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December 13, 2024
 

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Singer-songwriter Aina The End (center) plays a young woman who strives to overcome her hardscrabble life and become an indie musician in “Kyrie.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2023

'Kyrie': Musical melodrama celebrates youth

Shunji Iwai's film about indie musicians and female friendships may have an overstuffed plot, but it also has a visual energy unique to the director.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo gives a news conference at the Boeing aircraft hangar facility in Shanghai on Aug. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2023

Foreign businesses face a hostile China

The Chinese government's "zero-COVID" policy and regulatory favoritism toward local companies have created obstacles for foreign businesses.
Japan faces tough choices amid the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas. The issue now is how Tokyo will navigate the conflict.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 12, 2023

Hamas tests the limits of Japan's Israel-Palestine policy

Japan is the lone outlier in the Group of Seven, condemning the Hamas attacks but also expressing concern over potential casualties in the Gaza Strip.
A woman hands out pamphlets outside a voting center in central Sydney on Oct. 3. A coming referendum will decide whether to recognize Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2023

Australia’s First Nations vote is coming down to love against war

Australia was founded as a federation in 1901 without formal recognition of the continent’s Indigenous peoples.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban meet in Budapest in October 2021. Modern autocrats focus on manipulating public opinion while gradually weakening the democratic institutions from which they claim legitimacy.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2023

No, the world's democracies are not 'backsliding'

Fears that we're turning the clock back on democracy are inaccurate — and unhelpful for dealing with new shades of authoritarianism.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem in July 2017.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2023

India’s realism comes of age in response to Israel-Hamas war

Unlike other Global South country leaders, Modi wasted no time expressing solidarity with Israel, an ally of India.
A gender-equality supporter protests against discrimination at an event held in Tokyo for International Women's Day in March 2021
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2023

Japan’s gender gap has never been wider. Can Kishida close it?

The government emphasizes the need to improve gender equality, but correcting Japan's dismal record requires a nuanced approach.
A demonstration in support of Ukraine in Tel Aviv in March 2022
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2023

Israel and Ukraine are linked, and the U.S. must stand with both

Ukraine and Israel are at the forefront of the battle between freedom and tyranny.
Palestinians in Gaza City evacuate after an Israeli airstrike on Oct 9.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2023

The spiral of violence that led to Hamas

If Palestinians are ever to regain the moral high ground, they must hope for the destruction of Hamas.
The late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, is depicted on a leaflet marking the first anniversary of his death in September 2012
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 16, 2023

Japan's media has to account for its failures, too

The Unification Church is set to be dissolved and Johnny & Associates is undergoing structural reforms. What role did the media play, or not play?
Israeli soldiers inspect the burned cars of festival-goers who were attacked and massacred by Hamas militants near the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2023

The real dividing line between Israel and Palestine

The choice is not between hard-line factions; it is between the fundamentalists on both sides and all those who still believe in the possibility of peace.
Palestinian refugees flee to Rafah, in southern Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2023

Japan must uphold humanitarianism in the Middle East

War cries from Israel and Hamas must be met with appeals for the defense of human life, a position Japan has historically held.
Australia had the chance to embrace reconciliation with its First Nations peoples in the Voice referendum. Voters chose division instead.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2023

Ignorance sank Australia’s Indigenous Voice referendum

Australia had the choice to embrace reconciliation with its First Nations peoples. Misinformation, dirty politics and apathy prevailed instead.
Chinese fishing boats depart from a port in Zhejiang province on their way toward the East China Sea where the disputed Senkaku Islands are located. China uses swarming tactics around the islets involving multiple vessels in its effort to challenge Japan's control over the area.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2023

Increased vigilance is needed to address unconventional warfare in the Indo-Pacific

Increased vigilance is needed to address security challenges posed by states that use unconventional methods to achieve their geopolitical objectives.
Hamas fighters take part in a military parade in Gaza on July 19 to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2023

What pushed Hamas to launch its boldest attack ever?

