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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2021

Climate change will kill national sovereignty as we know it

In a world where all countries collectively face the planetary emergency of global warming, sovereignty is simply no longer a tenable concept.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2021

Death row inmates sue over Japan's 'inhumane' same-day notification policy

Those awaiting execution in the country are usually not informed of the date of their punishment until the day itself.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 4, 2021

Unpacking Japan’s post-election narratives

Though the LDP maintained a stable majority, Osaka-based Nippon Ishin no Kai was the biggest winner in the election, securing 41 seats — 31 more than its previous 10.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2021

Joe Manchin tells Democrats what they need to hear

If the best that other Democrats can do is accuse Joe Manchin of being 'the new Mitch McConnell,” they may as well give up.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 3, 2021

China moves to quash online rumors that Taiwan war is looming

The controversy shows the challenge President Xi Jinping's government faces in trying to manage Chinese public sentiment over Taiwan, even with its vast censorship powers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2021

The domestic and migrant workers left behind by Singapore’s travel lanes

Left behind by this exodus after the start of quarantine-free travel are more than half a million domestic and migrant workers, many of whom haven't seen their families in years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2021

How Russia and Belarus are weaponizing migration

Belarus has been flying refugees from various points in the Middle East — Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria — then herding them toward neighboring countries that are members of the European Union.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2021

Britain begins to think the unthinkable: Life after the queen

'Long live the Queen” was the proclamation made following her accession to the throne. But ever since her husband's death her subjects are beginning to grasp that her life has a terminus.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2021

The next big hack could come from the stars

Some 30 years of internet history shows us that businesses and governments may not truly take security seriously until a massive hack occurs and satellites are breached or lost.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2021

China’s climate goals hinge on a $440 billion nuclear buildout

China's planning at least 150 new reactors in the next 15 years, more than the rest of the world has built in the past 35.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 2, 2021

Nippon Ishin faces fundamental hurdles to further electoral success

Experts say it's likely that the party will remain official outsiders but mostly align with the ruling coalition's policies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2021

Why financial firms can’t be climate change cops

Trying to force an industry that's designed to pursue profit to become the climate-change sheriff sounds a bit like foxes guarding henhouses.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2021

Voting in Japan's Lower House election kicks off in first test of Kishida’s popularity

All 465 seats — 289 single-member districts and 176 elected under proportional representation — will be contested, with the ruling bloc widely seen as maintaining a simple majority.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 30, 2021

New opera ‘Yuzuru’ cautions against the dangers of capitalism

For his first foray into opera, dramatist Toshiki Okada is modernizing a Japanese classic, centering it on 'the damaging influence of capitalism' instead of a tragic love story.
U.S. President Joe Biden waves as he walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Woodside, California, in November 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 29, 2024

China pressing U.S. to alter language on Taiwan after request from Xi to Biden

Xi's aides have repeatedly followed up and made the requests in the months since, U.S. officials have said.
Today's religious thinkers face the challenge of demonstrating that faith offers deeper meaning and understanding in an increasingly secular world.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

Is the world ready for a religious comeback?

Individuals are seeking meaning through alternative avenues, suggesting a readiness for religious discourse.
Masayoshi Son last month invested $500 million in OpenAI through his Vision Fund, having missed out on the AI company’s previous funding rounds.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2024

Masayoshi Son inflates the AI bubble even more

Masayoshi Son last month invested $500 million in OpenAI through his Vision Fund, having missed out on the AI company’s previous funding rounds.
The Liberal Democratic Party's panel meets at the party headquarters in Tokyo in April to discuss measures to ensure stable imperial successions.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 30, 2024

U.N. panel urges Japan to revise imperial succession rules

The panel also urged Japan to implement a law revision toward introducing a selective dual surname system for married couples.
Tohoku Electric Power workers restart the Unit 2 reactor of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2024

A lack of workers threatens Japan's nuclear power revival

The slow revival of nuclear power has dramatically worsened a skills crunch visible across the nation’s nuclear industry.
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris along with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff attend a rally on the National Mall in Washington one week before the Nov. 5 national election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

The U.S. election is happening too soon

The upcoming U.S. election is unlikely to lead to national renewal or a decisive defeat of MAGA populism.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Sept. 26. There is increasing pressure in the U.S. for a negotiated settlement, but finding a viable peace solution amid Ukraine's deteriorating conditions is complex.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

Trump, Harris, Zelenskyy — no one’s plan will end the war

There is increasing pressure in the U.S. for a negotiated settlement, but finding a viable peace solution amid Ukraine's deteriorating conditions is complex.
Mike Tyson is scheduled to fight Jake Paul in Arlington, Texas, on Nov. 15.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Oct 31, 2024

Mike Tyson brushes off criticism of upcoming fight against Jake Paul

British promoter Eddie Hearn dismissed the bout as "dangerous, irresponsible and disrespectful to boxing."
Tech entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist Masayoshi Son made his fortune by becoming a bridge between California's technology culture and Japan.
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2024

Masayoshi Son may be the oddest of the oddball billionaires

Masayoshi Son made his fortune by becoming a bridge between Californian tech culture and Japan.
Krishna Srinivasan, director of the International Monetary Fund's Asia Pacific Department
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 1, 2024

Japan must avoid issuing debt to fund fresh spending, IMF says

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has pledged to compile another large-scale spending package to cushion the blow to households from the rising cost of living.
Officials gather at the BRICS summit in Russia on Oct. 24. It it estimated that by 2040-2050, the gross domestic product of the Group of Seven countries will be surpassed by that of emerging economies, raising questions as to whether the U.S. is prepared for this shift.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 1, 2024

The U.S. is unprepared for a multipolar world

There is little acknowledgement in the U.S. that the world it now made up of multiple centers of power, which risks making Washington's foreign policy ineffective.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an official welcoming ceremony with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on June 19. Some 10,000 Korean soldiers are headed to the battlefields of Ukraine to assist Russia in its illegal invasion.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2024

North Korea troop deal exposes Putin's weakness

Many North Korean soldiers will die and some will desert despite the consequences, but their military impact will likely be insignificant.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 2, 2024

Democrats have a plan if Trump prematurely declares election victory

Trump said he hoped to be able to declare victory on Election Day, but experts have cautioned that it could be days before the final result is known.
Ukrainian law enforcement officers comfort a woman crying over the body of her 15-year-old son following a missile attack in Kharkiv on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 2, 2024

In Ukraine, hopes of war breakthrough slim whoever wins U.S. election

For many in war-torn county, the outcome of the U.S. election and its impact on the war with Russia feels less likely to be pivotal than it once did.

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