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November 16, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY
Feb 19, 2010
Japan, China, past, present
By Kazuo Ogoura
China's recent economic progress coupled with its growing assertiveness in international politics has, in Asia, Europe and the U.S., given rise to some concern and a number of commentaries about the role of China in international politics.
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2010
Building the best military
By Hugh Cortazzi
What sort of defense capability is now needed and how much can be afforded?
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2010
Perilous U.S.-China games
By Kevin Rafferty
BEIJING — Beijing is increasingly playing hardball on every issue that brings it into contact and potential conflict with the rest of the world: democracy in Hong Kong; U.S. arms sales to Taiwan; the visit of the Dalai Lama to the White House; sanctions against Iran; the value of the renminbi; the...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2010
The Libya option in Iran
By Bennett Ramberg
LOS ANGELES — International efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons will be given a new lease on life this month, because France has assumed the presidency of the United Nations Security Council. As Council president, France — which shares America's views about the need to strengthen...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2010
Stop turning cheap food into expensive fuel
By Caroline Boin
LONDON — U.S. Department of Agriculture figures reveal that a quarter of U.S. cereals grown in 2009 went to biofuel, turning cheap food into expensive fuel. This pushes up food prices and damages the environment, yet President Barack Obama promised "continued investment in advanced biofuels" in his...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2010
Steps toward nuke-free world
By Daisaku Ikeda
In recent years there has been a growing chorus of calls for a world free from nuclear weapons. The Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference scheduled for this May will be a crucial test of the international community's ability to unite toward this goal.
COMMENTARY
Feb 16, 2010
China's reaction raises doubt about its intent
By Frank Ching
HONG KONG — China's reaction to the announcement by Washington of a large arms sales package to Taiwan suggests that, 20 months after Taiwan replaced hostility with cooperation in its dealings with the mainland, Beijing still believes it will ultimately need to use force to bring about unification....
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 15, 2010
LDP flailing for relevance
The once dominant Liberal Democratic Party is said to be trying to re-establish its identity as a genuine conservative force, but the LDP leadership appears to be doing nothing more than working desperately to maintain the status quo.
COMMENTARY
Feb 14, 2010
Ignorance about Iraq in 2003 echoes today
By Gwynne Dyer
LONDON — At the Iraq inquiry in London on Jan. 29, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair found a new way to defend his decision to join George W. Bush in invading Iraq in 2003: the what-if defense. What if they hadn't invaded Iraq, and Saddam Hussein had remained in power there?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 14, 2010
Today's complex society in Japan spawns a new 'foreigner complex'
By Roger Pulvers
Among the many Japanese words and phrases that have fallen by the wayside of late and become shigo (obsolete), gaijin komupurekkusu (foreigner complex) is certainly among the least missed.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2010
Treason of the magistrates
By Guy Sorman
PARIS — In democracies, justice is supposed to be independent. Some prosecutors and investigating magistrates, however, conveniently forget this. Indeed many among them are deeply enmeshed in politics, pursuing agendas — and vendettas — of their own.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2010
Many in denial over China's quest for bases
By Harsh V. Pant
LONDON — For a long time, Chinese foreign-policy thinkers and the political establishment have been trying to convince the world that China's rise is peaceful, that China has no expansionist intentions and that China will be a different kind of great power.
China warns citizens not to visit Japan as row over Taiwan heats up
Chinese tourists wear kimonos as they visit Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Saturday.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
China warns of military response if Japan intervenes in Taiwan contingency
Representatives from the Japan Innovation Party hand over a proposal to designate Xue Jian, the Chinese consul-general in Osaka, as persona no grata, to a staff of the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
At Ginza’s newest hotel, luxury is a private treasure
At Fufu Tokyo, each guest room comes with its own private "onsen" (hot spring) — a luxury nearly unheard of in the heart of Tokyo's capital.
Japan may triple departure tax to tackle overtourism
A plane takes off from Haneda Airport.
Japan fully enters sports streaming era as fans face new dilemmas
Sports fan Tadashi Yokoyama streams basketball and fencing on three screens.
Stablecoins: Boring goes big, and now in Japan
Noritaka Okabe, CEO of JPYC, acknowledges a number of potential risks related to stablecoins.
Shohei Ohtani collects fourth MVP Award with 2025 NL honor
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani was named National League MVP for the second straight season on Thursday.
As Japan’s female leader rises, can she cross sumo’s sacred line?
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (front center) delivers a speech on the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Sunday. Centuries of belief and tradition still underpin the all-male association's stance of excluding women.
Tatsuya Nakadai: A masterful leading man and postwar icon
Tatsuya Nakadai had the look of a leading man in his youth, but his large and searching eyes suggested the pain and loneliness of an old soul.

Podcast

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

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

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Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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