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April 28, 2024
 

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Gautaman Bhaskaran
For Gautaman Bhaskaran's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2008
Pakistan set to lift its ban on Bollywood
MADRAS, India — Cinema is a powerful weapon, though it is often called soft power. Men like Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and Germany's Adolf Hitler understood the awesome might of movies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2008
Newly democratic Bhutan in a tight spot
MADRAS, India — Bhutan is now a democracy. Its transition from a monarchy to a democracy has been smooth. The tiny country, where Buddhism is the state religion, has been applauded by the world for changing with the times, and not waiting to be pushed like Pakistan, which has stubbornly refused to adopt democratic ideals despite enormous pressure from the United States.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2007
Blood diamonds maintain their cover
MADRAS — Living in India, I grew up with diamonds. The most precious of stones are still an integral part of the Indian lifestyle. They are used every day, including for ceremonial purposes.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2007
U.S. influence behind Bhutto's return
MADRAS, India — One of America's playing fields has been Pakistan, and since 9/11 this small Islamic nation has been truly under the grip of Washington. U.S. President George W. Bush roped in Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to counter terror in adjoining Afghanistan and, in return, doled out aid and arms. But now Musharraf's use appears to be on the wane. Afghanistan is under a U.S.-friendly regime headed by Hamid Karzai as American soldiers remain in Iraq long after the execution of Saddam Hussein.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2007
Holding hands within the limits of decency
MADRAS, India — The perception of sex and morality is once again creating problems in India.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2007
Indian women who never had a chance
MADRAS, India — India may be the land where the Buddha preached nonviolence, and Mahatma Gandhi practiced it to perfection, but the country's "womb murders" are a horrible reality.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2007
Pollution fouling a legacy of eternal love
MADRAS, India — The Taj Mahal has always been considered a wonder. As India's best known monument, this white-marble icon is now ranked among the "New Seven Wonders of the World," along with the Great Wall of China and Rome's Colosseum.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2007
Lions and tigers and the foibles of men
MADRAS, India — The Chinese now appear to be turning to Indian lions since a terrifying number of tigers have been killed for their body parts, which are sold to make medicines and even aphrodisiacs.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2007
Dalai Lama's shattered dream for Tibet
MADRAS — Tibet looks like a dream shattered. You feel this when you hear the stories of horror told and retold by Buddhist monks and nuns who have escaped from Tibet and taken refuge in Dharamshala, the center of the Dalai Lama's government in exile in India.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2007
Cotton prices wrecking Indian farmers
MADRAS, India -- The western Indian state of Maharashtra, whose capital is the nation's financial capital Bombay, has made great strides in lifting cotton production. Land dedicated to growing cotton increased from 92,000 hectares in 2003 to 480,000 hectares in 2004, according to government sources.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2006
Nuclear deal details worry Indian public
MADRAS, India -- The U.S. Congress has finally given its approval to a landmark law that allows the export of U.S. civilian nuclear fuel and technology to India for the first time in more than 30 years.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2006
Islamic extremism threatens Bangladesh
MADRAS, India -- Bangladesh is the latest South Asian flash point where democracy stands threatened. Bloody street battles between two rival political parties -- led by two women who hate each other -- and other violence have swept the small country northwest of India in recent weeks. The military is now on the streets of major cities and towns.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2006
India-American nuclear deal foundering
MADRAS -- The Indian-American nuclear deal signed in New Delhi in March seems to be foundering. The pact, which would give India access to American civil nuclear technology, must be approved by the U.S. Congress before it can become law.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2006
India's song of freedom creates a divide
MADRAS, India -- India has a national song, and a national anthem. The first, "Vande Mataram (Salute to the Mother)," signified the cry for freedom from British brutality. The song pushed the nation into a nationalistic frenzy that often caused fear and panic among the occupying British forces. The first two words of the song had such power to incite men and women that the British at one point banned the song and arrested anybody found singing it.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2006
A.Q. Khan remains a hero in Pakistan
MADRAS, India -- If there is one man who can be held singularly responsible for nuclear proliferation, it has to be Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb. Khan was a metallurgist before he became a nuclear businessman. That's what he was: He ran a "Nuclear Wal-Mart," according to a new book about him.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2006
U.S.-India nuclear deal sets bad example
MADRAS, India -- The India-U.S. deal to cooperate in civil nuclear energy signed in New Delhi in March now appears set to be approved by the U.S. Congress. This will end India's nuclear isolation, which began in 1998 when the country first tested nuclear weapons.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2006
Bombings demonstrate what Bombay is made of
MADRAS, India -- A day after maximum terror struck India's financial capital, Bombay, the city of 17 million people was back on its feet. Even London took four days after last July's explosions to get over the shock and trauma.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2006
Runup to war in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO -- My plane lands smoothly at Colombo's plush Bandaranaike International Airport, but beyond the runway lies the turbulence of ethnic strife that for 20 years has ravaged this hauntingly picturesque island nation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2006
Intolerance to the arts is growing in India
MADRAS, India -- The recent anger against director Ron Howard's latest film, "The Da Vinci Code," reminds us that intolerance against artistic freedom is growing in a world that we thought was past caring about such issues.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2006
Tibetans' next hope after Dalai Lama
MADRAS, India -- Railway lines fulfill dreams -- at least in modern times. But the one about to link central Tibet with China threatens to dash hopes.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
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.
'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.
Air China to buy 100 locally made C919 jets in $11 billion deal
A Comac C919 during an aerial display at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore in February
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Top U.S. and China diplomats talk tough amid warnings of new ‘downward spiral’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.

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

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass
Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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