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August 29, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2010
Synthetic biology's promise outweighs its risks
By Peter Singer
MELBOURNE — In the 16th century, the alchemist Paracelsus offered a recipe for creating a living being that began with putting sperm into putrefying "venter equinus." This is usually translated as "horse manure," but the Latin "venter" means abdomen or uterus.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2010
Large-scale agriculture won't cure hunger
By Olivier De Schutter and Nikolaj Skydsgaard
BRUSSELS — The World Bank, U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and U.N. Conference on Trade and Development Secretariat recently presented seven "Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment."
COMMENTARY
Jun 15, 2010
Poor grades for U.K. schools
By Hugh Cortazzi
LONDON — The new British government has declared its intention to do all it can to improve standards of education in Britain. This was also a high priority for the previous Labour administration. As prime minister, Tony Blair used to declare that his mantra was "education, education, education."
COMMENTARY
Jun 14, 2010
India's post-Bhopal recklessness
By Gautaman Bhaskaran
CHENNAI, India — More than 25 years ago on a cold winter night, thousands of sleeping people died after inhaling toxic gas escaping from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal. A train full of passengers at the nearby Bhopal station never moved. Nobody on it woke up.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jun 14, 2010
South Koreans show split over what sank their ship
Despite the confident and harsh manner in which President Lee Myung Bak condemned North Korea for attacking and sinking a South Korean naval vessel, his country is deeply split between the conservative anti-Pyongyang forces and the opposition forces favoring promotion of closer ties with the North.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2010
Palestinians preparing for 'independence'
By Shlomo Avineri
JERUSALEM — Although the crisis over Israel's naval interventions to defend its blockade of Gaza is gaining all the headlines around the world, something of far more historic importance is taking place in the Middle East. The Palestine National Authority is preparing to issue a unilateral declaration...
COMMENTARY
Jun 13, 2010
Japan-U.S. relations cry out for new management, dialogue
By Kazuo Ogoura
Ripples, frictions, uneasiness, concern and even dismay — these are the words by which most of the Japanese mass-media commentaries characterize present Japan-U.S. relations.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 13, 2010
Time was when the future of English is simply real ba-a-a-a-d, or not
By Roger Pulvers
So I like OMG Im so not going there no matter what the Quadrangle says it will do Vlad and I are running Alaska from Tea Party headquarters in Cheney and I can see the whole world from my living room Again the TPA (Tea Party of Alaska) government refuses to kowtow [pronounced cow toe] to American imperialism...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2010
Quantitative analysts take on the 'Beautiful Game'
By Kevin Rafferty
HONG KONG — Sepp Blatter and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the organizers of the World Cup, had better watch out — the quants have arrived and have put their infamous models to work in predicting the outcome of the World Cup that has just kicked off in South Africa....
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2010
Who to credit for Asia's extraordinary rise?
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES — The extraordinary rise of Asia in recent decades cannot be understood or appreciated without some reference to outstanding leadership. Consider the experience of other regions of the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2010
Can Kan revive Japan?
By Kevin Rafferty
HONG KONG — Naoto Kan, Japan's new prime minister, pledged to make the country's sickly economy his first priority and to pull Japan from its "quagmire of an ever- bulging debt." But that is easier said than done. It is not merely a question of when to stop the government stimulus and where to put...
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2010
Finding your way to the world of happiness
By Gwynne Dyer
There can be few things less useful than a world map of happiness. If you live in one of the unhappy places, there is little chance that you will be able to move to one of the happy ones — and anyway, there's no way of knowing whether immigrants are happy there. Besides, your personal capacity for...
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
Confusion over Japan’s ‘hometown’ plan overshadows African development event
First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba (center, in white and blue dress) hosts an event on Japanese culture with the first ladies of African leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
Virtual singer Kaf got her start in 2018 by posting songs and covers to YouTube. Now, after having performed live shows at major venues including Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, she is turning to voice acting and starring in the new anime series “Kamitsubaki City Under Construction.”
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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