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August 27, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 31, 2008
Can poetry in translation ever be as poetic in its new language?
By Roger Pulvers
A friend who was visiting recently from Germany posed me a difficult question: How can poetry be translated?
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2008
Mr. Obama takes the ticket
The Democratic Party made history this week when it made Mr. Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, its nominee for the 44th president of the United States. Mr. Obama is the first African-American — his father was Kenyan, his mother a white Kansan — to claim a slot on the ticket of a major...
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2008
Pioneers who pushed cinema into politics
By Gautaman Bhaskaran
MADRAS, India — When Indian Telugu film star K. Chiranjeevi entered politics recently in the south Indian state of Andhra, it merely affirmed a widely held belief that cinema and public affairs are firmly linked to each other. Chiranjeevi, who has acted in 138 movies, said it was the former state chief...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2008
Peddling influence with Fiji
By Alan Goodall
SYDNEY — From dazzling the world at the Beijing Olympic Games, China now appears to be turning its attention to the South Pacific. Its chosen beachhead to begin island- hopping is Fiji.
EDITORIALS
Aug 29, 2008
India's nuclear access
The Nuclear Suppliers Group ended last week's meeting inconclusively over the question of whether to grant India access to nuclear fuel and technologies for civilian use. The NSG, an international body composed of 45 member nations, including Japan, controls the trade in nuclear technologies and related...
EDITORIALS
Aug 29, 2008
North Korea backtracks
North Korea has said it stopped disabling its 5,000 kilowatt graphite-moderated reactor and two other nuclear facilities in Yongbyon on Aug. 14 and will consider restoring the facilities for plutonium production. The North justifies the move as a response to Washington's decision to put off removing...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2008
McCain aims to win by pandering to bigotry
By Yoshi Tsurumi and Sam Bahour
NEW YORK — At a time when the Beijing Olympics have increased America's apprehension of China's rising power, Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for president, has chosen Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate. Biden is the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and an established...
EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2008
Opportunities for air service
Major airlines plan to withdraw from local air services or reduce the number of local flights. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, facing high fuel cost in recent years, have tried to make up for the rising costs by raising air fares on both domestic and international routes, but this has led to a...
EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2008
Kids caught in the Web
The National Police Agency has reported that the number of youths who fell victim to sex and other crimes after accessing Web dating (deai-kei) sites has drastically decreased in the first half of this year. This is welcome news, but since minors are still being lured into child prostitution and other...
COMMENTARY
Aug 28, 2008
How to handle an angry bear
By David Howell
Experts and commentators have been pouring out books, pamphlets and articles in recent times telling us that conventional wars between states are a thing of the past and that all nations now instead face a kind of globalized, nihilistic terrorism requiring entirely new responses. Unfortunately the Russians...
COMMENTARY
Aug 27, 2008
Showcasing best of China
By Ramesh Thakur
It's been like watching the coverage of the Beijing Olympics on a split screen. Much of the Western media comment in the main news and opinion pages has been written up by the "nattering nabobs of negativism," in the immortal words of Vice President Spiro Agnew (albeit written by William Safire). The...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2008
What the West can do to support Georgia
By Richard Holbrooke
TBILISI — Given the tremendous damage that Russia has inflicted on Georgia, it is easy to conclude that the Kremlin has achieved its objectives. But, so far, Russia has failed in its real goal — getting rid of Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's prodemocracy, pro-American president. For three years, Russia...
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.
Misinformation over JICA’s Africa ‘hometown’ initiative sparks controversy
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at a photo session for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reacts, in Yokohama, last week.
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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