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May 18, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2010
Road to Pyongyang still leads through China
By John Delury
NEW YORK — Kim Jong Il's recent visit to China was a gentle reminder that the road to Pyongyang leads through Beijing. China is the only power that has remained engaged with North Korea, through many ups and downs, whereas Russia, Japan, the United States and South Korea have all come and gone.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2010
Instead of folding, EU leaders raise the stakes
By Barry Eichengreen
BERKELEY, Calif. — The last few weeks have been the most amazing — and important — period of the euro's 11-year existence. First came the Greek crisis, followed by the Greek bailout. When the crisis spread to Portugal and Spain, there was the $1 trillion rescue. Finally, there were unprecedented...
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2010
North Korea gambles once again
By Yoon Young Kwan and Yoon Young-kwan
SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's recent visit to China has further complicated South Korea's response to the probable culprit — North Korea — in the sinking of its warship, the Cheonan, on March 26. The debate about how to respond is complicated even more by the fact that the Cheonan's...
COMMENTARY
May 19, 2010
Coalition off to a good start
By Hugh Cortazzi
Britain's May 6 general election was different from previous elections both in the way the campaigns were conducted and in its final outcome.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2010
Middle East needs truly secular governance
By Iqra Anugrah
BEPPU, Oita Pref. — The march for secularism held on April 26 in Lebanon focused attention on the country and the region's conflicts and battle of values. Thousands of Lebanese from various social backgrounds — Shiite, Sunni, Maronite and more — took to the streets and marched to the national parliament...
COMMENTARY
May 18, 2010
Overhaul industrial policy to bolster the economy
By Shinji Fukukawa
Japan's industrial power is so stagnant that it seems a crisis is in store for our economy. Even as it lags far behind the United States in creating intelligent information systems, Japan is finding that South Korea, Taiwan and China are catching up with it in manufacturing.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2010
India-China competition dims hopes for regional cooperation
By Harsh V. Pant
LONDON — Established in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) had its 16th summit meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan, late last month. Apart from the fact that Bhutan hosted its first SAARC summit, there was hardly anything that inspired confidence in this largely moribund organization...
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2010
'Honor killings' aimed at suppressing castes
By Gautaman Bhaskaran
CHENNAI, India — India can be sparkling white and deadly black. While it brags about its scientific achievements, including space exploration and nuclear arms, fancy cars and elite educational institutions, it must hang its head in shame over some heinous, dark-age practices.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 17, 2010
Political hazards follow the dissing of bureaucrats
Nearly eight months have passed since the Democratic Party of Japan came to power on a slogan of shifting decision-making power and processes from bureaucrats to elected politicians with a view to reducing or eliminating excessive reliance on bureaucrats. As a result of this shift, three distinctly different...
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2010
Prized Japanese social values that withstand 'Westernization'
By Edward Hoffman
NEW YORK — Japan is a fascinating and beautiful country, but its culture can be baffling to Westerners. This seems especially true for Americans, with our long history of geographic and cultural isolation from Europe and Asia.
COMMENTARY
May 16, 2010
Yemen's pitiful options to poverty and anger
By Ramzy Baroud
SEATTLE — When the Soviets concluded their pullout from Afghanistan in February 1989, the U.S. government abruptly lost interest in the country. A devastated economic infrastructure, entrenched poverty, deep-rooted factionalism and lack of international aid caused the country to descend into complete...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 16, 2010
Reality check, 2010: 'Smoking doesn't cause cancer' (Japan Tobacco)
By Roger Pulvers
Every generation has its theme song.
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.
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.
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.
Struggling Nissan considers closing two plants in Kanagawa
Automaker Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama
Closing the gap between what you learn and what you say in Japanese
A few tweaks to the conversations you learn in your Japanese class will help you sound like a native when you step out the door.
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.
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.

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

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