IBM's Watson supercomputer lacks one key element that experienced physicians have in abundance — tacit knowledge.

Moves toward less nuclear power will be inevitable in Japan, with renewable energy playing the principal role by 2050.

The current political situation characterized by the domination of the prime minister's office has ruined the pride of career bureaucrats.

Instead of making education and research more efficient, the conversion of national universities into university corporations has increased inefficiency.

Consumers have begun to behave more rationally, and that is reducing economic growth.

Japanese gyms are almost totally monopolized by people of middle and advanced ages, especially those over 65, and have become indispensable arenas for their socializing.

The government is putting the cart before the horse by testing students' ability to think critically without first changing how they are taught.

By reducing marginal costs of goods and services to nearly zero, the internet and renewable energy are revolutionizing society.

In 2013, the government's council on resuscitation of education called for having at least 10 Japanese universities among global top 100 within a decade. But the target now seems out of reach.

Japan needs a two-party system, sooner rather than later.