Morearticles

 
Menu
Search
 
May 17, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

More Commentary stories

COMMENTARY
Nov 14, 2009
China-India tensions rising
By Brahma Chellaney
NEW DELHI — The India-China relationship has entered choppy waters due to a perceptible hardening in the Chinese stance. Anti-India rhetoric in the state-run Chinese media has intensified, even as China has stepped up military pressure along the disputed Himalayan frontier through cross-border incursions....
COMMENTARY
Nov 13, 2009
Highlighting the return to a neglected region
By Frank Ching
HONG KONG — U.S. President Barack Obama plans to include the prime minister of Myanmar (aka Burma), a country long shunned by Washington, when he meets this week with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2009
Obama's Asian occasions
By Charles E. Morrison
This week Barack Obama begins his first trip to Asia as U.S. head of state. His visit to Singapore for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting plus additional stops in Japan, China and South Korea offer an opportunity for the president to give further dynamism to America's relationships...
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2009
Emissions cap-and-trade as policy?
By Shinji Fukukawa
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change held Sept. 22, stated Japan's pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, which is premised on "all the major economies" agreeing on ambitious targets.
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2009
APEC remains toothless
By Gregory Clark
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping will hold its annual summit meeting in Singapore this weekend, with the leaders of its 21 member-nations expected to attend. But do we really need yet another high-level global talk-fest?
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2009
Re-energizing America's role in trade talks
By Michael Richardson
International trade has been an engine of growth for many Asian countries, enabling them to create jobs and raise living standards faster than in countries elsewhere in the world that were unready to take advantage of surging trade opportunities.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2009
A good time to remember the ANZUS alliance's fate
By Brad Glosserman
HONOLULU — The headlines associated with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' recent visit to Japan notwithstanding, relations between Washington and Tokyo are not as strained as they may appear . . . at least not yet. But there is no question that improper handling of a number of sensitive issues...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2009
Yet another 'Battle of Okinawa'
By Gavan Mccormack
CANBERRA — Elections in August gave Japan a new government, headed by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. In electing him and his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Japanese people, like the American people less than a year earlier, were opting for change. Remarkably, however, what followed on the part...
COMMENTARY
Nov 10, 2009
Enough concessions on Taiwan
By Hisahiko Okazaki
For those who are concerned that democratic Taiwan should continue to have the freedom to choose its own future, President Barack Obama's coming visit to Beijing brings back the memory of a regrettable episode during President Bill Clinton's visit to China in June 1998.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2009
U.S.-Japan collaboration on high-speed rail
By Daniel Kliman
PRINCETON, N.J. — Traveling at up to 300 kph and boasting an impeccable safety record, the Shinkansen exemplifies Japan's technological prowess. It could also become a new frontier in the U.S-Japan partnership.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2009
Recalling the fall of the Wall 20 years later: 'Botched' press release changed the world
By Michael Meyer
NEW YORK — For weeks, the scene has been re-played on TV screens around the world, as if the events were breaking news: joyous Berliners dancing atop the infamous Wall, toppled 20 years ago on Nov. 9, 1989.
COMMENTARY
Nov 8, 2009
Don't bank on 'adverse impact' from Hatoyama's carbon cuts
By Takamitsu Sawa
I would like to commend Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama wholeheartedly for his determination to work toward a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. It is utterly absurd to question the feasibility of attaining this goal. Rather, the entire nation must recognize the...
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
Rich Japanese still fear yen crash, wealth manager says
The yen slumped more than 2% on Monday alone, nearing ¥150 to the dollar, after the U.S. and China temporarily lowered tariffs, triggering a reversal of bearish dollar bets.
Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
Irresponsible climbing prompts debate over who should pay for Mount Fuji rescues
Mount Fuji fills the skyline above a bridge connecting stores at a popular outlet shopping center in the city of Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in November 2024.
Akazawa's dilemma: no tariff deal or a half-baked deal
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and his delegation in the Oval Office of the White House in April. Since then, Japan's trade negotiations with the U.S. have produced no tangible results.
For his first feature film, director Ryuya Suzuki created a masterpiece
"Jinsei," which follows its protagonist over a century, probes themes of identity and societal issues with a dark comic touch. The director, however, says he created the story without knowing where it would lead.
Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet
Onosato (left) battles Abi on Day 3 of the Summer Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER