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April 19, 2024
 

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Ruth Pollard
For Ruth Pollard's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Telecoms giant KDDI plans with Mitsubishi to take convenience store operator Lawson private could help it as it currently stands behind FamilyMart and Seven & I Holdings in a three-horse race.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2024
There are clouds on the horizon in Japan’s 'conbini-land'
Industry consolidation has pushed minor players out of the conbini game.
Mourners at a funeral on Nov. 19 carry the body of a Palestinian shot dead earlier during a raid by Israeli forces on a refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2023
While Gaza burns, the West Bank is at a boiling point
Mideast violence spreads beyond Gaza into the West Bank causing the U.S. to take a stand against extremist Israeli settlers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2023
Just how dangerous are India’s generic drugs? Very.
The red flags for Indian drugs have been there for years. The world deserves much better than contaminated medicine and children poisoned by cough syrup.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 27, 2022
Shinzo Abe’s funeral furor is Japan’s most unedifying debate
Partisan bickering over Shinzo Abe's state memorial was an embarrassment for the nation on the world stage.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2022
India’s heatwaves are testing the limits of human survival
Each summer in India is a fresh roll of the dice on whether a freak event will occur that leads to a vast number of deaths.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2022
Rape: The war crime that goes mostly unpunished
What's happening in Ukraine is one of the worst large-scale campaigns of sexual violence in war since Islamic State's attacks on the Yezidi minority in Iraq in 2014.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 20, 2022
The West forgot about the Pacific Islands. China didn’t.
A crucial World War II battle was fought in the Solomons. It's now the focus of the latest Pacific power struggle.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2022
Is the civilian resistance tipping the balance in Myanmar?
'Myanmar has been in a state of civil war for a long time, but until now it has been limited to certain territories and ethnic regions. Now, even the Bamar heartland is in conflict.”
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2022
The second drone age is here and it’s a free-for-all
Drones have opened the door to weaponized artificial intelligence, algorithmic and robotic warfare and loosened human control over the deployment of lethal force.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2022
Djokovic debacle exposes Australia’s xenophobic policies
The furor over Novak Djokovic's COVID-19-related detention has brought to global attention the nation's strict immigration policies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2021
Out of Texas, a cowboy solution to an Afghan crisis
The informal currency swap will prop up a small part of the Afghan economy but certainly won't be enough to prevent the country from slipping into full-blown famine this winter.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2021
Diplomats dither while millions of people starve
Afghans are trapped between a radical Islamist group and a global community apparently content to sit back and let their aid-dependent country plunge into crisis.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2021
Starvation is as much a threat to Afghan women as the Taliban
In an aid-dependent economy already in deep trouble, the removal of tens of thousands female workers, many supporting large families, will only add to those facing hunger.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2021
The coming carnage between the Taliban and their jihadist rivals
IS has argued that the Taliban's actions weren't so much a conquest as a takeover coordinated with the U.S. and that its violent path to victory over the West is the right way.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2021
The world told Afghan women it had their backs — it doesn’t
More women and children were killed and wounded in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 than in the first six months of any year since records began in 2009.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 18, 2021
‘Entire families’ wiped out as COVID-19 ravages rural India
As leaders in Delhi struggle to contain the crisis, horrifying scenes are playing out across the country.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 28, 2021
‘It’s like a war’: Inside an India hospital desperate for oxygen
The world's fastest-growing virus surge now threatens to spawn new variants that undermine efforts in more developed countries to vaccinate the public and get back to life as normal.
No link to Nankai Trough quake seen after temblor in Shikoku
Satoshi Harada from the Meteorological Agency explains about the magnitude 6.6 earthquake during a news conference early Thursday.
Thousands evacuated as Indonesia volcano erupts
Indonesia's Mount Ruang spews hot lava and smoke as seen from Sitaro, North Sulawesi, on Wednesday.
Why hasn't Japan moved to prop up the weak yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Snake on a train: Discovery of serpent delays Tokyo-Nagoya shinkansen
A Tokaido shinkansen. It is unclear whether the snake was venomous or how it ended up on the train, and there was no injury or panic among passengers.
In a first, Japan doctors sue Google over negative reviews on firm's map app
One of the lawyers representing a group of doctors suing Google told a news conference that the main purpose of the lawsuit is not to seek compensation but instead to raise awareness over various problems with the Google Maps system.
'House of the Owl' brings Hollywood values to Japanese TV
In the new Disney+ series “House of the Owl,” Min Tanaka (left) plays a powerful political fixer, or “kuromaku,” who has a troubled relationship with his adult children, particularly his idealistic son, played by Mackenyu.
Benefits and risks: AUKUS looks to take gamble on Japan
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British leader Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
Kyoto’s demon night parade lives to haunt another day
In a Kyoto long past, the "hyakki yagyō" (100 demon night parade) haunted a sleepy corner of Kyoto. Now, one enterprising monster enthusiast has won a small batttle to keep the march alive.
U.S. deploys midrange missile system in Indo-Pacific for first time
A U.S. Army Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives as part of the capability’s first deployment into theater on Northern Luzon, Philippines, April 8.

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

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on
By Lance Henderstein

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