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April 24, 2024
 

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Guy Sorman
For Guy Sorman's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2012
Dreams of isolation imperil island populations
The Japanese and the British may seem very different, but a closer look reveals something akin to a parallel destiny for these two island peoples.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2011
France's hard right embraces soft populism
PARIS — The central paradox of French politics was confirmed once again March 27. In a nationwide vote to select local authorities (the so-called Conseiller General), the far-right National Front gained 11 percent of the votes cast, but secured only 0.1 percent of the seats.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2010
Dreaming of a new Edo era
SEOUL — All eyes have shifted to Seoul as Group of 20 leaders convene Thursday and Friday for the first time in the South Korean capital. The choice is long overdue, as South Korea is a remarkable success story: In one generation, the South Koreans, formerly pummeled by civil war, under constant threat from their Northern communist brethren, long mired in poverty, and ruled by military dictators for 40 years, have built the world's 13th largest economy and Asia's most vibrant democracy.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2010
European middle-class entitlements: R.I.P.
PARIS — It is usually easier to see the beginning of something than the end of it. Born in 1945 in postwar Britain, the welfare state met its end in Britain last week when British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne repudiated the concept of the "universal benefit," the idea that everyone, not just the poor, should benefit from social protection.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2010
Internet companies roll over, play dead in defense of liberty
PARIS — All over the world, Internet users entertain romantic delusions about cyberspace. To most of us Web surfers, the Internet provides a false sense of complete freedom, power and anonymity.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2010
EU leaders must face a welfare state crisis
PARIS — In the Western part of Europe — the part that former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld maliciously labeled "Old Europe" — almost every government is in deep political trouble.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2010
It's a Global Century, not an Asian Century
PARIS — It is almost taken for granted nowadays that this is to be the "Asian Century," marking an irreversible political/economic shift in global power from West to East. China has replaced Germany as the world's leading exporter, while South Korea's Korean Electric recently outbid Electricite de France to build three nuclear reactors in Abu Dhabi.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2010
Treason of the magistrates
PARIS — In democracies, justice is supposed to be independent. Some prosecutors and investigating magistrates, however, conveniently forget this. Indeed many among them are deeply enmeshed in politics, pursuing agendas — and vendettas — of their own.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2009
Twilight of France's Republican aristocracy
PARIS — No tumbrels have appeared in Paris' Place de la Concorde, but a revolution may be under way in France nonetheless. Recent weeks have seen the trial of former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and the conviction of former Defense Minister Charles Pasqua.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2009
Japan's harmonious drift
PARIS — Forget what you have heard about the hardworking Japanese salaryman: Since the early 1990s, the Japanese have slackened their work habits.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2008
European left is sidelined by contradictions
PARIS — The riots that have rampaged across Greece may have many causes, but one that is rarely mentioned is the fracturing of the Greek left into George Papandreou's traditional socialist party, PASOK, and an increasingly radicalized faction that refuses all accommodation with either the European Union or modern economics. To varying degrees, this divide is paralyzing socialist parties across Europe.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2008
What exactly is the West?
PARIS — Everyone everywhere has by now heard about the "clash of civilizations." This Samuel Huntington concept has become universal. In the 1950s, French economist Alfred Sauvy had a comparable success with the expression "Third World." One reason these phrases gain wide acceptance is their lack of clear definition. The "clash of civilizations," basically the West against the rest, is supposed to describe the world as it is. In reality, the West is vague enough to include a vast array of areas without describing their unifying characteristics.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Japan’s cannabis market growing rapidly amid regulatory shift
The legality of products that contain cannabinoids, a group of substances derived from the cannabis plant, has been somewhat murky in Japan.
An AI star seeks to bring self-driving cars to Japan by 2030
Japanese startup Turing plans to unveil a self-driving car with at least 30 minutes’ driving range next year and develop a fully autonomous car by 2030.
Tokyo issues strong warning on yen intervention as currency dips further
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on the sidelines of IMF and G20 meetings in Washington last week.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Tsukiji 2030s: A stadium, culinary center and transportation hub
A computer-generated image shows redevelopment plans for the former site of the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.
Hearing the impact of climate change in Okinawa, one bird call at a time
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
Japan’s cannabis market growing rapidly amid regulatory shift
The legality of products that contain cannabinoids, a group of substances derived from the cannabis plant, has been somewhat murky in Japan.

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

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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