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May 14, 2024
 

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William Pesek
For William Pesek's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Jan 20, 2015
The Swiss just made Japan's job more difficult
Bank of Japan head Haruhiko Kuroda's monetary 'bazooka' just got outgunned by the Swiss.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 14, 2015
Why isn't Japan Inc. doing more to help Japan?
If Abenomics is going to succeed, Japanese leaders need to harness the strengths of the private sector they have, not the one they remember.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2015
Koreans need to stay outraged over 'nut-rage'
The Heather Cho kerfuffle — involving 'nut-rage' aboard a Korean Air fligh — offers the South Korean news media a chance to right a political system that has veered off course.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015
It's time for Hong Kong's government to talk
For Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters, 2015 is off to a dismal start. Now that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has cleared the streets, he seems to have lost interest in talking.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2015
Give Kim the Castro treatment
The Obama administration should not reward North Korea's brutal Kim dynasty for its bad behavior. But as in Cuba, openness is more likely to erode the foundations of the North Korean regime than isolation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2015
China needs to embrace 'creative destruction'
As 2015 starts, China's leaders should learn from the experience of Japan in 2014. The travails of 'Abenomics' should be a warning to Chinese President Xi JInping.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2014
Meet Asia's biggest losers in 2014
Warren Buffett wasn't the only bigwig in 2014 to get caught 'swimming naked when the tide rolls out.' The Sage of Omaha shared the year's losers' spotlight with a number of companies, politicians and corporate emperors.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2014
China steps in as the banker to call in a pinch
Thanks to China, Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund, Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank and Takehiko Nakao of the Asian Development Bank may no longer have much meaningful work to do.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2014
Sony has a bigger problem than North Korea
Sony's corporate headquarters seemed to view the hacking drama related to its film 'The Interview,' which lampoons North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as mostly an American problem. The attack exposed a disturbing lack of cyber-preparedness on Sony's part.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 23, 2014
South Korea shows the way on 'womenomics'
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants to put more women to work to help make up for the country's shrinking population. Yet, of the 1,093 people who ran for office in recent snap elections, a mere 169 were women. Abe might want to study neighboring South Korea.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2014
Asia isn't ready for Chinese economic turmoil
As China's first full year of rebalancing draws to close, how has President Xi Jinping done?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 15, 2014
Time to take away the punch bowl in Japan
The BOJ's policies are allowing the government to sidestep its responsibility. That must stop if 'Abenomics' is to come off life support.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2014
Australia looking less prepared for future
As economists debate whether Shinzo Abe can end Japan's long funk, some wonder if another wealthy, seemingly world-beating economy isn't headed for its own lost decade: Australia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 12, 2014
The high costs of Japan's 'Seinfeld election'
By rewarding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a job not even remotely done, voters are giving him a mandate to continue leading Japan down the wrong path.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 10, 2014
Japan needs a real debate about the falling yen
Japan — and the world — deserve a real debate about where the yen is headed
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2014
Japan's media needs to act as a watchdog, not a lapdog
Cozy relationships between Japan's mainstream media and politicians have helped to enable much of the cronyism, irresponsible behavior and policy drift that the prime minister is supposedly trying to eradicate.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 3, 2014
Abe shouldn't make his mentor's mistakes
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should keep in mind why voters backed him to begin with: his apparent decisiveness and determination to challenge old ways of doing things.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2014
Election results show Taiwan needs a reboot
This past weekend Taiwan's voters demonstrated their displeasure over President Ma Ying-jeou's pro-China strategy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 26, 2014
Japan is running out of economic options
The upcoming election vote could well leave Shinzo Abe with a smaller mandate for change than he won in 2012. Whatever the margin, though, the prime minister needs to act faster to increase competitiveness.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 24, 2014
Japan should be more German
Why has the 'Made in Germany' brand thrived over the last 15 or so years, even as 'Made in japan' grinds toward irrelevance?
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Three men rearrested over brokering of overseas prostitution
A woman speaks of her experience of being sent to Macau by an overseas prostitution broker during an interview in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on April 8.
Ex-METI bureaucrat given 10-year sentence for drugging and raping women
The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a former industry ministry bureaucrat to 10 years in prison for drugging six women with sleeping pills and then raping or groping them in 2022.
Money stolen via online transfers up fivefold in Tokyo
Special fraud cases in Tokyo in which stolen money was sent via online banking services grew some fivefold from the previous year in 2023.
How the discovery of a giant sword in Nara offers clues into ancient Japan
Archaeologists say a 1,600-year-old wooden coffin at the Tomio Maruyama tumulus in the city of Nara was kept in good condition probably because it was protected by a layer of clay and copper ions that had seeped out of the mirrors that were buried together.
In a rare event, the Northern Lights show up in Hokkaido
The Northern Lights in Nayoro, Hokkaido, on Saturday
Is black the new green for Japan’s flagging tea farmers?
George Guttridge-Smith brews tea at Kyoto Obubu Tea Farm in Wazuka, Kyoto Prefecture, where he serves as head of international development.
Japan's logistics firms seek partnerships to cope with driver shortage
Japan Post CEO Tetsuya Senda (right) and his Seino Transportation counterpart Satoshi Takahashi announce their companies' agreement on joint long-haul truck operations, in Tokyo on Thursday.
How the discovery of a giant sword in Nara offers clues into ancient Japan
Archaeologists say a 1,600-year-old wooden coffin at the Tomio Maruyama tumulus in the city of Nara was kept in good condition probably because it was protected by a layer of clay and copper ions that had seeped out of the mirrors that were buried together.
Unlike 10 years ago, Japan's new security bill sparks little debate
The Lower House starts discussing a security clearance bill on April 19 in Tokyo.

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

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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