author

 
Menu
Search
 
May 03, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Gregory Clark
Gregory Clark has been around a long time (born 1936) and has done a lot of things. As a result, he likes to comment on foreign affairs, economic policies and education plus events in China, Russia, Japan and Latin America (he speaks all four languages).
For Gregory Clark's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY
Jul 1, 2011
Black info and media gullibility: creation of the Tiananmen myth
The recent WikiLeaks release of cables from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing has helped finally to kill the myth of an alleged massacre in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on the night of June 3-4, 1989.
COMMENTARY
Jun 3, 2011
The Fukushima disaster and Japan Disincorporated
The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant disaster is being used to convince the world that nuclear energy generation is inherently dangerous, especially in earthquake-prone Japan.
COMMENTARY
Apr 20, 2011
Between Japan and China
The visit to Japan by Australia's Labor Party prime minister, Julia Gillard, reminds us that Australian foreign policy has never been known for its consistency.
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2011
Nuclear meltdowns and Japanese culture
Japanese engineers have a much deserved reputation for efficiency. How else could they have created a car industry that could defeat the U.S industry on its home ground? But the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant suggests a partial rethink is needed. When it comes to nuclear affairs, maybe they are not as brilliant as they should be.
COMMENTARY
Mar 1, 2011
Wrong choice in Kosovo
A recent Council of Europe report says that during and after the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict, militia leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) tortured and killed hundreds of Serbs and political rivals in secret Albanian hideouts, removed their organs for sale and dumped their bodies in local rivers.
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2011
A contrarian view of how 'austerity' bleeds Japan
With the Standard and Poor's downgrading of Japan's long-term credit rating from AA to AA minus, the focus even more is on how the economy can get out of its current deflationary quagmire.
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2010
The N. Korea conundrum
North Korea bombards the South Korean held island of Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea, killing and wounding a number of people there. The hawks call for the strongest possible response. The pundits warn of another Korean War.
COMMENTARY
Nov 10, 2010
Revenge, Australian style
Australia at times does some contradictory things in its foreign affairs. It says it seeks a global role, yet it recently dismissed a prime minister, Kevin Rudd, partly because he had been too prominent in seeking a global role. It says it is proud of its role in creating the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and of its close relations with China. But in its 1970s origins, APEC was an anti-China concept designed to have Japan look toward the Pacific nations and away from both China and Russia.
COMMENTARY
Oct 28, 2010
Should the U.S. be worried as Latin America prospers?
Behind the excitement in the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners buried 623 meters underground for 69 days lies a mystery.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2010
Japan vs. China: What makes societies succeed?
A namesake — a U.S. economics professor also called Gregory Clark — has caused waves with a theory that says the 18th century U.K. Industrial Revolution was due to heredity creating superior genes.
COMMENTARY
Aug 17, 2010
Saving Japan's universities
The consensus says Japanese university students are lazy and apathetic. Unfavorable comparisons are made with Chinese studying here. Yet those same students at their annual autumn festivals can show an enthusiasm, professionalism and attention to detail superior to anything at a Western university, or a Chinese university for that matter.
COMMENTARY
Jul 6, 2010
'A tall poppy is cut down'; Gillard could bloom awhile
Strange things happen to Australian prime ministers. One (Harold Holt, 1966-67) disappeared while swimming near a Melbourne beach; speculation says he may have been eaten by a shark.
COMMENTARY
Jun 25, 2010
Western media play along in the disinformation game
Are they being manipulated by governments? Or, are they just plain lazy, happy to go along with what everyone else is saying and what readers want to believe without wanting to look too closely into relevant background?
COMMENTARY
Apr 29, 2010
Media vultures circle P.M.
In Brazil they tell the story of the small-town TV crime reporter who gained fame and scoops by arranging crimes himself. He could then rush out and interview the victims well before rivals. But eventually his scoops caught up with him and he ended up in jail.
COMMENTARY
Apr 5, 2010
No fast-track education in Japan
It's back to school in Japan, and back to the perennial questions:
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2010
U.S. base problem drags on
The loud dispute over the future of the U.S. Marine Air Station at Futenma, Okinawa, is puzzling. Even U.S. officialdom agrees that this base causes enormous inconvenience to the residents of Ginowan city who are forced to live alongside. Plans to have it moved have been around for years. But to where?
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2010
Fault lines in the Sino-Indian frontier dispute
"Quand la chine s'reveillera, le monde tremblera" (When China wakes, the world will tremble), Napoleon said while in exile at St. Helena.
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2009
Economy chasing its tail
The Japanese have a saying — "sandome no shoujiki." Roughly translated it means that "after getting it wrong twice you finally get it right the third time."
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2009
Time to get tough on China
It's time to start getting tough on Beijing.
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2009
APEC remains toothless
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping will hold its annual summit meeting in Singapore this weekend, with the leaders of its 21 member-nations expected to attend. But do we really need yet another high-level global talk-fest?
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
'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.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle
Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER