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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
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 23, 2017
Private equity will do a lot of good for Japan Inc.
Private equity has the potential to shake up Japan's cozy, stagnant corporate world, and in the process help revive it from its long productivity slump.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 17, 2017
For the sake of productivity, put a woman in charge
A shift from long hours to efficient, goal-oriented work is exactly the right medicine for white-collar Japan
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 9, 2017
Japan buries cherished economic ideas
Japan's experience underscores a disturbing truth: Economists really have no idea how inflation works.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2017
Workers have made modern Germany great
The German economy is going great guns thanks to high exports and strong unions.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2017
Dream of cheap, clean nuclear power is over
Far from the dream technology envisioned in the old science fiction novels, nuclear power has become a huge, risky government-subsidized boondoggle.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 7, 2017
Japan tries to break away from workaholism
Putting in long hours might convince your boss that you're a diligent employee, but after a point it becomes self-defeating.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2016
The connection between work and dignity
Jobs provide more than just money.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2016
Asia's economic rise pulling Americans west
The U.S. is in the process of transforming from a trans-Atlantic economy to a trans-Pacific one.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2016
Don't assume that humans can't be replaced
Machines have never replaced humans before, but there is no reason why the future will look like the past.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2016
Being an ideologue means you're always right
Despite the protests of committed free-marketers, the U.S. public is ready to embrace alternatives to neoliberalism.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2016
Statistics belie Trump's claim of a crime wave
Donald Trump's dark, frightening rhetoric about crime in America is many years out of date.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2016
TPP is much more than just a free trade pact
As a trade accord, the TPP isn't a game-changer, but it's an important way to preserve the strength and unity of the U.S.' democratic allies in Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 2, 2016
Japan's rising poverty defies glib explanations
Japan defies the usual stories for the causes of poverty, especially regarding the increase in the percentage of poor people since the 1980s.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2016
Economic profession builds a Tower of Babel
Jargon is creating a growing disconnect between what economists really believe and what the public thinks they believe.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 14, 2016
The economics lab where theories go to die
Most macroeconomic theories can be easily tested: all we have to do is take a look at Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 9, 2016
Picking up where Abenomics policies left off
Given a shrinking population, a slowing China, sexism and an inefficient corporate system and labor market, Japan is going to have a rocky road ahead no matter what it does.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2016
Trump has a point about American decline
The U.S. may not be able to reverse its decline, but there are steps that can halt it before it gets worse.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 7, 2016
Corporate Japan needs to do more than apologize
To stop the endless incidents of fraud and corruption, Japan should improve corporate governance, increase press freedom and reduce reliance on dynasties for leadership.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2016
'China shock' for U.S. workers was avoidable
What policy steps could the U.S. and other industrialized countries have taken to blunt the worst effects of free trade with China?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2016
Free trade with China wasn't a great idea for U.S.
Free trade with China has caused severe and permanent harm to many American workers.
'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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima
Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima

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