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April 25, 2024
 

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Barak Barfi
For Barak Barfi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
A Palestinian girl searches the remains of a house in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, that was destroyed during the recent Israeli-Hamas fighting on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2023
What's next after Hamas' deadly border raid?
The attack on Israel mirrors that of the Yom Kippur War. As in 1973, Israel has much soul-searching to do, but the outcome could differ considerably.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2022
Biden’s return to realism in Saudi Arabia
Contrary to critics' claims, U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to visit Saudi Arabia does not amount to a destabilizing display of American weakness.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2018
The U.S.-Saudi relationship after the Khashoggi affair
Common interests and mutual dependence will almost certainly prevail over the desire to hold the Saudis to higher standards.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2017
Trump's Middle East supporters
Donald Trump's embrace of some Arab leaders, while leaving others alone, suits most Middle East governments quite well.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2016
Obama's Syria policy stokes smoldering conflicts
The Kurds and Turks who were meeting in 2012 are now in each other's crosshairs, and the Obama administration is stuck in yet another Middle Eastern quagmire.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2016
Red Sea island sale underlines Egypt's weakness
Egypt's facade of regional greatness came crashing down when it relinquished two islands to Saudi Arabia in exchange for aid.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2015
This is no time to abandon Yemen
To ensure that the recent overthrow of its government by the Shiite Houthi rebel movement does not deal Yemen the lethal blow that it has avoided so far, the international community must not abandon the country in what may be its hour of greatest need.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2014
Gadhafi casts a long shadow
Libya's leaders — and their Western benefactors — must realize that only modernization of Libya's state and society — the agenda that Moammar Gadhafi pursued, albeit in a perverted form — will ensure the country's survival.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2013
The narrative plot against Syria
America must focus on unifying Syria's bickering rebels before it can persuade Syrians that the campaign to destroy chemical weapons is not aimed at imposing a neo-colonial order.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2013
Co-opting militias takes priority over Benghazi
As the United States struggles to understand last September's attack on its diplomatic mission in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, a formal investigation has not even been opened in Libya — and likely never will be.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2012
Libya's unwilling revolutionaries
Egypt is not the only place where the bright hopes of the Arab Spring are fading. From attacks against Western governments to ethnic clashes in remote desert oases, Libya's revolution is faltering.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2011
Rebuilding the ruins of post-Gadhafi Libya
With the creation of a new government, Libya's leaders should finally be able to focus on organizing the transition from the authoritarian state that they inherited to the more pluralistic one they envisage. But are they really able and willing to achieve that goal?
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2011
Libya faces period of reliance on foreign help
Six months after Libyan rebels took up arms against the country's leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, they have finally toppled him.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2011
Just how new is Egypt's 'new' foreign policy?
In the months since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation, his successors have signaled a shift in foreign policy by reaching out to former adversaries. Egypt's government has welcomed Iranian diplomats and embraced the Palestinian group Hamas.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2011
Regime clash is personal
SANAA — When Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered his military March 18 to fire on peaceful protesters calling for his resignation, he sealed his fate. A wave of military, government and diplomatic defections, led by his longtime ally First Armored Brigade Commander General Ali Muhsin al-Ahmar, rocked his regime.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2011
The battle for Bahrain
MANAMA — The fervor for change that inspired revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt is now rocking Bahrain. But the uprising in Manama differs from the mass protests that turned out longtime rulers in North Africa. Indeed, sectarian fault lines, together with the security forces' complete fealty to the monarchy, seriously diminish the likelihood of peaceful regime change.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Tokyo issues strong warning on yen intervention as currency dips further
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on the sidelines of IMF and G20 meetings in Washington last week.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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