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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2021

What inflation in 2022 will teach us about capitalism

Since the 1980s, capitalism has evolved to keep inflation under control. The risk now is that capitalism has embarked on a regime change.
JAPAN / Politics / Outlook 2022
Dec 31, 2021

2022 will offer key tests of Kishida's ability to grow into PM role

An upcoming Upper House poll and the omicron variant are among the things that will test the prime minister's capacity to build on successes and lessons from 2021.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2021

Young talent isn’t following the money to Wall Street

The talent pool is being drawn elsewhere. Traditional investment banks can't win them back just by upping starting salaries.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2021

America would be much happier with more people

Even measured in absolute terms, the increase in U.S. population growth was smaller than during the confluence of World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2021

China vs. the British Commonwealth

A current situation within the Commonwealth can be summed up in four words, 'the Chinese have arrived,' to which the critic can add four more words, 'the British have departed.'
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 28, 2021

Germany wants its Russian pipeline. German allies aren’t sure it’s a good idea.

With thousands of Russian troops massing on the border with Ukraine and a threat of possible U.S. sanctions against the pipeline, the future of Nord Stream 2 remains anything but certain.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 28, 2021

COVID-19, diversity and art were among the things we were talking about in 2021

Paralympics announcer Jason Hancock said it best, 'I feel our generation has the ability to bring a fully inclusive Japan closer to reality.'
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 27, 2021

Prices to take center stage at Bank of Japan’s January meeting

Japan's inflation remains subdued when compared with price growth in other major economies, as firms continue to absorb higher input prices.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2021

A gas pipeline won’t turn Russia and China into buddies

The Power of Siberia 2 pipeline is presented as something akin to a marriage proposal between Russian and China, bringing two leading authoritarian states closer together.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 25, 2021

Beware that nocebo strapped to your wrist

There's good reason to think twice about whether tech users will truly benefit from 24-7 monitoring and arbitrary goals served up by an algorithm.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2021

Is NASA’s new telescope worth the risks?

For decades, America has been at the forefront of astronomy and astrophysics. It'd be a mistake to cede that leadership thanks to needless cost overruns and delays.
A CH-148 Cyclone helicopter and a CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft fly over the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Winnipeg in the Asia-Pacific region in November 2020. Canada has been gradually boosting its military engagement with Asian partners.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2024

Canada and Japan aiming to rapidly expand defense ties

Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair has said he thinks there are "unlimited areas of cooperation" between the two countries.
The deepening rift and growing geopolitical divide between the United States and Europe threatens the trans-Atlantic alliance.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2024

The U.S. will abandon Europe. But when and how?

The deepening rift and growing geopolitical divide between the United States and Europe threatens the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Looming interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and a new hawkishness on the part of the Bank of Japan can make a claim for the yens recent movements.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 13, 2024

Epic yen rally is a lesson in the lost art of FX intervention

Japan's own proactive currency interventions have played a crucial role in the yen's recent recovery.
Activists hold up symbolic eye masks during a protest against deepfake porn in Seoul on Aug. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2024

South Korea is facing deepfake porn crisis

The industry creating AI technology must develop safeguards to address this epidemic.
Family members mourn and react next to the coffin of the slain Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei at the Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital (MTRH) funeral home, in Eldoret, Kenya, on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 14, 2024

Uganda buries slain Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei with full military honors

Rebecca Cheptegei suffered burns to 80% of her body after her former boyfriend allegedly doused her in petrol and set her alight.
Candidates for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidential election stand together onstage at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2024

LDP presidential hopefuls outline approach to U.S. and China concerns

The nine candidates jostled over the best way to resolve Nippon Steel's contentious bid for U.S. Steel, while also grappling with the Chinese military challenge.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa passes against the Bills at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Sep 15, 2024

Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa urged to retire after latest concussion

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has faced calls on to retire from the NFL for his own health after suffering his third documented concussion.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, a candidate in the LDP presidential election, speaks during a televised debate in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2024

LDP presidential front-runners Koizumi and Ishiba split on snap election

While the two front-runners vie to be Japan’s next prime minister, conservative firebrand Sanae Takaichi gains momentum in the polls.
Managers, in their effort to avoid appearing sexist, often provide women with insincere or inconsistent feedback during performance reviews.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2024

Women don’t always get the candid feedback they deserve

Managers, in their effort to avoid appearing sexist, often provide women with insincere or inconsistent feedback during performance reviews.
LDP presidential race candidates give campaign speeches in Nagoya on Saturday.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2024

Ishiba and Takaichi struggle to widen support among LDP lawmakers

The situation is still uncertain, as about 100 LDP lawmakers have not decided whom to support in the Sept. 27 party leadership election.
Campaign spending in the U.S. has surged, with dark money and Super PACs dominating elections.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 13, 2024

Dark money is a cancer on U.S. lawmakers — but it’s curable

Nearly three-fourths of Americans voters say lobbyists and special interests wield too much influence compared to constituents.
The real significance of Brussels' case against Apple is that it will increase pressure to reform how multinationals allocate their profits globally and are taxed.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 15, 2024

Ireland struck it rich with Apple. Others struck it poor.

The Apple case highlights the need for global tax reforms to ensure multinationals pay taxes where they operate, benefiting countries beyond just Ireland.
The scariest aspect of America’s recent debate is that Trump’s over-the-top comments revealed a serious risk that needs global attention, not just in the U.S.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2024

Trump is right about WWIII, wrong on the analysis

The risks of nuclear war go beyond campaign hyperbole. What, though, should the U.S. do? Prepare for World War III? If it’s coming anyway, that would seem prudent.
The core issue holding back the quicker adoption of electric vehicles is the high cost and complexity of installing DC fast chargers, essential for quick EV refueling.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2024

EV charging faces deeper problems than we realize

The core issue holding back the quicker adoption of electric vehicles is the high cost and complexity of installing DC fast chargers, essential for quick EV refueling.
In China, discussing feminism is apparently forbidden, as seen with the controversy over the maker of Black Myth: Wukong censoring feminist topics during streaming, despite its global success and praise for visuals and gameplay. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2024

Wukong makes equal rights for women a taboo topic

Women are increasingly active consumers in the gaming industry: The growth rate of new female gamers in Asia is nearly double that of males.
Candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election take part in a debate in Tokyo on Saturday. On Monday evening, they took part in an online debate, during which they each made a case for what the top priority should be for Japan's next prime minister.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2024

LDP presidential hopefuls lay out priorities for PM in online debate

Regional revitalization, work-life balance and the clarification of the Self-Defense Forces' position in the Constitution count among candidates' top policy concerns.
Japan's export growth slowed sharply in August as shipments to the United States dropped for the first time in three years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 18, 2024

Japan’s export growth slows as external demand moderates

Imports climbed 2.3%, falling short of the 15% gain forecast by economists, with trade deficit widening to ¥695.3 billion.
Japan might have created the PlayStation brand, but the cost of the latest generation of the console will exclude all but the most hardcore fans.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 18, 2024

PS5 Pro price is a sticker shock for the country that made the PlayStation

With even an entry-level PS5 now costing some ¥72,980 following the latest hike last month, an entire generation of Japanese could be cut off.
A soldier stands guard near the American University of Beirut Medical Center after as many as 2,800 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2024

Hezbollah pager attack looks like a decapitation strike

The sophisticated nature of the attack, involving the insertion of explosive material into pagers, suggests a high level of intelligence and planning.

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