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April 19, 2024
 

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Mihir Sharma
For Mihir Sharma's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
The PTI party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan triumphed in Pakistan's Feb. 8 elections despite not having the backing of the country's powerful military.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2024
Has Pakistan’s military finally lost its mystique?
Many Pakistani voters supported PTI, Imran Khan's party, in recent elections, showing the military that it has a rival powerhouse to contend with.
A protest is held in Toronto on Sept. 25, a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the prospect of New Delhi's involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2023
India’s denials of Sikh separatist plots ring hollow
Now that the U.S. is also raising concerns about New Delhi-orchestrated plots against Sikh separatists, why are many Indians reacting with a shrug?
India's exports represent about 40% of rice's global trade. New Delhi has banned or taxed rice and wheat exports to counter domestic food inflation.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2023
India pushes the world toward another rice crisis
Spooked by volatile foodgrain prices ahead of a general election next year, India’s government has banned or taxed rice and wheat exports.
Prominent Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed on the grounds of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in British Columbia, Canada, in June.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2023
India-Canada clash should be a wake-up call on diaspora extremism
Western countries are failing to keep the radicalization of certain migrant communities in check. They have much to lose.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2022
Pakistan won’t quickly recover from Imran Khan’s shooting
The attack on the former prime minister is likely to put any political equilibrium out of reach for years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2022
There’s one way to wean India off Russian weapons
Switching to Western platforms is expensive. Instead India needs to do the hard work of developing a viable domestic defense industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2022
Forgiving student debt is a bad idea — just ask Indian farmers
Evidence from elsewhere in the world is clear: Canceling out debt incentivizes bad choices among borrowers and political leaders.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2022
The roots of Salman Rushdie attack lie in India, not Iran
British-era laws against insulting religion led to the banning of “The Satanic Verses” 30 years ago and continue to exact a high price in the subcontinent today.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 11, 2022
Shinzo Abe forged a new Asia
Shinzo Abe transformed “Indo-Pacific” from a catchphrase into an aspiration, defining a security and economic architecture to preserve free thought and free trade in the region and beyond.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2022
The death of the WTO has only been delayed
For the organization to recover its relevance, China and the U.S. both need to make more serious compromises.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2022
Companies should go green abroad, not just at home
Companies need to be rewarded for reducing emissions globally, not for scaling down their ambitions to focus on geographies where greener manufacturing is easiest.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2022
Why India is losing faith in the West
Criticizing India for continuing to buy oil from Russia is especially galling, given that European nations have yet to wean themselves off Russian energy supplies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2021
Biden’s democracy summit is a South Asian diplomatic flub
As in many parts of the world, including in South Asia, the Biden's Summit for Democracy summit is likely to do more harm than good
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2021
Modi’s green new deal might actually work
There is no growth story left in India's economy that can enthuse voters and investors, so Prime Minister Modi is hoping a green-growth narrative will pay off economically and politically.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2021
Big tech crackdown could have unintended victims
Global efforts to rein in U.S.-based social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook Inc. risk restricting democratic freedoms.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2021
The world should learn from India’s COVID-19 cataclysm
Strategies that kept the pandemic at bay in 2020 won't necessarily work in 2021.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2021
Twitter should stick to its guns in India
In its battles with India's government and others around the world, Twitter needn't surrender its principles too easily.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2021
World shouldn’t laugh at U.S. too soon
It's OK to have a fun few days laughing at America's discomfiture and at the breast-beating exaggerations of its pundits and politicians.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2020
India’s angry farmers have reason to worry
The third rail of Indian politics has always been agriculture. While the economy has been partly liberalized since opening up to the world in 1991, the process has largely bypassed the three-fifths of Indians who depend for their livelihoods, directly or indirectly, on farming. In September, the government finally introduced a much-needed set of changes to how agriculture is organized and how produce is sold in India. Now tens of thousands of agitated farmers have marched upon New Delhi in protest.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2020
There will be a price to pay for making vaccines too expensive
Most rich-country governments have produced pandemic-response packages that are sharply nationalist and inward-looking.
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.
Sex differences could be key to the successful treatment of long COVID
A new study has found that women with long COVID had significantly lower levels of testosterone compared to those who had recovered from their infection.
'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.
Unpacking the chaotic by-election in a scandal-hit Tokyo district
People listen to a campaign speech in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Tuesday.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

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