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April 29, 2024
 

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Dominique Moisi
For Dominique Moisi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2008
Mixing sports and politics
PARIS — "Do not mix sports and politics!" That defiant cry from China's rulers to the threat of a boycott of this summer's Beijing Olympic Games does not stand the test of reality. Sport and politics have always been closely linked.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2007
Barack Obama's American revolution
WARSAW — For eight years, U.S. President George W. Bush has managed to incarnate and reinforce all the prejudices and negative stereotypes the world has of the United States. He has antagonized the world more than any other American president before him, seriously damaging America's "soft" power by inefficient and excessive use of its "hard" power.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2007
Danger in distorted views of terrorism
WARSAW — A distorted view of the present is the worst way to prepare for the challenges of the future. To describe the struggle against international terrorism as "World War IV," as the leading American neoconservative Norman Podhoretz does in his new book, is wrongheaded in any number of ways.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2007
The trouble with Poland
WARSAW — "We are only demanding one thing, that we get back what was taken from us. If Poland had not had to live through the years 1939-1945, it would be a country of 66 million." Thus spoke Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski on the eve of the last European Union summit, when he sought to gain greater voting weight for his country within the EU by invoking the memory of Hitler's war against Poland.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2007
China, Russia in the new world disorder
WARSAW — Can Kosovo achieve independence from Serbia without the tacit consent of Russia, and can there be a humanitarian and political solution to the tragedy in Darfur without the active good will of China? The two crises have nothing in common, but their resolution will depend in large part on whether these two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council use their veto power.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2007
France embarks on the right revolution
WARSAW — Is France about to exchange the fake revolution of May 1968 for a sham counter-revolution this year, or have the French given Nicolas Sarkozy a mandate for real change to modernize their country?
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2007
Sarkozy vs. Segolene at last
WARSAW -- The surprise in the first round of the French presidential election was that there was no surprise, except for the huge level of voter turnout. The two leaders of the right and of the left, the favorites in all the polls for a long time, came first and second.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2007
From out of the shadows steps France's 'third man'
WARSAW -- The French presidential election is a great "show" with all the ingredients of a Hollywood blockbuster, including a surprising plot twist: the emergence of a "third man," Francois Bayrou.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2007
Rise and fall of France's Segolene Royal
WARSAW -- Two months ago, Paris' political insiders were unanimous: The presidential race was still open, but Segolene Royal was clearly the favorite. Today, the reverse seems true. While the race is not over, Nicolas Sarkozy has emerged as the consistent favorite in the polls, as well as of those who declared "him" nearly defeated in early December. The new consensus can be described as follows: Royal cannot defeat Sarkozy, but Sarkozy can defeat himself.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2007
Europe's distant mirror?
PRAGUE -- It is tempting for Europeans to project their own history onto Asia and to view current developments there as a mere repetition, if not an imitation, of what occurred in Europe. In fact, Asians encourage this temptation, with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) openly aiming to become increasingly like the European Union.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2006
America's unipolar moment has ended
WARSAW -- Listen carefully these days to Israelis and South Koreans. What they are hinting at is no less than a tectonic shift in the international system: the shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2006
May the least undesirable candidate win
WARSAW -- The late British Prime Minister Harold Wilson used to quip that "a week is a long time in politics." In the 30 or so weeks between now and the next French presidential election, any prediction made today could be reversed, and reversed again, before the vote.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2006
Reconciling with wounded minorities
WARSAW -- In France, May 10 is a day to commemorate the abolition of slavery. Jan. 27 is the day we remember the Holocaust, through the commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2006
Seeing Europe as a museum
WARSAW -- In the late 19th century, Europe viewed Asia mainly as either a source of inspiration for its artists or a focus of imperial ambition. Asians, for their part, viewed Europe as either a model of modernity, as in Meiji Japan, or a barometer of decay, as in China.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2006
Emotional clash of cultures
WARSAW -- Throughout the so-called war on terror, the notion of a "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West has usually been dismissed as politically incorrect and intellectually wrongheaded. Instead, the most common interpretation has been that the world has entered a new era characterized by conflict "within" a particular civilization, namely Islam, with fundamentalist Muslims as much at war against moderates as against the West.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Putin’s war will soon reach Russians’ tax bills
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting in St. Petersburg on Friday.
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.
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.
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.

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

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

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