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August 27, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Nov 12, 2008
Financial crisis hits home
The global financial crisis is hitting Japanese companies hard. Symbolic is Toyota Motor Co.'s prediction of its own business performance for the full year to March 2009. The rise of the yen's value and the slowing down of the world economy as seen in decreased auto sales in the United States and Europe...
EDITORIALS
Nov 12, 2008
Keeping sex offenders close
In late September, South Korea joined a group of nations where the movements of released sex-crime offenders are electronically monitored. Such offenders have to wear electronic anklets and additional communication devices all the time. Fifty-three convicted offenders have become the first group to wear...
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2008
Afghanistan and Pakistan: Can terrorism be eradicated?
By Hugh Cortazzi
One of the most difficult problems facing U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, when he takes office next January, is how to deal with the terrorist threat from inside Afghanistan and Pakistan.
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2008
Historic visit to Taiwan
The Taiwan Strait continues to narrow. Last week witnessed the highest-level contacts between Taiwan and mainland China since the 1949 civil war. The visit of Mr. Chen Yunlin to Taipei continues the bridge-building between the two sides and is a step forward in the eyes of all who seek peace and stability...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2008
Protectionist sentiment to challenge Obama
By Michael Richardson
SINGAPORE — Asian economies that have benefited from trade liberalization in recent years tend to prefer U.S. Republican administrations over Democratic ones because the former are seen as having a more consistent commitment to free trade. Now that Barack Obama is president-elect with a sizable Democratic...
COMMENTARY
Nov 11, 2008
China, Japan can help by helping themselves
By Frank Ching
HONG KONG — As much of the world continues to move toward a recession that many fear will be deep and prolonged, eyes increasingly are turning to China in the hope it can somehow help the rest of the world in its moment of need. Thus The Economist reported "China Moves to Center Stage," and Time magazine...
COMMENTARY
Nov 11, 2008
Laissez faire has taken a powder
By Takamitsu Sawa
In the wee hours of Oct. 11 Tokyo time, finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven industrialized countries met in Washington to discuss how to resolve the global financial crisis and agreed to protect all depositors and inject public funds to rescue financial institutions.
EDITORIALS
Nov 9, 2008
Need for reality checks
The line between real and virtual worlds has become more confused than ever. Two weeks ago, a woman was arrested after "killing" her virtual husband who had divorced her in an online game called "Maple Story." She was arrested not on charges of murder, but on charges of illegally accessing a computer...
EDITORIALS
Nov 9, 2008
Urban economic inequality
A recent report from the U.N. Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) reveals that inequality is increasing around the world in major cities. The generally accepted measure of income inequality, the Gini coefficient (where 1.0 signifies complete inequality and 0.0, complete equality) has been rising in...
COMMENTARY
Nov 9, 2008
McCain's heart wasn't really in it
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES — History's losers can emerge later as history's winners, especially in U.S. politics. John F. Kennedy lost his bid to become the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1956, but his televised concession speech helped to propel him into the White House four years later.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 9, 2008
What a world of difference that one momentous day could make
By Roger Pulvers
The stunning victory of Barack Obama in last Tuesday's election is a cause of great joy not only for Americans but for people all over the world.
COMMENTARY
Nov 8, 2008
Domestic health-care issues to test Obama
By Cesar Chelala
The election of Barack Hussein Obama as U.S. president represents hope for the kind of transformational politics that can lead to a better, more secure world. It also suggests an end to the politics of divisiveness and a turn toward a political system more attuned to the needs of what both candidates...
Tokyo releases AI-generated video of Mount Fuji erupting
A screenshot from an AI-generated video showing what could happen to Tokyo if Mount Fuji erupted
Japan aims to tighten rules for business manager visas from October
The number of foreign residents with business management residency status had reached a record 41,615 as of the end of 2024.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Japan ranked one of the most peaceful places in Asia as global tensions rise
Visitors look at paper cranes hung at Peace Park in Nagasaki on Aug. 8, a day ahead of the 80th anniversary of the World War II atomic bombing of the city.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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