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May 20, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2011
Egypt's economic future
By Mark J. Roe
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — For Egypt, the question of the day is whether the country will build an open, democratic political system or relapse into some form — new or old — of autocracy. But an equally important question — above all for Egyptians, but also for other developing countries (and for development...
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 2011
Economy is key to security
By Michael Richardson
SINGAPORE — Gemba Koichiro, the minister tasked with devising ways to revive Japan's sagging international influence, recently drew a link between the economic power of a nation and the readiness of other countries to challenge its security interests.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2011
Civil society must push nuke ban
By Daisaku Ikeda
Last year, important international conferences were held to tackle such pressing global challenges as climate change and nuclear disarmament. While these conferences saw the emergence of constructive new consensus, it is not enough simply to sound the alarm: The time has come for action and solidarity....
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2011
Expanding the scope of the export sector
By Sandile Hlatshwayo and Michael Spence
NEW YORK — Since the end of World War II, the global economy's trade and financial openness has increased, thanks to institutions like the International Monetary Fund and successive rounds of liberalization, starting with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1947.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2011
Red Devils and moneyed 'untouchables' of soccer
By Kevin Rafferty
HONG KONG — The front cover of the report by the respected audit and consulting concern Deloitte is dramatic and eye-catching: It consists of just a picture of a fedora hat reminiscent of the 1930s and, above it, a stark headline, "The Untouchables."
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2011
Interfaith tolerance challenges Indonesian Islam, democracy
By Iqra Anugrah
BEPPU, Oita Prefecture — During the heat of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, which successfully toppled the respective autocratic regimes of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, some incidents in Indonesia appear to have dimmed the prospect of democracy on this side of the Islamic world....
COMMENTARY
Feb 21, 2011
Swan dive into the strait dividing economic views
By Takamitsu Sawa
Since last April, I've been spending my weekdays in Hikone, a city of Shiga Prefecture located by Lake Biwa. One day, while driving to my university, I was surprised to find four black swans in the outer moat of Hikone Castle.
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2011
Do a Mideast deal soon or risk peace later
By Cesar Chelala
NEW YORK — As protests increase in several Mideast countries, it is becoming more obvious that a final agreement between Israelis and Palestinians is one of the most critical issues facing policymakers in the region. For the United States, which is steadily losing control of events, it is also the...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2011
Flights of fancy: making sense of airfares and ancillary charges
By Kevin Rafferty
HONG KONG — The dogfight between American Airlines and the online travel agencies that used to be its business partners has important global implications for online ways of doing business. Unfortunately, the real loser will be the person that both sides say they are scrapping for, the airline passenger....
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 20, 2011
Remember Takuboku: A model to rouse today's thwarted youth
By Roger Pulvers
Social change is a volcanic phenomenon. The first rumblings may not be widely seen or heard; then there is an eruption that takes society unawares. All of a sudden — or so it seems — a new generation with new needs and demands is born. Until that happens, society often outwardly appears placid, calm...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2011
Bracing for Pakistan's 'Mubarak moment'
By Shahid Javed Burki
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's domestic situation is becoming increasingly precarious. Indeed, serious questions are being raised as to whether the country can survive in its present form.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2011
The West's Middle East pillars of sand crumble
By Daniel Korski and Ben Judah
LONDON — Two centuries ago, Napoleon's arrival in Egypt heralded the advent of the modern Middle East. Now, almost 90 years after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, 50 years after the end of colonialism, and eight years after the Iraq war began, the revolutionary protests in Cairo suggest that another...
Australian firm produces heavy rare earth, in first outside China
The Lynas Rare Earths processing plant in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Random stabbing cases in Japan raise fears: Could the next victim be me?
Police officers stand guard on May 7 outside Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward after a random stabbing that injured a University of Tokyo student.
Nissan to solicit early retirements while eyeing plant closures in Japan
Nissan's Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, may be closed as part of the struggling carmaker's streamlining efforts.
Police arrest Chinese man in Saitama hit-and-run case
Police questioned a man who turned himself in as he closely resembled the driver recorded on the dashcam of another vehicle that happened to pass by the scene of a hit-and-run incident in Saitama Prefecture.
Princess Aiko arrives in Ishikawa to visit quake-hit areas
Princess Aiko is greeted by Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase (left) at the Kanazawa Station on Sunday.
Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
In Nintendo’s backyard, foreign indie game devs are thriving
Kyoto's gaming landscape is dominated by Nintendo's headquarters, but a contingent of foreign-born indie developers is also working in the gaming giant's shadow.
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.
Nissan hoping to electrify home crowd as Formula E returns to Tokyo
Nissan's Oliver Rowland drives during qualifying for Miami E-Prix at Homestead Motor Speedway in Homestead, Florida, on April 12.
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.

Podcast

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

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

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