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May 01, 2024
 

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Noah Smith
For Noah Smith's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Commentary
Nov 11, 2019
Four-day workweek could be just what Japan needs
In the sitcom "The Office," a bumbling manager spends much of his time distracting the hapless employees of a paper company's local sales branch. Somehow, despite all the antics that seem to interfere with getting anything done, the branch consistently manages to be the company's most profitable. Though that must have seemed laughably unrealistic to many fans of the show, it turns out to have some basis in reality.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2019
Japan's labor market is still rigged against women
Despite a push from the government, hiring and promotions work in favor of old men and against women.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2019
South Korea foreshadows global slowdown
With countries such as South Korea leading the way, a new age of slow growth and increased dependency burdens is in the offing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2019
Japan is cool but has no clue about selling itself
The country is still struggling to make money off of its worldwide cultural cachet
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2019
Japan begins immigration experiment
As the population ages and shrinks, the country is making it easier for foreigners to work and become citizens.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 15, 2019
As Heisei ends, Japan is getting a lot of things right
The country, once a symbol of economic malaise, has made up for its lost decade.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2019
Amazon's winner-take-all approach to small businesses
If small businesses are to survive in the digital age, the online economy can't be allowed to be winner-take-all.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2018
How Beijing risks trashing its amazing growth story
There already are some signs that the country is making mistakes that will hobble economic growth.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2018
Japan-U.S. trade war holds clues to China spat
If Trump revisited that '80s battle he wouldn't find the big win he's looking for today.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 14, 2018
Why Japan needs criminal justice reform
Carlos Ghosn's arrest is a reminder that the nation's legal system is designed to coerce confessions, not maintain rule of law.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2018
Scientists spend too much time on the old
Spending billions on a huge particle collider won't give us the breakthrough discoveries we need.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2018
U.S. taxpayers count the cost of Foxconn's artful deal in Wisconsin
Whatever Americans were hoping for when they elected Donald Trump president in 2016, it's a fair bet that it didn't include shoveling billions of dollars of American taxpayer money to foreign companies to build white-elephant factories.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2018
A Nobel reminder of why research matters so much
Co-winner of the 2018 economics Nobel Prize, Paul Romer shows how new discoveries create a virtuous cycle of growth.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 25, 2018
How Abe should spend the next three years
The country still needs to reform its labor market, deal with an aging population and press for gender equality.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2018
Economists gear up to challenge the monopolies
Excessive market concentration lets companies take a bigger slice of the pie at the expense of workers.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2018
Why is the U.S. in the middle of an economic boom?
There are plenty of theories, but no definitive answers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2018
Should shareholders always come first?
Elizabeth Warren wants to make companies also consider workers, customers and local communities.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 27, 2018
Japan's baby bust is an opening for experimentation
When nothing works, it's time to go try something bold and unconventional.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2018
Japan is going global as America looks inward
A new book explores how the country can be a bigger player on the world stage.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2018
Trump is fighting the wrong kind of trade wars
Aside from China, the U.S. president is aiming his fire in the wrong direction.
'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.
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
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.
Golden Week crowds greeted with high temperatures as holiday period kicks off
The departure lobby for domestic flights is crowded with travelers at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Saturday, the first day of this year's Golden Week holidays.
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

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