author

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Brad Glosserman

Meta

Brad Glosserman
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends the EU-Japan summit in Brussels in July 2023. Economic cooperation between the EU, Japan and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is showing promise but faces political and structural hurdles that could limit progress.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2025
EU-CPTPP talks highlight shared goals and stubborn obstacles
EU economic cooperation with Japan and the CPTPP shows promise but could face political and structural hurdles that limit progress.
This digital visualization shows the small modular nuclear reactor being developed by Rolls-Royce SMR, which is set to be the first in the U.K. A widely cited IEA report says global data center electricity demand will more than double by 2030 to 945 TWh — more than Japan’s current total usage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2025
Data centers and small reactors could change Asia’s nuclear dynamic
An estimated 402.74 million terabytes of data are created each day and storing and processing all that information creates virtual volcanoes.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects nuclear warheads at an undisclosed location. Events in Iran are likely to reinforce Pyongyang's belief that nuclear weapons ensure regime survival, with Pakistan and Libya providing lessons on how to get them and why giving them up can be fatal.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2025
Kim Jong Un’s nuclear lessons should trouble the rest of us
Operation Rising Lion has reaffirmed the belief that nuclear weapons are essential to protect a nation from attack.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s reversal on the Nippon Steel deal creates a "win-win-win-win" situation benefiting both companies, the U.S. economy, and the Japan-U.S. alliance, but the golden share raises concerns about increased government control.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 17, 2025
Nippon Steel deal signals a win for the U.S. economy and Japan alliance
Last week, Trump lifted the Biden block, saying that the acquisition could go forward if the two companies signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government.
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor undergoes testing at an undisclosed location. The Trump administration’s ambitious “Golden Dome” missile defense plan revives Reagan-era dreams of a high-tech shield but faces immense technical, financial and geopolitical hurdles. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2025
Golden Dome is a glittering gamble — and a likely mistake
Trump’s EO outlined an MD system that would use a network of hundreds of satellites to detect, track and intercept incoming missiles “to protect our homeland.”
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani meets with his U.S. counterpart, Pete Hegseth, at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 3, 2025
Why Japan isn’t panicking about Trump’s foreign policy
Hegseth’s SLD speech is the first extended statement about U.S. policy and it checked all the boxes.
AI hallucinations — when generative models fabricate information — are becoming more frequent, harder to detect and increasingly dangerous as we embed the technology deeper into society.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2025
AI hallucinations? What could go wrong?
The notion that we can’t ensure that AI will produce accurate information is, uh, “disturbing” if we intend to integrate that product so deeply into our daily lives.
China’s Made in China 2025 program set an ambitious agenda, and a decade later, initial assessments conclude it had mixed success but maintain its goals will shape Chinese policy for years to come.
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2025
Ten years of Made in China 2025 sees mixed success
MIC2025 set an ambitious agenda, and a decade later, early reviews say it has had mixed success but maintain that its goals will shape Chinese policy for years to come.
Shinzo Abe, then the Chief Cabinet Secretary, shakes hands with former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage during a symposium in Tokyo in July 2006.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 9, 2025
Remembering two titans in Japan-U.S. relations
Their good humor, unflagging optimism and commitment to building a stronger Japan-U.S. alliance continues to shape that partnership.
The Trump administration has launched a full-scale federal "plastic patriotism" effort to eliminate paper straws, arguing they are ineffective, hazardous, more expensive and become soggy.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2025
A world restored: The U.S. takes the offensive against paper straws
The Trump team has issued an executive order and a national strategy to rid the country of the pulpy, soggy mess of paper straws that torments too many of America's citizens.
Japan's proposed "one-theater" defense strategy, linking the East China Sea, South China Sea and Korean Peninsula has raised concerns, particularly in South Korea, about its implications for regional security.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 30, 2025
Japan’s ‘one-theater’ defense concept rattles South Korea
Continuing expansion of SDF roles and missions is consistent with adoption of the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" construct that guides Japanese security policy.
Tiangong Ultra, a humanoid robot, crosses the finish line after securing the first position during the E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2025
All hail the rise of the humanoid robots
Robotics is another of the critical emerging technologies, mastery of which will be central to 21st-century economic leadership.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hold a news conference at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7. Tokyo's focus on economic strength to promote security contrasts with Washington's current era of unpredictability.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 15, 2025
For real national security, try a Japanese perspective
Genuine national security starts from a strong economy, one that provides for its citizens, incentivizes growth, production and wealth, and invites foreign participation.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2025
A conversation of the deaf after Trump’s tariffs
Trump likes win-win scenarios, but his version is different from those of his trade partners.
DOGE, the U.S. government reform project, embodies America's brash, fast-paced approach to change, while Japan’s cultural norms emphasize slower, more deliberate decision-making rooted in consensus.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2025
The DOGE solution? 'No thanks,' says Japan, with reason
I can’t imagine a DOGE-like beast in Japan. No one can. It is utterly alien to every tradition, precedent or cultural inclination in this country.
Increased reliance on AI and digital technology is weakening cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving, as people depend more on machines for tasks that once required mental effort.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2025
‘Use it or lose it’ — a grim mantra for the AI age
In sum, “excessive dependence on AI without concurrent cultivation of fundamental cognitive skills may lead to underutilization and subsequent loss of cognitive abilities.”
The evolving national security landscape demands a shift in focus from traditional military power to economic resilience, technological leadership and the growing risks posed by both adversaries and allies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2025
Trump's actions and the ‘new national security economy’
Soft power is poorly understood and it is no substitute for situations when brute force is required, but it has genuine influence in subtle ways.
Many in Japan are increasingly concerned that under the Trump administration's shifting policies, the U.S. may no longer be a reliable ally, raising fears of a weakened security partnership amid rising threats from China and Russia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 11, 2025
Japan reels from — and steels for — U.S. policy shifts
“What Japan has learned from the Ukraine war is that the era where we could rely entirely on the U.S. is over.”
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with Russia's President Vladimir Putin after the Group of 20 Summit in Osaka in June 2019. Putin managed to pocket every concession made by Abe over the years and demanded more.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2025
Abe’s Russia outreach flopped — Trump should take note
Supporters of Trump’s policy argue that China is the bigger threat and the U.S. should steer Moscow away from Beijing.
Amid rising global defense spending, U.S. President Donald Trump's push for 5% of GDP on military budgets poses a challenge for American allies, including Japan, which is already struggling to meet its 2% target.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2025
U.S. defense spending demands could transform global security
The level of spending the U.S. is demanding could spark an arms race as adversaries try to match NATO and America's Asian allies.
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.
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.
Air India crash report to offer peek into last seconds
Members of the Indian Army's engineering arm prepare to remove the wreckage of an Air India aircraft in Ahmedabad on June 14.
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.
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.
NGOs condemn rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of Upper House vote
Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya holds a board that reads "Japanese First" in Tokyo on July 2. In a joint statement on Tuesday, eight human rights nongovernmental organizations described the far-right party's stance as "hate speech."
Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet
“Giselle” lead Yuriko Kajiya (center), performing with Connor Walsh as Albrecht, is one of six Japanese dancers at Houston Ballet.
From the Abes to the Ohtanis: How siblings shape athletic development
Olympic judoka Uta Abe (second from left) and Hifumi Abe (second from right) with their brother Yuichiro (center) and their parents. “I’m always consciously trying to be a good older brother,” Yuichiro said.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER