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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 10, 2022

Japan warms up to the potential of cryptocurrencies

Mitsui & Co. is planning a cryptocurrency linked to the yen-denominated price of one gram of gold.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 10, 2022

South Korea’s nuclear energy future is a new election battleground

South Korea's top presidential candidates are offering diverging visions on nuclear power, though both agree the nation must soften its plans to phase it out to meet climate targets.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 10, 2022

Mikaela Shiffrin under same spotlight Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles faced at Tokyo Games

'It's been an OK couple of days but still tough because you feel like this moment is building and building and building and you feel a bit weighed down by it but I'm OK to feel that way.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2022

America’s frackers are back, and they’re looking leaner

Oil production this month will rise to 8.54 million barrels a day — just 730,000 barrels below the record in November 2019.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 9, 2022

The rise and fall of Japan's ski industry

Japan Times contributor Francesco Basetti joins Deep Dive to discuss the rise and fall of the Japanese ski industry, and how resorts are faring with so few people able to enjoy them.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2022

Is Britain really the world’s least racist country?

This new U.K. report on racism is different, as the reactions show. It was commissioned with a clear objective to 'change the narrative” and 'stop the sense of victimization.”
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 8, 2022

America's bitcoin miners have Georgia on their minds

Hundreds of thousands of mining machines worth billions of dollars are plugging into electrical grids across America, spawning an entirely new industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2022

Watch out for the facial recognition overlords

As the technology advances, today's gatekeepers of facial recognition are promising stringent security to protect the data. But is that a promise they can keep?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2022

Facebook has probably peaked. What can mark Zuckerberg do now?

With its long-term inability to build attractive new services in the face of growing competition, a new reality is sinking in: Facebook looks like a company in decline.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2022

Japan will take flexible approach on entry ban, COVID-19 minister says

The government will present a policy covering whether to ease the entry rules as early as next week, a report said.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Feb 3, 2022

Biden calls out Putin’s actions — but is he pushing Moscow to war?

The administration's goal is to expose Russia's plans at every turn, but that approach could also provoke Putin at a time when many believe he has not yet decided whether to invade Ukraine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2022

Financial illiteracy is not why people struggle

It's human nature to pay the creditors who shout the loudest rather than tackling financial problems in an organized fashion.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2022

In the Spotify saga, there are no real heroes

Some see both Neil Young and Joe Rogan as heroes for taking a stand; yet their records in these areas are far from pristine.
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Boiling Point
Aug 10, 2024

Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun

There are easily affordable ways to work some more cooling elements into your runs.
A Goku balloon from the “Dragon Ball” anime series takes part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan in November 2018. Japan’s creative industries are under threat as AI tools make it easy to mimic anime, manga and other forms of the nation’s artistic output.
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2024

Japan’s soft AI stance is betraying its anime artists

From Studio Ghibli to Pokemon, the country’s creatives have driven its influence and must be protected.
A man makes his way along an earthquake-damaged street in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in January. With last week's tremors in Kyushu and the nature of the Nankai Trough, some experts believe that the omens of a disaster can be seen.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 11, 2024

Japan is living in the shadow of the megaquake

People tend to view the quake threat in the abstract. It’s kind of like thinking about death — I know I’ll die someday, but I hope it won’t be today.
The destruction left behind by the Borel Fire near Lake Isabella, California, on July 29
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2024

Wildfires are getting weirder. Case in point: 'firenados.'

Sometimes fire thunderstorms even create their own lightning, which spawns new blazes miles away.
The only surprise about Ukraine's offensive into Russian territory is that it came so late into the war, and that’s primarily because of Western restrictions on the use of donated weapons.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

Want peace for Ukraine? Let it strike in Russia

The only surprise is that it came so late — 2½ years into President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te at the presidential office in Taipei on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Is it fifth time's the charm for Shigeru Ishiba?

Ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race, a short trip to Taiwan is allowing the former defense minister to burnish his foreign policy chops.
A return to the world with interest will almost certainly mean an increase in the bifurcation of Japan's haves and have-nots.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2024

Is Japan ready for a ‘world with interest?’

Ever since Ueda arrived at the central bank 15 months ago, economists have been debating what the "world with interest” will look like.
Henry VIII had to deal with xenophobic mobs in England too — and he did so harshly and imperfectly. But there’s an abiding lesson to be learned.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

The U.K. riots and an evil day 500 years ago in London

The enmity focused on the foreign-born may have been sparked by misinformation, but that doesn’t disguise the fact that the tinder was waiting to be lit in Britain.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s decision to step down as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader has thrown the race for his successor into uncertainty.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 15, 2024

Kishida’s resignation opens the door to a chaotic era

With Fumio Kishida's resignation, the LDP faces a crucial election next month with no clear front-runner to become its next leader.
The beauty of 'kaiseki' (Japanese haute cuisine), chef Shinichiro Takagi says, is that it represents the best elements of Japan's culinary traditional all working in tandem.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 18, 2024

Shinichiro Takagi sees a way forward for fine dining in Japan

The two-Michelin-starred chef sees two ways forward for fine dining in Japan: fostering domestic talent and adapting to international diners.
The refrain from linking the ruble's fall to the events unfolding just 530 kilometers southwest of Moscow illustrates a push within Russia to prevent bad economic news from reaching the wider public.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 16, 2024

Silence reigns in Russia over linking ruble fall to Ukrainian attack

The ruble touched a 10-month low against the dollar and the lowest level against the yuan since June 24 in the Aug. 13 session.
South Africa's 49-year-old skateboarding Olympian, Dallas Oberholzer, competes in the men's prelims during the Paris Games on Aug. 7.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2024

The oldest Olympians might hold the key to slowing down aging

As we age, the number of mitochondria in our cells declines, but that happens much more slowly in people who continue to do strenuous exercise.
New gene-edited crops could address climate change and agricultural challenges; however, high regulatory barriers and safety concerns limit innovation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 18, 2024

It’s time to embrace a new era of gene-edited food

New crops may improve our health or help us mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Despite the deep pessimism about the Gaza cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas, many parties involved, including the U.S., Egypt, Qatar, the Gulf States, Lebanon and Iran, stand to gain from an end to the hostilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 16, 2024

Only agents of chaos want more war in Gaza

It took a decade for the U.S. to catch Osama bin Laden after al-Qaida’s 9/11 attacks; Israel may need to wait on catching Hamas’ Yahya Sinwar, too.

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