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April 20, 2024
 

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Marc Champion
For Marc Champion's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Elderly women walk past a building destroyed during a Russian missile attack in the town of Selydove, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on April 14. The West needs to take decisive action to support an out-gunned Ukraine before the situation worsens.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2024
If only the West backed Ukraine as it did Israel
Western leaders need to take decisive action to support an out-gunned Ukraine before the situation worsens.
A direct military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities by the U.S. and its allies would likely only delay its program while risking regional war and increasing the likelihood of Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons in the long run.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2024
Iran hawks want to strike now. They're wrong.
One thing Iran hawks get right, starting with the contention that by attacking Israel directly on Saturday night, Iran changed rules of engagement.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made the decision to launch a missile attack on Israel on Saturday, one that was largely repelled by the latter’s air defense systems. This had the effect of weakening Iran’s position and strengthening Israel’s.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2024
Netanyahu can gain from Iran’s missile barrage error
Having repelled Iran's attack, the Israeli government can rebuild its standing at home and abroad by drawing attention away from its mistakes in Gaza.
The surprising election losses by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party to candidates of the Republican People's Party are signs of hope for democracy and secularism in the country.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024
Turkey’s Erdogan is down, but don’t count him out
The election upset of President Erdogan’s AKP Party is just the start in a long fight for liberal democracy.
A woman pays her respects at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on Friday, a week after a deadly attack by gunmen there killed at least 143 people.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2024
Putin's conspiracy theories make Russians less safe
The Kremlin hopes that blaming Kyiv and the West for the attack will turn a difficult domestic political situation to its advantage.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a church outside Moscow on Sunday, a national day of mourning following the attack on the Crocus City Hall on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2024
Putin forgot Islamic State thinks he too is the West
The leader portrays Russia as a victim of Western imperialism, but the Islamic State terrorists who attacked Moscow on Friday reject this narrative.
With Vladimir Putin's electoral triumph, Russia's democratic facade fades further.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2024
Putin's win isn't just a sham. It's a danger.
Vladimir Putin can now expect at least another six years in office that would make him Russia’s longest-serving leader since Catherine the Great.
Modern advances in the production of missiles and drones such as those used by the Houthis have democratized extremely powerful weapons that until recently were available only to the richest states.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2024
The Houthis school the world in asymmetric warfare
Advances in missile and drone production have democratized extremely powerful weapons that until recently were available only to the richest states
Palestinians carry bags of flour they grabbed from an aid truck in mid February near an Israeli checkpoint as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2024
Getting more aid to Gaza shouldn’t be this difficult
Adding avoidable deaths through hunger and disease in Gaza to an already high fatality toll is good for no one but extremists.
Remember, Vladimir Putin ridiculed the idea that he would invade Ukraine, right up until he ordered close to 200,000 troops over the border.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2024
Would Putin stop if he wins in Ukraine? Let’s not find out.
Just because the Russian leader is a serial liar doesn’t prove he is being untruthful now.
Palestinians help an injured man in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2024
The Gaza war isn't a Holocaust, but it's still a nightmare
There are, sadly, many examples in history of the kind of conflict under way in Gaza, and the Holocaust isn’t one of them.
Alexei Navalny, who Russian authorities say died on Friday, attends a 2019 rally in Moscow with his wife, Yulia Navalnaya (right), in memory of murdered dissident Boris Nemtsov.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2024
Navalny was too brave to be allowed to live
Alexei Navalny never stopped speaking truth to the powers of Russian despotism. His fearlessness was simply too much for the Kremlin to bear.
U.S. television host Tucker Carlson interviews Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in on Feb. 6. Carlson was criticized for failing to challenge the Russian leader on much of what he said.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2024
Putin interview showed why he really invaded Ukraine
Tucker Carlson lobbed questions to help the Russian president serve up his usual string of half-truths and outright falsehoods about the war in Ukraine.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (third from left) visits a navy base in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran. U.S. President Joe Biden is being urged to attack Iran directly, but that may not be the right solution.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2024
Biden’s air strikes won’t work, nor would hitting Iran
Deterrence, especially as it pertains to air strikes, isn’t only about what U.S. does, but also what Iran thinks.
Ukrainian officials inspect a Russian cruise missile shot down near Kyiv in January 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2024
U.S. preeminence is threatened by a real 'missile gap'
The U.S. isn’t just being tested politically. Its military dominance also is in question, partly due to overextension.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing on espionage charges in Moscow on Oct. 10.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2024
Remember the world’s political prisoners. One could be you.
Hostage diplomacy and arbitrary arrests by autocratic governments are a growing threat.
Hamas leader Yehia Sinwar addresses an anti-Israel rally in Gaza City in May 2021.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2023
Can the governments that grew Hamas destroy it?
This is a war in which Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and E.U., need only survive to win.
Palestinians flee northern Gaza on Sunday as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave amid the ongoing conflict. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2023
Where is outrage against Hamas over Gaza’s death toll?
Palestinian deaths weren’t a bug in Hamas' plan but an essential part of it.
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.
Protesters on Thursday held a rally in the Armenian capital Yerevan urging the government to intervene in the Nagorno-Karabakh region after Azerbaijani forces entered the enclave earlier this week.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2023
Azerbaijan may have won the war, but a bigger test begins
The strength of a cease-fire and peace talks over Nagorno-Karabakh will be tested by Azerbaijan's commitment to a true, long-term transition.
No link to Nankai Trough quake seen after temblor in Shikoku
Satoshi Harada from the Meteorological Agency explains about the magnitude 6.6 earthquake during a news conference early Thursday.
Tehran signals no retaliation against Israel after drones attack Iran
A reported strike against Iran by Israel on Friday came against the backdrop of Iran's support for the Palestinian Hamas militant group, whose assault into Israel on Oct. 7 triggered Israel's invasion of Gaza.
In a first, Japan doctors sue Google over negative reviews on firm's map app
One of the lawyers representing a group of doctors suing Google told a news conference that the main purpose of the lawsuit is not to seek compensation but instead to raise awareness over various problems with the Google Maps system.
Former No. 1 Kento Momota retires from international badminton at 29
Badminton star Kento Momota leaves a news conference after announcing his retirement from Japan's national team, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Thousands evacuated as Indonesia volcano erupts
Indonesia's Mount Ruang spews hot lava and smoke as seen from Sitaro, North Sulawesi, on Wednesday.
'House of the Owl' brings Hollywood values to Japanese TV
In the new Disney+ series “House of the Owl,” Min Tanaka (left) plays a powerful political fixer, or “kuromaku,” who has a troubled relationship with his adult children, particularly his idealistic son, played by Mackenyu.
Benefits and risks: AUKUS looks to take gamble on Japan
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British leader Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
Kyoto’s demon night parade lives to haunt another day
In a Kyoto long past, the "hyakki yagyō" (100 demon night parade) haunted a sleepy corner of Kyoto. Now, one enterprising monster enthusiast has won a small batttle to keep the march alive.
U.S. deploys midrange missile system in Indo-Pacific for first time
A U.S. Army Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives as part of the capability’s first deployment into theater on Northern Luzon, Philippines, April 8.
Unpacking the chaotic by-election in a scandal-hit Tokyo district
People listen to a campaign speech in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Tuesday.

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

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on
By Lance Henderstein

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima
Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima

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