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November 14, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY

Japan

World
Japan
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi talks with Japan’s then-leader, Shinzo Abe, her mentor, at the Lower House of Parliament in December 2014. Takaichi, under so-called Abenomics 2.0, must convert the nation’s asset boom into broad-based economic prosperity benefiting all. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
How Takaichi can make 'Abenomics 2.0' succeed
For now, there is absolutely no evidence that the rise in Japanese asset prices — both stocks and real estate — is feeding a positive wealth effect.
COMMENTARY / Japan
How Takaichi should navigate Beijing’s diplomatic threats
These incidents reveal a consistent pattern in Beijing’s diplomatic arsenal, the weaponization of progressive language, the inversion of victim and aggressor narratives.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Takaichi and a shift in 'strategic ambiguity' over Taiwan
Takaichi's statement points out the obvious: That if a conflict over Taiwan involves the use of force, it could become a "crisis situation" that threatens the nation's survival.
The U.S.' recent approval of South Korea’s nuclear submarine program may set a precedent for Japan, which could consider similar nuclear capabilities amid growing regional security threats.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 11, 2025
Japan should resist the temptation to go nuclear
By Henry Sokolski
Japan moving ahead on any nuclear options would be a mistake no matter what the United States, Russia or South Korea might do.
A maiko walks down a street crowded with tourists in Kyoto. Challenges that come with a massive influx of overseas visitors and foreign nationals buying up real estate are just some of the immigration problems that have become hot-button political issues in Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 11, 2025
Government and bad actors are at the root of the foreign national issue
By Edo Naito
Japan has experienced an explosive increase in overseas tourists since the COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted, and its global appeal as a travel destination has grown.
Rising bear attacks in Japan, driven by climate change, population decline and a shortage of hunters, have prompted intervention by the Self-Defense Forces as urban areas face growing threats from wildlife.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 7, 2025
Along with Japan’s urban bears comes fur and loathing
By Gearoid Reidy
What’s unusual is that the majority of these incidents are happening not to unlucky hikers or mountain foragers, but to people in residential areas going about their daily lives.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30. Tokyo's strategic positioning between Beijing and Washington is central to countering China’s economic and geopolitical influence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 5, 2025
What the U.S.-China summit means for Japan
By Stephen R. Nagy
China’s willingness to weaponize commercial dependencies rather than projecting strength exposed the fragility of its economic statecraft.
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 5, 2025
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
By Juliana Liu
A letter signed by two dozen investors addressed "widespread concern” about the plan to buy out Toyota Industries Corp., also known as TICO.
The Arch of Independence in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Central Asia’s Turkic nations, united by shared history and culture, are emerging as a strategic counterbalance to Russia and China, offering Japan opportunities for investment and influence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 4, 2025
Why Japan — like the U.S. — needs Central Asia
By Melik Kaylan
The C5 — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — concerns Japan more directly than seems immediately obvious.
Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations Samuel Moncada holds a printout of The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Oct. 16. U.S. President Donald Trump uses false narratives to justify aggressive policies, including military strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 4, 2025
The big lie behind Trump’s Venezuela strikes
By Timothy Snyder
This display of military power is intended to serve as political spectacle. The danger is that that it could escalate into an unwinnable, open-ended conflict.

From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Descendants in Philippines denied Japanese citizenship
As attacks surge, who can cull bears in Japan?
Police cars leave the Akita Prefectural Police headquarters to cull bears, in the city of Akita on Thursday.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years
Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Government and bad actors are at the root of the foreign national issue
A maiko walks down a street crowded with tourists in Kyoto. Challenges that come with a massive influx of overseas visitors and foreign nationals buying up real estate are just some of the immigration problems that have become hot-button political issues in Japan.
Tatsuya Nakadai: A masterful leading man and postwar icon
Tatsuya Nakadai had the look of a leading man in his youth, but his large and searching eyes suggested the pain and loneliness of an old soul.
As Japan’s female leader rises, can she cross sumo’s sacred line?
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (front center) delivers a speech on the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Sunday. Centuries of belief and tradition still underpin the all-male association's stance of excluding women.
Takaichi doesn’t mince words on Taiwan, but dramatic policy shift unlikely
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session in parliament on Tuesday.
Florist Nicolai Bergmann flourishes outside the box
Florist Nicolai Bergmann shops for fresh flowers at the Ota flower market in Tokyo on Friday.
China delivers warning to U.S. and Japan with third aircraft carrier
The Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier, carries out sea trials at an unknown location in May last year.

Podcast

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

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years
By Yukana Inoue

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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