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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2021

The U.S. military needs a lot more recruits

Defending against new threats will require the U.S. to replenish its all-volunteer force — a task made harder by the dwindling number of Americans willing and able to serve.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2021

How to keep crypto from crashing the financial system

The volatility, transaction costs and carbon footprint of Bitcoin, for example, have made it largely useless for purposes other than speculation and ransomware (and even there it has flaws).
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2021

A book you remember, a Kindle you forget

When reading on a digital device, the fear is that the loss of mental effort will lead to a loss in overall thoughtfulness.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jul 9, 2021

China's Didi crackdown is all about controlling big data

The crackdown shows how big data is quickly turning into the next major battleground in a clash of superpowers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2021

China breaks the global model of venture capital investing

Now, China's crackdown on its ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc. raises an uncomfortable question for the venture capital funds: Does their globe-trotting model work?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2021

Ransomware attacks will end, but not anytime soon

Hackers will eventually 'overfish” the pool of ransomware victims. At some point there will be so many attacks that most institutions will have no choice but to respond.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2021

The real reason no one wants to be a banker anymore

Analysts say banks are becoming more like machines, 'with less dependency on human capital.”
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 6, 2021

Czech Olympic outfit blends tradition with Japanese twist

Designer Zuzana Osako scoured the folk traditions of her country and Japan for a common thread to weave into the Czech Republic's Olympic team outfits for the Tokyo Games opening ceremony, turning heads but also drawing criticism.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2021

The curious case of the Balkan war criminals

International tribunals are largely ceremonial until leaders who commit war crimes are ousted, or their armies defeated.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Jul 6, 2021

When will China rule the world? Maybe never.

A combination of reform failure, international isolation and financial crisis could halt China before it reaches the top.
OLYMPICS / Longform
Jul 5, 2021

Twists and turns: Retracing Tokyo’s tumultuous path to the Olympics

Games organizers have been forced to confront ballooning costs, accusations of plagiarism and bribery, and — to top it all off — a crippling global pandemic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2021

Heat domes are a red-hot warning on climate costs

The true cost of global warming should include weather problems that we haven't even thought about yet — 'unknown unknowns,” in the parlance of the late Donald Rumsfeld.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2021

Same job, but the woman makes $200,000 less

Women account for nearly 14% of all named executive officers at Russell 3000 companies, up 60% over the past decade, according to Equilar Inc. But that's still a small number.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Jul 4, 2021

Japan Times 1946: Parliamentary Japan ushers in new era as five women mount Lower House rostrum

History takes place in the Diet as five women politicians address the Lower House. Hisako Yoneyama, a Social Democrat, has the distinction of being the first woman to speak.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s reluctance to engage with newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump while strengthening ties with China raises concerns about Japan’s strategic priorities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 31, 2025

Ishiba nudges his ‘little Japan’ closer to China

Prime Minister Ishiba’s reluctance to engage with Trump while strengthening ties with China raises concerns about Japan’s strategic priorities and its alliance with the U.S.
Silicon Valley’s shock at DeepSeek exposes U.S. tech elites’ insularity and the unintended consequences of U.S. policies aimed at restricting China’s technological progress.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2025

Why Chinese tech keeps surprising the West

DeepSeek is the latest product from China to shock the U.S. tech broligarchy. It won’t be the last.
Fuji TV executives take questions during a news conference on Monday in Tokyo in which some participants became unruly.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2025

Fuji TV’s go-big PR strategy wins grudging praise globally

Fuji TV held a marathon 10-hour news conference on Monday to address allegations of sexual misconduct by Masahiro Nakai, a celebrity and former presenter for the broadcaster.
German President Horst Koehler makes a speech at an event in Leipzig on Oct. 9, 2009.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2025

Horst Koehler, former German president and IMF chief, dies at 81

Despite being a largely unknown figure before assuming the presidency, Koehler quickly proved himself in opinion polls to be one of Germany's most popular political figures.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference as Ottawa responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's order to impose tariffs on Canadian imports, in Ottawa on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 2, 2025

‘Complete betrayal’: Canada reels as Trump tariffs rattle major trading relationship

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking on a bitterly cold night in Ottawa, said Trump’s move left his government with no choice but to respond forcefully.
Bollywood faced a challenging year in 2024, with box-office collections dropping significantly, leading to concerns about a return to lawlessness in Mumbai.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

Bollywood’s dark past is threatening to return

When everything starts bombing for Bollywood, things take a sinister turn in Mumbai.
The Imperial Household Agency's Instagram account boasts over 1.8 million followers.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 3, 2025

Imperial Household Agency finds success on Instagram amid public relations push

With the account boasting over 1.8 million followers, the agency is aiming to boost engagement.
A member of the former rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stands guard near an image of Assad at the fourth division headquarters in Damascus on Jan. 23.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 3, 2025

Digital discord: Online disinformation sows discontent in Syria

There are fears online disinformation is derailing the transition of power after Sunni Islamist rebels defeated Assad in December.
A U.S. Marine provides water to Afghan families during the evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August 2021.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2025

Abandoning Afghans who worked with us troops is shameful

The urgency is driven by a simple fact: The Afghans who helped us, along with their family members, are considered traitors by the ruling Taliban.
The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, also called the Chinese Six Companies, formed in San Francisco in 1882, was a unifying umbrella organization for immigrant associations, becoming one of the first such influential community advocacy groups in America.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

America versus China, the troubling prequel

A forthcoming book details the horrific experience of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. in the 19th century. Is it an omen for the future?
DeepSeek's impressive AI breakthroughs have sparked global attention but face mounting U.S. scrutiny, with potential bans unlikely to stop its open-source technology from spreading worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025

DeepSeek’s breakthroughs are too big for the U.S. to ban

The national security concerns behind the U.S. push to ban TikTok are even more pronounced when it comes to generative AI.
A Palestinian sits among the rubble of buildings destroyed during an Israeli offensive in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2025

Trump aides defend Gaza takeover proposal but walk back some elements

Trump shattered decades of U.S. policy with a vaguely worded announcement saying he envisioned transforming Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East."
Nissan needed this deal a lot more than Honda as billions of dollars of debt due in the next year closes in.
COMMENTARY
Feb 6, 2025

Scrapping Honda deal would leave Nissan stranded

Nissan needed this deal a lot more than Honda. As billions of dollars of debt due in the next year close in, the former may get pushed into an even less favorable deal.
Gaza’s reconstruction is needed, but U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach — framing it as a business deal without addressing Palestinian political aspirations — makes little sense as foreign policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2025

Trump’s ‘Gaza Riviera’ scheme may be more than a fantasy

It’s tempting to dismiss Donald Trump’s bid to take over Gaza as just another wild proposal, designed more to change the conversation and wrong-foot negotiating partners than as policy.
China, under President Xi Jinping, is resisting Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, but may need to respond with major fiscal stimulus, currency devaluation or allowing TikTok’s sale to navigate economic challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025

China’s Mr. Big Won’t Cave in to Trump for Nothing

Does Xi Jinping have a trade war game plan? He’ll need to make hard choices.
Philippine National Security Council Assistant Director-General Jonathan Malaya says information and psychological warfare have "become part and parcel" of China's malign influence in his country.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 7, 2025

Chinese hybrid warfare ops surge in Philippines: top security official

There has been a rise in Chinese disinformation tactics as well as suspected surveillance and espionage activities in the Philippines, the official said.

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