milan on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023

Don't ask Ukrainian athletes to shake hands with Russians

In fencing and tennis as in life, responsibility is individual, not collective. All the more reason why Olga Kharlan did the right thing.
Up until the 1980s, Mexico was a country in which drug cartels and a corrupt state could cut deals that took much of the bloodshed out of the business. The government's crackdown on the drug traders, at the behest of the U.S., changed that.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023

Mexico and the U.S. are divided by guns and fentanyl

The two neighbors see the toll taken on their citizens by violence and drugs in different ways and can’t agree on which poses the most pressing threat.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown takes a shot against the Miami Heat in the third quarter during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Miami on May 23.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023

Could Saudi money be coming to the NBA, too?

Jaylen Brown just signed the richest contract in the league’s history, but there’ll probably be an ever bigger deal before long.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, attend a document signing ceremony during the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, in October 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023

China’s weaponization of race and history

BRICS nations seek a more equitable global architecture that represents the interests of the Global South as China uses race to challenge the West.
As the Kremlin’s grip on power slips, Russia’s generals will likely organize a putsch against Putin and his KGB/FSB cronies — the army’s historical rival.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2023

The Kremlin’s mobster code

While Western experts continue to view Russia as a modern state, it turns out that President Vladimir Putin is the boss of one crime family, but not all of them.
Migrants at a base near Tripoli hand out food to other migrants after they were detained by the Libyan navy in September 2015.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023

An immigration wake-up call

Well-designed immigration policies in advanced economies could ease inflationary labor-market shortages and preventing humanitarian tragedies.
China and India both began liberalizing their economies around the same time in the 1980s. But China invested more in human-capital and is now benefiting from that decision.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

Unlike China, India cannot be an economic superpower

In the 1980s, the belief among observers was that an authoritarian Chinese regime would mismanage its economy while a democratic India would thrive.
An S-400 surface-to-air missile system outside the town of Gvardeysk, near Kaliningrad, Russia, in March 2019. The S-400 is one of the defense items India has procured from Russia.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 15, 2023

A new tide of weapons imports, production and development

Some countries are beginning to diversify when looking for partners for their arms needs.
New revelations about dreams and creativity could move people toward more balance, giving sleep and even naps much needed respectability.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2023

Want to be more creative? Try dream-hacking

New scientific methods are helping researchers understand how dreams can boost brainpower.
Children play on a beach near a Taiwan Navy supply ship on Nangan Island, which is part of the Matsu Archipelago that is controlled by Taipei and located close to the coast of mainland China.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2023

A year after Nancy Pelosi’s historic visit, is Taiwan more secure?

Though both U.S. and broader international support for Taipei has accelerated, the Chinese military is regularly operating closer to the island than ever.
A young girl drinks water from a faucet in Bamako. At a site just 55 kilometers from Mali's capital city, pure hydrogen gas seeps from the ground like crude oil or methane.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

Natural hydrogen could change the world, if we understood it

We know next to nothing about how natural hydrogen is produced, let alone how to extract and transport it most efficiently.
Signboards for the movies “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” at a theater in Los Angeles 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2023

'Barbenheimer' highlights U.S. ignorance of nuclear reality

The “Barbenheimer” craze shows the U.S. education system needs work and Americans need lessons on nuclear weapons.
India is facing a potential future food crises due to severe climate change despite its per capita carbon emissions being lower than some countries such as Germany. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2023

India’s food security is being choked by climate change

A warming planet is destabilizing the cycles of rain and sun that are keeping India fed.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other leaders of the Group of Seven, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meet during their summit in Hiroshima on May 21. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2023

The G7 leaders’ vision on nuclear disarmament

Geopolitical rivalries and the failure to address the complicity of G7 members in perpetuating a nuclearized world are stymieing nonproliferation efforts.
Graphite, now deemed an essential mineral by the U.S., is the single biggest ingredient by weight in the batteries that go into electric vehicles and the power grid. It is also used in a variety of defense applications.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2023

Biden deploys Pentagon to beat climate change and China

A $37.5 million grant to Graphite One acts as a relaxed form of venture capital as the White House supports nascent parts of the domestic cleantech supply chain.
Superconductors are materials that exhibit no electrical resistance and eliminate magnetic fields. South Korean researchers think they may have created a compound that achieves that at room-temperature.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2023

LK-99 and the desperation for scientific discovery

The new room-temperature superconductor LK-99 could change the world. Or not.
A Ukrainian soldier stands guard next to Odesa's famous statue of the city's founder, Duke de Richelieu, in March 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2023

Russia should be expelled from UNESCO

UNESCO has condemned Russia’s attacks across Ukraine. It should go further, expelling Russia for as long as the Kremlin continues its criminal behavior.
People lie passed out on a sidewalk in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco in February 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2023

Is America’s soft power eroding?

