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July 13, 2025
 

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Noah Feldman
U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to punish Harvard by targeting its international students is an unconstitutional power grab aimed at intimidating free institutions and advancing his authoritarian agenda.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2025
Harvard is fighting for much more than foreign students
Trump is trying to break the world’s leading university because he knows that higher education — everywhere — is one of the bulwarks of a free society.
Donald Trump pardoned Jan. 6 participants, while Joe Biden granted clemency to family members and officials to avoid potential prosecutions, highlighting the personalization and politicization of U.S. presidential pardon power.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2025
Trump seriously abused his pardon power. Biden also indulged.
A torrent of U.S. reprieves signals democratic decline and the rise of a monarchical presidency.
Elon Musk’s recent decision to demonetize far-right critics on X has sparked confusion about free speech on social media, with both sides misinterpreting the platform’s role in content distribution and monetization.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2025
Musk and his critics are both wrong about free speech on X
Neither side is using the concept in a constitutionally accurate way.
U.S. President Joe Biden hugs his wife Jill Biden as his children Hunter and Ashely Biden look on during his presidential inauguration in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021.  
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2024
Hunter Biden’s pardon is understandable — but wrong
Who wouldn't try sparing a child from prison? It's still a tragedy for the republic.
An image of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released on social media on Tuesday. Assange pleaded guilty to a single charge of disseminating classified documents in a plea bargain that leaves him a free man.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2024
Julian Assange’s saga will forever exist in a legal gray area
WikiLeaks founder Assange’s case lies on the boundary between espionage and protected speech. Its outcome has done nothing to shed light on this gray zone.
Demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on March 18 as justices hear arguments on whether the government has the right to encourage social media companies to remove content it deems misinformation. 
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2024
It's just fine if public officials block you on social media
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision should reduce the frequency of litigation over social-media blocking. But it won’t eliminate it altogether.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Colorado's attempt to keep Donald Trump off the ballot with an obscure and almost discarded provision that could have determined the outcome of the presidential election.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2024
Supreme Court buries the fantasy of keeping Trump off the ballot
An obscure, almost discarded provision of the U.S. Constitution shouldn’t have the potential to determine the outcome of a presidential election.
The Supreme Court decision on whether Donald Trump should be immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office will likely come in late June, and his trial will start even later.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2024
The Supreme Court isn’t slow-walking Trump’s immunity case
The delay in the trial of former president Trump on his role in the Jan. 6 attack isn't the Supreme Court's fault, but rather the prosecution's.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court unlikely to uphold Colorado ruling disqualifying Trump
The U.S. Supreme Court could overturn the Colorado courts decision, including challenging the state court's authority to keep Trump off the ballot.
Harvard University President Claudine Gay testifies before a United States House of Representatives hearing on antisemitism in American campuses on Dec. 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2023
U.S. campus antisemitism debate muddles nuances of free speech
The debate on antisemitism in U.S. campuses doesn’t lend itself to easy answers. What is free speech and what harmful conduct is down to context.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks Tuesday during a press briefing outside his office on Capitol Hill in which he announces an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Joe Biden with regard to his role in the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2023
Republican impeachment inquiry marks low point in U.S. history
If any president can be impeached without reason, it is likely that every president will be impeached so long as the opposing party controls the House.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2023
Affirmative action is radical U.S. Supreme Court's latest casualty
With U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling, another long-held legal precedent has been overturned and another long-standing conservative goal achieved.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2023
With Trump's federal prosecution, timing is everything
Much hinges on whether former U.S. President Trump, and the current Republican front-runner, is tried and convicted before or after his election.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2022
Jan. 6 committee is right to defend the rule of law
It would have been a dereliction of the U.S. Congress's duty to ignore an attempted insurrection.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2022
Three major takeaways from the FBI raid on Trump’s home
Don't assume that executing a search warrant means the federal government will prosecute Donald Trump. Getting a conviction would seem to be very tricky.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2022
U.S. Supreme Court has taken control of climate policy
The top court's EPA decision upends precedent and, in effect, embraces a new doctrine of law.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2022
Ending Roe is institutional suicide for U.S. Supreme Court
Dobbs will go down as one of the worst decisions in the court's history after reversing rights on which the whole country has relied for half a century.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2021
Roe v. Wade in jeopardy if current arguments before top court are anything to go by
The court could hold that, properly interpreted, Roe allows states to restrict abortion at some point — so long as they allow women 'enough time” to end their pregnancies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2021
Florida’s new social media law violates the first amendment
The key provision of the Florida law states that 'a social media platform may not willfully deplatform a candidate for office” — and imposes a $250,000 per day fine for violations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2021
Psychedelic drugs will follow pot’s path to legalization
What distinguishes the movement to legalize psychedelics is that it is substantially more elite than the movement surrounding pot, a drug that crosses economic and cultural lines.
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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