Search - opinion

 
 
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2022

The silver lining hidden in the battle against long COVID

Long COVID-19 research could reveal clues to help fight Alzheimer's, Lyme Disease and other illnesses.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2022

Sanctions on Russia are also about protecting Japan, says Taro Kono

Some officials in Tokyo, including Kono, worry Russia's attack on Ukraine could embolden Beijing to act against Taiwan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2022

Why so many countries want to sit out the new Cold War

Some countries' distrust of aggressive regional powers such as Russia and China is balanced by suspicions that the U.S. is a profoundly weakened and highly unstable superpower.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2022

Singapore still wants smart, rich expats

Singapore recently tightened visa rules for white-collar workers, adding hoops to a process that employers already complain is too onerous.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 12, 2022

Top China COVID fighter is woman who hit party’s glass ceiling

Sun Chunlan is the only female vice premier in China's entrenched patriarchy, the sole woman on its powerful 25-member Politburo and the top official overseeing pandemic control.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2022

Russia’s independent journalists need help

Even before the war, committing journalism in Putin's regime had become a hazardous task.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2022

They predicted the Ukraine war, but did they still get it wrong?

Realists predicted some kind of conflict over Ukraine. But realism's predictions still did not describe the reality.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2022

Are Ukrainians who flee 'refugees' or 'evacuees'? For Japan, it's complicated.

Many governments and organizations describe Ukrainians escaping Russia's invasion as refugees, but Tokyo is using a term that more closely translates to 'people who have been evacuated.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 10, 2022

'Wedding High’: Nuptial chaos delivers big laughs

The ensemble comedy about a wedding gone wrong has some hilarious moments and digs into the ups and downs of Japanese weddings.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s goodbye will be a long one

Russia's president is in a tight spot, isolated, with his economy crumbling. But this is only the beginning of the end.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 9, 2022

Sanctions and sanctuary: Japan responds to Russia's war in Ukraine

As Vladimir Putin's grim war in Ukraine escalates, The Economist's Tokyo bureau chief, Noah Sneider, joins to discuss the reasons for the conflict, the lengths to which Japan is supporting Ukraine, and how the war will redefine relationships between Japan and its northern neighbor, Russia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2022

Crispr might actually live up to its immense hype

The Nobel prize-winning technology is moving from a concept to the clinic at a breathtaking pace.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 9, 2022

China’s fears of an Indo-Pacific NATO are more myth than reality

Southeast Asia's modern-day foreign policy is mostly aimed at avoiding becoming a battleground in great-power competitions, as occurred during the Vietnam War and other bloody conflicts.
A man watches a large screen showing news coverage of Chinese President Xi Jinping meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Beijing on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2024

Orban’s shuttle diplomacy angers EU and whiplashes allies

The Hungarian prime minister made trips to Moscow and Beijing after his country took over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1.
Protesters hold a giant French flag on the statue of Marianne as people gather at the Place de la Republique, after partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections, in Paris on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 9, 2024

Debt and political deadlock keep investors nervous after French election

At the center of the euro project and the bloc's second biggest economy, France, still faces a hung parliament and taxing negotiations to form a government.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends an event in New Orleans on Saturday. Democrats should do what they should have done long ago: Elevate Harris as the party's future, rather than sidelining her for her perceived unpopularity.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2024

Kamala Harris is Democrats’ future, no matter what

Whether with Harris as presidential nominee or No. 2 on Biden's tickets, Democrats should do what they should have done long ago: Elevate rather than sideline the VP.
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 14, 2024

Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'

These carefully choreographed images are often kept hidden in conservative Japan.
Olympic rings are displayed on Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris ahead of the city hosting the 2024 Olympic Games. One way of reducing the carbon emissions of mega sporting events is to limit the attendance of spectators traveling by air.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2024

Only locals should be allowed to attend the Olympics

The single best way of reducing the carbon emissions of an Olympics? Limiting ticket sales to locals. Evidence from the Tokyo Games shows how far-reaching the impact is.
George Clooney attends a premiere for the film "The Boys in the Boat" in Beverly Hills, California, on Dec. 11, 2023. Clooney, a lifelong Democrat who helped raised $30 million for U.S. President Joe Biden at an event last month, has now advocated for a new candidate.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 11, 2024

Hollywood turns against Biden as George Clooney warns ‘dam has broken’

Heavy hitters, including Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings and author Stephen King, have joined the chorus calling on Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 11, 2024

NATO allies gloomy on Biden’s prospects seek out Trump circle

Leaders at the alliances summit watched Biden's every move for another gaffe that would further undermine his electoral hopes.
An empty street in Fukiya, Okayama Prefecture. Japan may be both experiencing overtourism in some places and witnessing the opposite in others.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024

Japan doesn't have too many tourists, statistics suggest. It just feels that way.

The country received 0.2 tourists per capita in 2023, compared with France's 1.5, Greece's 3.4, Portugal's 2.5 and Spain's 1.8.
Public support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet marked a new low of 15.5% in July, Jiji poll shows.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 11, 2024

Kishida Cabinet's approval rating sinks to 15.5%, poll shows

The results marked a new low for the Liberal Democratic Party since it returned to power in December 2012.
U.S. President Joe Biden reacts to the audience during a campaign stop in Detroit on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 13, 2024

'I'm not going anywhere,' Biden says as campaign struggles

The 81-year-old president is trying to shift the conversation from his mental sharpness to the impact of another Donald Trump presidency.
Storage tanks at the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project controlled by oil companies Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies in Norway. The Norwegian government is funding 80% of the initial investment for the state-of-the-art facility.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2024

A giant carbon dump gives glimpse into net-zero future

As the cost of renewables declines at pace with fossil fuel use, the need for carbon, capture and storage tech will diminish, making cost reductions a challenge.
Secret Service agents cover former President Donald Trump immediately after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. The incident highlights America's historical and ongoing political violence.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2024

Trump’s shooting is a legacy of America’s violent past

Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally. The incident highlights America's historical and ongoing political violence.
Sue Mi Terry, then director at Bower Group Asia, speaks on a panel at the Asia Society in New York in 2017.
WORLD
Jul 17, 2024

Former White House official accused of acting as South Korea agent

In exchange for gifts, a foreign policy specialist is accused of giving South Korea information on the United States government, among other things.
Protesters mark the eighth anniversary of the 2016 arbitration ruling over China's claims in the South China Sea, in Quezon City, Philippines, on Friday. Beijing still refuses to abide by the ruling.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 17, 2024

South China Sea ruling anniversary and the disregard for the rule of law

Last Friday marked the eighth anniversary of the Philippines-China South China Sea arbitral tribunal ruling. That decision was a win for Manila.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance (right), the Republican's vice-presidential nominee, attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2024

J.D. Vance is red meat for Trump’s MAGA base

It’s a shrewd pick — a nod to Trump’s base. More than any of the other contenders, Vance’s selection shows that Trump wants to lock down the MAGA faithful.
China's success in retrieving samples from the far side of the moon and its strategic advances in space exploration are prompting calls for international collaboration amid growing concerns over efforts to achieve space dominance.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2024

It's too early to be fighting a space race with China

Lunar exploration is dangerous enough without turning it into a contest between great powers.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he has contracted COVID-19, forcing him to cancel an appearance before a key Latino advocacy group.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 18, 2024

Biden’s COVID-19 case delivers latest blow to hard-luck campaign

While U.S. President Joe Biden's symptoms are mild, the COVID-19 diagnosis removes him from the campaign trail and thrusts his health back into the spotlight.

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