Nothing justifies Hamas' brutality, but analyzing its motivations and goals is the first step to unpacking the present crisis.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara visits Ground Self-Defense Force troops at Camp Asaka, which straddles Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 18, 2023

Defense minister’s miscue is an opening for the opposition

Can a single statement by the defense minister really disrupt the Japanese political landscape? For better or worse, it can.
China's ambitions to control the legacy chip market have implications for the world economy and Western nations are beginning to take countersteps.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2023

China's economic ambitions squeeze the developing world

While Chinese diplomats try to promote “win-win” solutions, Chinese policy is preventing developing-world partners from selling goods to China.
While there should be a balance between entrepreneurial innovation and environmental responsibility, pollution should be the primary concern, not economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2023

Embracing the green growth mindset

Some high-carbon economic activities need to shrink while low-carbon, high-efficiency sectors need to grow.
People gather on Wednesday near the al-Ahli hospital where hundreds of Palestinians were killed earlier in a blast that Israeli and Palestinian officials blame on each other.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2023

Gaza hospital tragedy escalates war risk, no matter who’s to blame

The Gaza hospital tragedy escalates the conflict and raises questions as to what really happened and who is to blame?
Negotiations are pointless as Vladimir Putin will not offer peace in exchange for Ukrainian territories; his goal is to eliminate the country as a nation.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2023

Putin's defeat must be democracies’ goal

Only a strategic defeat of Russia can stop this cancer from spreading. Why, then, are many Western leaders allergic to this prescription?
Demonstrators march against the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians outside Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Oct. 14.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2023

Is silence on Israel support for Hamas?

One of the current problems with the Israel-Hamas debate is that a failure to condemn some wrongs is often taken as approval.
Chinese President Xi Jinping exits the podium after giving his speech during the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2023

Belt and Road anniversary prompts reflection on China's global ambitions

Countries like the U.S., Japan, India, and Canada should participate in the BRI's infrastructure projects to influence the initiative's evolution.
Children look to the sky at the sound of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Oct. 9.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2023

The never-ending catastrophe that plagues Palestinians

Displacing the Palestinian residents of northern Gaza would be a flagrant violation of international law.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, make a toast during a reception at the Kremlin in March.  
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2023

Xi and Putin think they’re winning — and maybe they are

China and Russia's actions are contributing to an emerging Cold War and aligning other powers against the U.S. and its allies in Europe and Asia.
As G7 leaders pledge to combat economic coercion with an eye on China, this could be counterproductive and end up hurting global trade.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2023

The G7's anti-coercion campaign against China could backfire

When G7 trade representatives convene in Osaka starting Saturday, Chinese “economic coercion” is expected to be high on the agenda.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force disembark from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a live fire exercise in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 23, 2023

Kishida's proposed tax cuts put higher defense spending on hold

The plan to raise defense spending partly through tax hikes has been put on ice. In fact, it was never likely to deliver fast results.
A Hello Kitty balloon is paraded down 6th Ave during the 91st Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City in November 2017.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 24, 2023

Soft power and Japan's role in a complex world

While hard power zeroes in on what can be physically controlled such as an empire by force, soft power is an empire by invitation.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the nation about the war in Israel and Ukraine from the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2023

New mantra for U.S. diplomacy: First, do no harm

U.S. power has diminished and the overweening advantage it enjoyed after World War II, even at the end of the Cold War, has dissipated.
Over the past decade, China has arrested and indicted hundreds of senior government officials and more than a million low-ranking civil servants in an effort to root out corruption.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023

Measuring corruption in China

Over the past decade, China has arrested and indicted hundreds of senior government officials and more than a million low-ranking civil servants.
Asteroid mining only works in a science-fiction world where metals are thousands of times more expensive than they are today.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023

Commercial asteroid mining has a astronomical cost issue

Asteroid mining only works in a science-fiction world where metals are thousands of times more expensive than they are today.
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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