San Francisco has changed from a hub of hippie culture and freedom in the 1960s and '70s, suggesting America's soft power is abating.
A recent report showed that the number of career bureaucrats leaving government to join startups had quadrupled over the two years through fiscal 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 8, 2023

Japan’s young civil servants are growing disillusioned

Big companies remain the most popular career option, attracting 34% of those who change jobs.
Containers stored at the Yangshan Deep-Water Port in Shanghai in 2020
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2023

Not decoupling, but West and China drift apart

Official data showed a 14.5% drop in July exports amid weak consumer demand in the world markets served by China — the fastest decline since the pandemic.
Indian border security force soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint along a highway leading to Ladakh in Kashmir's Ganderbal district in June 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2023

China-India border conflict holds lessons for Japan, too

India has learned that bilateral ties and economic interdependence do not constrain China's territorial ambitions. That is a lesson Japan should heed.
Now in their fourth year, Hong Kong's security crackdowns have led to the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, resulting in grave manpower shortages and a stain on the city's image as place to do business.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2023

Hong Kong needs to protect its image as a financial center

In Lee’s view, while reviving Hong Kong’s role as a global financial center, it is vital to continue the crackdown on perceived threats.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with NATO’s leaders at the bloc’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2023

How Russia could benefit from Ukraine’s NATO membership

While Russian leaders have cited NATO enlargement as a justification for invading Ukraine, ordinary Russians have much to gain from Ukrainian membership.
As many as half of women with postpartum depression go undiagnosed.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2023

New postpartum depression pill is a vital breakthrough

Pharma companies seem to be finally listening to the female half of the population.
The Bank of Japan's attempts to dismantle ultraloose monetary policies have led to unexpected market reactions and left some investors struggling to understand the central bank's intentions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 10, 2023

The BOJ gets a new doctrine. It’s just keeping it to itself.

The BOJ is likely sincere when it says the 2% price goal is still some way off, even if one member seemingly believes it’s on the horizon.
JR East announces 10-year plan to drastically overhaul Suica
The East Japan Railway Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Within the next 10 years, JR East will develop automated walk-through gate technology so that passengers can enter the train platform without having to tap their Suica card or phone on the ticket gates.
Prince Hisahito to enroll at University of Tsukuba
Prince Hisahito, who is second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne, is currently a third-year student at the University of Tsukuba’s affiliated high school.
Tokyo remains third in global city index for ninth consecutive year
The silhouettes of Mount Fuji, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building and Shinjuku skyscrapers are seen during sunset in Tokyo in November.
South Korean police blocked from raid on president's office
Protesters attend a rally calling for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the headquarters of the ruling People Power Party in Seoul on Tuesday.
Union blasts Nippon Steel’s $5,000 per worker bonus in U.S. Steel deal
The United Steelworkers union claims that Nippon Steel's latest offer is tantamount to bribery.
London calling: Sumo's U.K. trip brings back memories of 1991
Japan’s national sport made its second foray into Western Europe, and first to the U.K., with a five-day tournament at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall in October 1991.
‘Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron’ documentary meditates on auteur's creativity and legacy
“Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron" provides an in-depth look into the octogenarian auteur’s creative process and personal reflections.
Yurie Collins: ‘Everyone seems sedated, fed-up … that’s why they turn to comedy’
Yurie Collins is a bilingual comedian based in Tokyo. In addition to being a prize-winning roast comic, her dating-themed "Tokyo Hoe Tales" shows have proven to be a hit with women of all nationalities.
Winter chill, hot baths and the risk of heat shock: How to stay safe
A health ministry survey showed that 5,824 people age 65 and older died in a bathtub in their home or other residential facilities in 2022, more than double the number of people who died in a traffic accident.
It’s Japan versus China for 2024’s game of the year
While FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a strong contender for game of the year, Black Myth: Wukong, the first AAA game made by a Chinese developer, offers some stiff competition.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?
By Thu-Huong Ha

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