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July 16, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2010
Stabilization of Afghanistan could serve as cornerstone of NATO-Russia foundation
By Anders Fogh Rasmussen
BRUSSELS — When I gave my first public speech as NATO secretary general just over a year ago, I focused on the NATO-Russia relationship, because I believe it is crucial for global, not just European, security. At that time, I thought the relationship to be in urgent need of repair, and that the North...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2010
Poverty still pervades booming South Asia
By Ejaz Ghani
WASHINGTON — South Asia presents a depressing paradox. It is among the fastest growing regions in the world, but it is also home to the largest concentration of people living in debilitating poverty, conflict and human misery. While South Asia is far more developed than Sub-Saharan Africa, and India...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2010
Entrepreneurs' best friend growing long in the tooth
By Kevin Rafferty
HONG KONG — Standard Chartered Bank has an advertisement currently running on television that is eye-catching and thought-provoking. Its central message is that "not everything that counts in life can be counted" and that the bank wants to be "here for people; here for progress; here for the long run;...
COMMENTARY
Oct 22, 2010
Are China and Japan on a collision course?
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES — The people of China and Japan deserve better leadership at the top than they have been getting. But better leadership is not immediately in prospect for either ancient nation. That means relations between the two giant economies will probably get worse, when improvement is urgently needed...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2010
Absent from talks, Hamas still wields a veto
By Mkhaimar Abusada
GAZA CITY — The resumption of direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis has broken 20 months of stalemate, and marked the entry of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into this round of diplomacy. But these difficult talks face significant challenges from outside the negotiating...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2010
Return of a maverick
By Kevin Rafferty
HONG KONG — On the way to the airport in early 1990, I saw a strange face among the profusion and confusion of election posters. Not a European grandee, or indigenous Indian, or mestizo, or mulatto. It was more like Chinese, but surely not in this heart of Latin America.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2010
The paradox of blinking
By Kishore Mahbubani
SINGAPORE — The world has recently witnessed two major diplomatic blinks. Japan, facing mounting pressure from China, unconditionally released a Chinese trawler captain whose ship had rammed a Japanese Coast Guard patrol boat. And U.S. President Barack Obama did nothing when Israel refused to extend...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2010
A frugal superpower's rules
By Michael Mandelbaum
WASHINGTON — American foreign policy stands on the brink of substantial belt-tightening. The mounting expenses of servicing the growing national debt, combined with the skyrocketing costs of Social Security and Medicare as the 78-million-strong baby-boom generation retires, will leave less money for...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2010
U.S. is no role model for prosecutor reform
By David T. Johnson
The revelation of an "ace" prosecutor's criminal misconduct in Osaka, and of a coverup by his bosses and peers, have led to one of the most serious scandals in the history of Japanese criminal justice — and to many calls for reform of Japan's prosecution system.
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2010
Justice in mosque destruction takes its time
By Gautaman Bhaskaran
CHENNAI, India — Much like Charles Dickens' immortal classic "Tale of Two Cities," India's own saga of two religious shrines has been fraught with tragedy. On a cold December morning in 1992, a nearly 500-year-old mosque at Ayodhya, central India, was razed to the ground. Fanatical Hindus owing allegiance...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2010
The return of Musharraf
By Shahid Javed Burki
LAHORE, Pakistan — Pakistan's former president, Pervez Musharraf, has decided to return to Pakistani politics, if not quite to Pakistan. He announced his decision at London's National Liberal Club, an institution founded in the 19th century by William Gladstone and other stalwarts of Britain's parliamentary...
COMMENTARY
Oct 18, 2010
Japan's stingy approach to schools has not paid off
By Takamitsu Sawa
According to the World University Rankings 2010-2011, published by the Times Higher Education on Sept. 16, the number of Japanese universities ranking among the world's top 200 dwindled to five from 11 the previous year.
Students in Japan struggle with Japanese language and math sections on national exam
The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section on a national test dropped to 67.0% from 67.8% the previous year among elementary school sixth-graders.
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
Japanese scientists discover clue to why women burn more fat than men
Scientists say a recently-published study could help explain why women are typically less prone to weight-related conditions and may lead to new therapies that target calorie-burning mechanisms.
Music idol and anime fandom merch is big business
Businesses who cater to fandoms gathered at Tokyo Lifestyle Week for the second annual Oshikatsu — Merch Collection Expo, a trade show devoted to fandom goods.
U.S. urges clarity on Japan’s role in potential war over Taiwan, report says
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit, at the GSDF's base on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?
Hideo Kojima, the leading auteur in Japanese video games, has skirted controversy in the wake of the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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