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July 13, 2025
 

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Eli Lake
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2021
The U.S. has no Plan B on Iranian nukes. Israel does.
Even though Iran is now capable of enriching uranium to a high enough concentration for weapons, Israel has degraded its ability to place that fuel in warheads.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2021
Can America learn from its defeat in Afghanistan?
The value of an independent commission to examine the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal is that it would offer some insulation from the daily pressures of Washington politics.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2021
The curious case of the Balkan war criminals
International tribunals are largely ceremonial until leaders who commit war crimes are ousted, or their armies defeated.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2021
Kick Russia out of the Iran nuclear talks
Zarif says that Russia 'put all its weight” against the deal because, as the Times dryly explains, 'it was not in Moscow's interests for Iran to normalize relations with the West.”
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2021
Biden offers false hope to sell his Afghanistan surrender
The Taliban announced it will not participate in peace talks in Turkey. That means the U.S. will be leaving Afghanistan's government to fend for itself in the midst of a civil war.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2021
What America has learned from Iranian social media
The U.S. State Department's new approach treated social media as a channel to learn what Iranians thought about both their own regime and U.S. policy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2020
Progressives may not like Biden’s foreign policy
Biden has signaled that his national security cabinet will be more centrist than the left flank of his party would like.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2020
Trump’s Afghan troop withdrawal puts Biden in a jam
Avoiding calamity is not the same as wise statecraft. Trump's final military act is reckless, particularly in Afghanistan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2020
Russia is using the media to wage war in Belarus. Sound familiar?
Vladimir Putin is trying to convey the impression that he is just a concerned neighbor in the Belarusian crisis.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2020
Would a new Iran deal be tougher than the one Trump left?
A president desperate for a win isn't always in the best position to negotiate.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2020
The war on terror survives Rand Paul’s attempt to end it
Yet the U.S. senator from Kentucky is right to point out that Congress is abdicating its responsibility.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2020
Trump unmasks Obama administration’s unmaskers
The Trump administration's attempt to explain what happened to Michael Flynn isn't very revealing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2020
Keep a tight rein on virus-tracking tools
Tools that democracies need to fight a pandemic are not appropriate when it's over.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2020
Why the Taliban is celebrating Trump's peace plan
The agreement does not require the terrorist group to recognize Afghanistan's legitimately elected government.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2020
Why would Trump offer a pardon to Julian Assange?
Assange had already said that Russia was not responsible for the hacked emails about the 2016 election.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2020
The world's hypocrisy about Israel's occupation of the West Bank
Jewish settlements are not the primary obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2020
Johnson is jeopardizing the U.S.-U.K. alliance for Huawei
Allowing the Chinese firm on British networks will have long-term implications,
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2019
How the Kurds helped in the hunt for al-Baghdadi
Now what they want is Washington's support in their negotiations with Damascus.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2019
Why Trump relishes the upcoming impeachment battle
The U.S. president is lucky that his would-be impeachers have their own credibility issues.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 11, 2019
With John Bolton out, Trump can now go soft on Iran
President Donald Trump's decision to part ways with his national security adviser, John Bolton, was overdetermined. They disagreed on Afghanistan. They differed on North Korea. There was tension between them over Venezuela. They couldn't even agree on whether Bolton quit or was fired.
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’
After nearly shuttering earlier this year, the Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society continues its work to save the early history of Japanese gaming.
Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary
The museum's curators selected a wide array of works from the archives for the milestone exhibitions. Among other photos, Nobuyoshi Araki's work from the series "Winter Journey" (1990) was included in the "Continuity and Change" exhibition that concluded in June.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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