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April 28, 2024
 

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Alan Goodall
For Alan Goodall's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2008
Peddling influence with Fiji
SYDNEY — From dazzling the world at the Beijing Olympic Games, China now appears to be turning its attention to the South Pacific. Its chosen beachhead to begin island- hopping is Fiji.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2008
New hope for Aborigines
SYDNEY — The richest man in Australia has come up with the first solid plan to get "lost" Australians off welfare dependence and into dignity-rewarding jobs. It's a breakthrough that has been 200 years in the making.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2008
Australia's pollution problem
SYDNEY — Are we for real in all this talk about saving the world from pollution? Just as Australia announces it will slash carbon emissions, it prepares to flood the world with carbon-belching coal.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2008
Rudd has lots of 'big ideas'
Bring on a republic. That's one clear demand to come out of the biggest talk-fest ever stage-managed in Canberra. And new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is just the leader to bring it on.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2008
Rudd pencils in Tokyo visit
SYDNEY — After much grief in Canberra, Kevin Rudd has set a date to meet with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in Tokyo. True, it's a bit late and the timing comes a poor second to his talks with other world leaders. But at least it's on and tempers may now cool.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2008
Australia's historic apology
SYDNEY — "Sorry," the hardest word in the English language to say, has been said by Australia to its Aborigines — officially, by Parliament in Canberra, in a ceremony screened in every city and set on the record to right the wrongs inflicted on them since white settlement began in 1788.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2008
Inflammatory actions at sea
SYDNEY — "The whale war" is what irate Australians are calling a fierce row over Japan's whaling operations in the Southern Ocean, off Antarctica. Even normally pro-Japan Aussies are saddened at the way whale hunting is lowering respect here for Australia's most favored nation in Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2007
The return of Aussie Labor
SYDNEY — A clean sweep across Australia ensures that old-style conservative government is out for at least the next three years, possibly the next decade. The Australian Labor Party now rules, not only in Canberra but in every state and territory.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2007
Aussies eye painless change
SYDNEY — A conservative coalition that has governed Australia for over a decade under Prime Minister John Howard faces a severe test ahead of next week's national election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2007
Off and running in Australia
SYDNEY — They're off and racing. No sooner has Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced an election date than he is promising a $34 billion tax cut, the biggest in the nation's history.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2007
Reforming Aboriginal affairs
SYDNEY — A rush of reform bills through Parliament, a lockdown in Sydney for an APEC heads-of-state meeting, unseasonal storms sweeping across the whole continent — what's going on in Australia? Surely the signs of an knife-edge national election ahead.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2007
High expectations for APEC meeting
SYDNEY — Ten years after the last Asian financial crisis hit world markets, the leading countries in the region need to work harder to ensure that the next downturn does not descend into a global collapse. Have the region's financial regulators gotten the message?
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2007
A prodigal divides Australia
SYDNEY — The prodigal son has returned from exile in Cuba. After five years of bitter controversy, David Hicks, Australia's gift to world terrorism, is back in hometown Adelaide, South Australia, safely locked away but still dividing a nation's conscience.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2007
Drought dampens Aussie economic boom
SYDNEY -- Weird is the only word for it. In the midst of its biggest-ever economic boom, Australia is drying up. Underground, minerals are being dug up and shipped to Asia at record rates for record prices. Above ground, a drought is so bad that this food-exporting country may not be able to feed itself.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2006
Chaff that sticks to wheat
SYDNEY -- As scandals go in the annals of Australian business, the one over wheat sales to Iraq during the Saddam Hussein regime is huge. And the political fallout, both domestic and international, may prove to be even mightier. It leaves many people here and abroad scratching their heads in amazement.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2006
Soothing the Aussie drought
SYDNEY -- Two old friends and customers, Japan and Australia, have come closer to putting the finishing touches to a historic deal that will firm up one of the world's most successful business partnerships.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2006
Aussies busy battling worst drought ever
SYDNEY -- Summer has struck early, and already it's a vicious one. Half of Australia is suffering its worst drought on record. Oven-hot winds are sweeping fires through tinder-dry bush land toward the major cities. And that's just for starters.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2006
Irwin's enthusiasm survives his passing
SYDNEY -- His death was bizarre -- stabbed through his wet suit by a stingray. Yet the continuing work of Australia's most famous wildlife activist is winning worldwide acclaim in the cause of conservation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2006
Dousing flames in East Timor
SYDNEY -- The need for closer links between Tokyo and Canberra has never been clearer than in recent days: Bloody fighting in East Timor, humanitarian rescue near the Java volcano site, economic basket cases in the South Pacific . . . The case for regional cooperation grows more urgent daily.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2006
Australia's dirty little secret
SYDNEY -- A dirty little secret in Australian society has been exposed, and federal and state governments are maneuvering to clean up the mess or face international condemnation for allegedly allowing the violation of human rights.
New JAL chief concerned about yen’s ‘excessive’ weakness
Mitsuko Tottori became Japan Airlines’ first female CEO on April 1, having risen through the ranks as a flight attendant and heading the flight attendant and customer experience divisions.
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.
Yen inches closer to intervention point as BOJ meeting starts
The rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar is displayed in the trading room at foreign exchange brokerage Gaitame.com in Tokyo on Thursday.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
'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.
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

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

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