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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2020

COVID-19, disease surveillance and smart cities

Tracking infections is vital to containing the pandemic, but it also creates mind-bending opportunities for social control.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2020

The Chinese Health Organization?

The WHO director-general should be taken to task for his deference to China throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2020

Diplomacy is another victim of the virus

China's “wolf warriors” are just responding to pressures that envoys everywhere are feeling in the age of social media.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2020

We can’t get together until tests get better

More coronavirus tests won't be enough to stop social distancing, but better tests might be.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2020

Coronavirus has exposed the EU’s creeping irrelevance

Europe's nations were supposed to find a common identity and strength in unity. The pandemic has shown this to be a figment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2020

Kim rumors rekindle fears of a ‘weak’ North Korea

Instability in North Korea could spark a clash between the U.S. and China over the future of the northern half of the peninsula.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2020

Children may be the silent victims of coronavirus

With schools closed and health systems overwhelmed, the pandemic may impose high costs on vulnerable kids.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 27, 2020

High-seas energy fight off Malaysia draws U.S. and Chinese warships

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has accused China of 'exploiting” the world's focus on the COVID-19 pandemic with provocations in the South China Sea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2020

Trump’s personal diplomacy is dead, even if Kim isn’t

The U.S. tradition of putting personalities ahead of power politics seems to matter less and less.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2020

Pandemic data could be deadly for the old

Using biased data to allocate resources could perpetuate a high mortality rate.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 22, 2020

It’s time for arms talks with China

We're heading toward a future in which nuclear weapons will move from the background to the foreground of the U.S.-China relationship.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2020

Will the comeback of plastic bags outlast the COVID-19 pandemic?

Reusable products are eyed with suspicion now, but sustainability still has a bright future.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 21, 2020

Kim Jong Un returns to spotlight as questions over North Korean leader's fate arise

News of his incapacitation or death would have serious implications for Tokyo as Japan and the world continue to grapple with the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2020

Moral trade-offs in a time of pandemic

Policymakers must tread a fine line between saving lives and saving livelihoods.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2020

In era of COVID-19, a shift to digital forms of teaching in Japan

Even at the university level, where most students and faculty should have a degree of competency when it comes to digital tools, institutions fall short.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 20, 2020

Trump and the WHO: the wrong time to pick a fight

Once again, Japan must step up to fill the leadership vacuum created by a U.S. withdrawal from a multilateral agency.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2020

Strength in numbers: A more open approach to tracking the virus in Japan

Like many foreign residents of Japan during the early days of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, Shane Reustle and Jiahui Zhou recall poring over websites run by the health ministry and local municipalities to try to get a clear picture of how infections were spreading in the world’s third-largest economy....
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 18, 2020

With fishing fleets tied up due to COVID-19, marine life has a chance to recover

Plummeting global demand for fish and seafood as a result of the coronavirus crisis is likely to create an effect similar to the halt of commercial fishing during both world wars, when the idling of fleets led to the rebound of fish stocks.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2020

Japan should drop strings on virus aid, economist says

The government is getting its response to the virus wrong by adding strings to its financial assistance for companies and people, and by not engineering a tighter lockdown, according to best-selling author and economist Yukio Noguchi.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 16, 2020

Japan's governors under the spotlight as coronavirus pandemic rages

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted the national government to declare an emergency in seven prefectures. This, in turn, has put the spotlight on the powers and responsibilities of prefectural governors. Though often compared to state governors elsewhere, there are key differences.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2020

COVID-19 pandemic is no soft power victory for China

There is no doubt that China is assisting the world in taking on the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is not experiencing a global soft power victory by attracting new partners to its side.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 15, 2020

COVID-19 pandemic prompts a digital revolution

Even as the novel coronavirus pandemic throws the global economy into turmoil and as commercial activities are paralyzed in Japan under the state of emergency declared by the government, at least one sector is seeing an expansion in demand — “virtual” business models and online transactions that...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2020

The Mekong is the test of China’s leadership

To show real leadership, China must recognize the needs of downstream nations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 15, 2020

Tears of joy in Japan

A pair of studies offer important guidance for maximizing personal well-being during this stressful time.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2020

The other contagion: Political and religious fanaticism

The only way to contain the threat from extremists during the pandemic is to discredit their insidious ideologies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2020

Amid COVID-19 outbreak, old tensions rear their heads

Amid an all- consuming fight against the coronavirus, the U.S. and Japan must be ready for renewed tensions with China over Taiwan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 13, 2020

Keep a distance of 1.8 meters to avoid a catastrophe

The future of Japan depends on decisions by leaders and actions taken by every individual.
JAPAN / History
Apr 11, 2020

Looking for solace in Japanese mythology during a pandemic

Amid growing anxiety over an invisible pathogen that has so far claimed tens of thousands of lives worldwide, some Japanese are turning to faith and mythology for solace.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami