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December 12, 2024
 

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Myanmar's then-state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi, meets with Fumio Kishida, Japan's then-foreign minister, for talks in Tokyo in November 2016.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 27, 2024

Kishida’s failure to support democracy in Myanmar

Kishida's lack of engagement with Myanmar's pro-democracy movement shows he prioritized economic relations over democratic values.
The tech platforms contributing to social instability should financially support independent journalism as a way to combat misinformation and promote a healthier society.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2024

How independent journalism can save society from the effects of Big Tech

Independent journalism is critical in verifying facts, exposing corruption, addressing societal issues and contrasting it all with the negative impacts of Big Tech.
A Tokyo Electric Power Company employee uses a Geiger counter to check for radiation near storage tanks holding contaminated water at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in the towns of Okuma and Futaba in January 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 27, 2024

Tepco's Fukushima decommissioning effort is challenging — but making progress

Tepco believes that diligent monitoring by it and the IAEA over the past year supports the conclusion that water discharges from the Fukushima No. 1 plant are safe.
The world's multilateral development banks must shift to a growth-focused approach that stabilizes economies without forcing them to cut essential public spending.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2024

The world needs bigger and better financial firefighters

The world's multilateral development banks must shift to a growth-focused approach that stabilizes economies without forcing them to cut essential public spending.
Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates in Tokyo with party rival Shigeru Ishiba after Abe won the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote in September 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 29, 2024

Shigeru Ishiba made his career as an anti-Abe

Over the years, Ishiba's opposition earned him few friends; indeed, he has a reputation for being a "traitor” due to his public criticism of party orthodoxy.
While Shigeru Ishiba’s victory suggests a shift within the Liberal Democratic Party, he still faces challenges from those who remain loyal to the old party guard. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 29, 2024

Japan’s perennial political underdog finally gets a win

Ishiba margin of victory was slim, meaning that there is still a sizable portion of the party who will be resistant to his initiatives.
Shigeru Ishiba (center) celebrates in Tokyo on Friday after he was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He defeated economic security minister Sanae Takaichi (second from left) in a runoff vote.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2024

Shigeru Ishiba’s tenure as prime minister could be short-lived

Questions about his leadership and management ability weaken his prospects.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to sign a memorandum on intellectual property tariffs on high-tech Chinese goods at the White House in March 2018.
COMMENTARY
Sep 30, 2024

Trumpism, Stalinism and the tariff debate

Trump loyalists — which these days means almost the entire Republican Party — insist as a group that foreigners, not American consumers, pay taxes on imports.
U.S. lawmakers and others speak at a news conference in Washington in March to voice their opposition to legislation cracking down on TikTok.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2024

China’s silence on U.S. Tiktok ban speaks volumes

Beijing's past actions suggest that protecting its national interests, including ByteDance's valuable algorithm, outweighs concerns about foreign investment.
Rescue personnel search for missing people in debris after flooding along the Tsukada River Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Sept. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2024

Lessons from Japan’s fight against floods as the climate changes

As climate change intensifies flood risk, Japan should rely more on adaptive and nature-based solutions to prepare for disasters like the recent deluge in Ishikawa.
Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet appointments reveal deep fissures within the party resulting from his victory in the leadership race.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2024

The new prime minister puts together a ‘disunity Cabinet’

While Ishiba tries to promote his policy priorities, the Cabinet's composition may create challenges for his leadership.
A woman holds up sign reading "defeat Ishiba," Japan's new prime minister, as a small group of protesters gather outside the parliament building in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2024

Japan’s new leader has barely the concept of a plan

If Ishiba follows through on some of his stated policies, that might be where the endearment ends.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers march in the Victory Day Parade in Moscow in 2020. China and Russia are working together to undermine the liberal international order through military means.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 2, 2024

Tackling an international order in disarray

The liberal international order is fraying at the edges. A more assertive stance against leaders trying to undermine the status quo, Putin and Xi most notably, is needed.
People take shelter on Tuesday during an air raid in central Israel after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at the country. Iran has targeted Israel twice in recent months with little to show for its efforts, risking further loss of credibility in the region.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2024

Iran’s missile salvo was yet another strategic blunder

The intended message was clear — we don’t want a real war, but if it comes to one, look what we can do. And yet the attack projected weakness instead.
A Russian submarine arrives at the port of Dagang, in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, in April 2019 for a joint Chinese-Russian naval exercise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2024

The China-Russia relationship once derided, now looks to endure

Both China and Russia are concerned about U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific and are acting to counterbalance them.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on Aug. 1. In a matter of three months, Vietnam's leadership engaged India, Russia and China while securing billions in U.S. and Western investments by positioning itself as a manufacturing alternative to China.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2024

Vietnam’s bamboo diplomacy has lessons for the Global South

In just months, Vietnam engaged India, Russia and China, securing billions in U.S. and Western investments by positioning itself as a manufacturing alternative to China.
A gas station damaged by Hurricane Helene in Perry, Florida, on Sept. 27. Extreme weather and climate change are exposing the flaws in how we handle hazardous waste.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 3, 2024

Toxic waste is at the mercy of climate change

Among Hurricane Helene’s roster of disasters is a storm surge that deluged a retired nuclear power plant in Florida. While radioactive material there remains secure, according to operator Duke Energy, one of the plant’s industrial wastewater ponds overflowed amid the flood. With luck, any resulting...
While China's recent initiatives signal a willingness to address economic challenges, the road ahead remains difficult as the country's policymakers have yet to offer a clear road to success.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2024

A stimulus is good, but China still faces a hard slog

Beijing is back in investors' good books. To justify the euphoria, it needs some meaty goals.
Despite Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's serious and studious personality, he is by nature a nonconformist and is less socially inclined compared to other politicians.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 3, 2024

The Shigeru Ishiba I personally know

Ishiba takes pride in his mottos and interests, remains steadfast in his beliefs and stays true to his path.
A protest against the Taliban’s decision to cancel the return of high school-aged girls to school in Kabul in 2022. Women and girls are banned from education in Afghanistan beyond the sixth grade.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2024

Japan shouldn’t work with the Taliban, not even to build schools

Japan's development aid to Afghanistan strengthens the Taliban. Instead, Tokyo should support those, like exiled Afghans, who defend democracy and human rights.
If the Liberal Democratic Party does not perform well and loses seats in the coming election, Shigeru Ishiba’s tenure may be one of the shortest in modern Japanese political history.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2024

Ishiba faces challenges from the opposition — and his own party

Ishiba needs to be ready for challenges coming from all directions: outside the country, from the opposition and from his own party.
Shigeru Ishiba's nascent administration is attracting something of a reputation for flip-flopping — and it hasn’t even been a week.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2024

Don’t take Japan's new leader literally. But should you take him seriously?

Ishiba will discover that his supply of capital with the public will run out quickly if he offers no break from his predecessor.
A funeral is held for Russian military personnel and civilians killed in the war with Ukraine, at a cemetery in Luhansk, in Russian-controlled Ukraine, in May 2023. The U.S. estimates that 120,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and another 180,000 injured, further worsening the nation's manpower shortages and economic output.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2024

The Russian war economy’s days are numbered

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cronies boast that the sanctions make Russia stronger, but they incessantly call for all restrictions to be lifted.
To preserve the integrity of the game in the legalized gambling era, Major League Baseball must double down and maintain its now posthumous ban on Pete Rose.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2024

Pete Rose fans are wrong: He's not worthy of the Hall of Fame

Backing down would undermine the league’s zero-tolerance stance and signal that "permanently ineligible" isn't always permanent.
An Israeli aerial assault on Iran’s nuclear sites and other targets would be a very complex operation, involving dozens of F-15s, in-flight refueling and the targeting of numerous known and undisclosed facilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2024

An Israel-Iran war could turn into a deadly nightmare

Israel is fully justified in wanting to hit back at Iran. Yet hating your enemies too much can cloud your judgment.
Voters line up outside a polling station during India's general election in Kairana, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, on April 19.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2024

From the year of elections to the year of governance

One of the biggest election years in history has already led to significant political shifts around the world, underscoring the resilience of democratic systems.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has replaced his chief of staff and must now review key tax-raising plans that have been questioned over their viability.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 7, 2024

Starmer forced into messy reset less than 100 days in power

He has replaced his chief of staff, Sue Gray, and is reviewing key tax-raising plans amid questions over their viability.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes his visiting French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in Washington in April 2018. European leaders, such as Macron, recognize the need to adapt to a new reality where globalization may no longer drive growth, especially if Trump wins the U.S. election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2024

Trump-proofing Europe looks impossible

Global supply chain strengths turn into weaknesses in a fragmented world, with unreliable access to cheap energy, Chinese consumers and U.S. security.
According to a recent survey, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leads in public sentiment, with a majority of voters preferring his previously defeated Conservative government. In another poll, half of voters disapprove of Labour leader Keir Starmer's performance after just three months in office.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2024

Tories remain the ‘party party.’ Time for a bouncer.

More of the same could doom Conservatives to a long stay in the wilderness or even organizational collapse. They better get this leadership contest right.
In recent years, less than 1% of overall U.S. job growth came from manufacturing. Meanwhile, 9 out of 10 new jobs came from the service sector — nearly half of them in education and health services.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2024

A lot of ‘unskilled’ workers actually aren’t

Often people have incredible skills; they just aren’t skills currently in high demand.
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.
Firms should quit turning foreign workers into Japanese ones
Filipino housekeepers undergo training to work for a Japanese staffing company. By applying the same criteria when hiring overseas and local workers, Japanese firms tend to underutilize the unique skills that foreign nationals can bring.
City's Foden and Kovacic not expected to face Juventus, says Guardiola
Manchester City's Phil Foden, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker during training in Manchester on Tuesday
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.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo calls for a world without nukes
One of the representatives of 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, Terumi Tanaka, speaks during the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony in Oslo City Hall on Tuesday.
‘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.
As Japan nears new climate goal, criticism of policy process ramps up
The government is preparing to set Japan’s new Nationally Determined Contribution, an emissions reduction commitment made by members of the United Nations climate framework's Paris Agreement.
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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The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono
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