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April 28, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2005
Lee should avoid Yasukuni
By Robyn Lim
With tensions rising again across the Taiwan Strait, some in Japan seem to think that it might be timely for former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to visit controversial Yasukuni Shrine, the memorial in Tokyo to Japan's war dead.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2005
Invest to bolster peace in southern Sudan
By Ramiro Lopes Da Silva
KHARTOUM -- Cereal trader Said Abubaker has a simple explanation for the fast-rising price of the local staple sorghum in the town market at Warawar in southern Sudan: "Peace has been a stranger in our land for so long that now that it has come, nature does not know how to welcome it."
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2005
The danger of keeping Japan in its place
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES -- Reform of the United Nations -- that terribly tarnished crown jewel of post-World War II global order -- is, as everyone agrees, urgently needed. For all its imperfections, it is the best world political organization we have.
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2005
EU Constitution in trouble
By David Howell
LONDON -- It is possible, even probable, that the French people will reject the European Union's proposed new constitution in their referendum on May 31.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2005
Schiavo case deepens America's divide
By Fred Balitzer
ONTARIO, Calif. -- Seldom can I recall any issue in America producing as much emotion and division as the case of Terri Schiavo. The Iraq war has not come close to reaching this level of emotional expression. After being denied food and water for 13 days, her death on March 31, at 41 years of age, brings...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2005
Intervention based on rules
By Ramesh Thakur
According to the U.N. High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, "The maintenance of world peace and security depends importantly on there be-- ing a common global understanding, and acceptance, of when the application of force is both legal and legitimate."
COMMENTARY
Apr 9, 2005
School kitchens need a nanny
By Sarah Benton
LONDON -- Turkey twizzlers once divided the nation; now they appear to have united it in a surge of national purpose for reform. This is thanks to a new political hero, chef Jamie Oliver, who, from one of the most despised backgrounds in Britain -- white working-class boy from Essex -- has shown imagination...
COMMENTARY
Apr 9, 2005
Can John Bolton save the United Nations?
By Doug Bandow
WASHINGTON -- The United Nations is a mess. Often corrupt and venal, always inefficient and wasteful, frequently captured by the worst political interests, and commonly motivated by the most extreme ideological impulses, the organization is anything but "the last great hope of mankind." If anyone can...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2005
Palestinian struggle: reality vs. rhetoric
By Ramzy Baroud
DOHA, Qatar -- No other national struggle in the world has assimilated itself, or has been inadvertently assimilated, to symbolize so many things to different people as has the Palestinian struggle. And yet, despite the intricate layers of sense and understanding that have sought to encapsulate the Palestinian...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2005
Drive toward reconciliation
By George Sioris
CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- It seems rather awkward for outsiders to comment at this time on the tragic developments in the "deep South" of Thailand. Yet even Thai public opinion at large does not appear sufficiently informed of the extent of the events occurring there. One aspect of the drama that should...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2005
U.S., Vietnam draw closer
By Richard Halloran
HONOLULU -- An American warship steamed slowly up the Saigon River last week to mark the gradual forging of normal political, economic and even military relations between the United States and Vietnam 30 years after the end of their long and bloody war.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2005
Rise of Spanish does not predicate decline of English
By Domenico Maceri
SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- Three major American television networks have been facing stiff competition for viewers from cable television and the Internet. One network that seems to be thriving without any serious competition, though, is Spanish language Univision.
China seizes disputed reef near key Philippine military outpost
China Coast Guard officers unfurl a national flag on Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in disputed waters of the South China Sea this month in this screen shot taken from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Japan to resist Trump efforts to form trade bloc against China
As Japan gears up for the trade talks, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is also seeking to cushion the blow that the U.S. tariffs may have on the domestic economy.
As many as nine dead after driver plows into Vancouver festival crowd
An ambulance is parked at the site of the Lapu Lapu day festival, where a vehicle drove into a crowd killing several people in Vancouver on Saturday.
Arunima Mazumdar: ‘Japanese literature has a niche but deeply engaged readership in India’
Arunima Mazumdar, a New Delhi-based communications professional, began sharing her love of Japanese literature online in 2022. The platform has grown into a robust community known as Dokusha Book Club.
Japan struggles with gray zone of AI deepfakes exploiting children
AI-generated content — including those made using pictures of real people, which are known as “deepfakes” — is not explicitly covered under Japan's current legal framework, nor are human-drawn illustrations that depict child abuse.
‘Wildcat Dome’ challenges Japan's historical narratives
On the surface, "Wildcat Dome" tells a personal story of damaged children — now adults — bound together by tragedy. Underneath, there’s a constant undercurrent of political consequence, invisible and pervasive like radioactive particles.
Reclaiming Sanya, one meal at a time
Magokoro Yoshihira (center) is the managing director of Yui Associates, which operates the neighborhood fixtures of Sanya Cafe and Juyoh Hotel. Yusuke Takahashi (left) met Yoshihira during a difficult period in his life and now works as the cafe’s chef. Nancy Anne (right) has worked for over 10 years at Juyoh Hotel and enjoys the multicultural environment.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo

Podcast

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

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami
By Alex K.T. Martin

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