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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2021

Europe is finally hitting Google where it hurts most

Forget the $9 billion of fines that came before. They barely scratched the surface. For Google, this is the big one.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2021

What 16th-century Venice teaches us about crypto

If Bitcoin and its ilk are to survive, they will need to find a way to betray their libertarian roots and cut their own deals with the state.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2021

Face masks were a booming business. Until they weren’t.

Face masks were the most ubiquitous visual symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they're fading from sight as more and more people get vaccinated.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2021

Another pink tide? Latin America's left galvanized by rising star in Peru

A new shift to the left in Latin America could impact the balance of diplomacy with the United States and China.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2021

A scary plan to revise the definition of death in the U.S.

The current law's silence about how brain death is diagnosed means that someone could be found legally dead in Nevada even if ruled alive in Kansas.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2021

Putin's right. There is no escaping the dollar.

China's campaign to internationalize the yuan, which received backing from the International Monetary Fund in 2016, is going nowhere fast.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 20, 2021

Japan’s refusal to sanction Myanmar undermines Biden’s strategy

Tokyo's reluctance to put financial pressure on the junta shows the difficulties Washington faces in convincing Asian allies to put real teeth behind calls to defend democracy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 20, 2021

The Japanese scientist fighting prejudice, misinformation and COVID-19

Akiko Iwasaki is leading a team of immunologists hoping to beat 'long COVID-19' while also debunking myths surrounding the coronavirus.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2021

A vaccine the world badly needs looks better than ever

The vaccine is also more stable and easily stored than mRNA vaccines, which will be helpful in broad distribution.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 18, 2021

Inside Hong Kong's Apple Daily, China's besieged liberal media icon

Thursday's early-morning raid by 500 police officers was a shock, not only to Apple Daily staffers but to journalists throughout China's freest city.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2021

Europe's debt avalanche is just about to start

For supporters of EU integration, it's clearly a signal of intent that Brussels intends to be treated in the same way as the established major bond-issuing nations
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2021

Wall Street is dealing like it’s 2007

At this rate, the value of private equity purchases in 2021 will surpass the total for all of 2020 in just a few weeks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
While Valentine’s Day in the West is traditionally associated with men giving flowers to women, in Japan the day has typically involved women giving gifts of chocolate to men.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2025

A sweet Japanese Valentine's Day tradition is nearly dead

The custom of giri-choco, loosely meaning "obligatory chocolate,” was once commonplace in offices around the country.
One of the representatives of 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, Terumi Tanaka, speaks during the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony in Oslo City Hall on Dec 10.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2025

Over 80% in U.S. unaware of Nihon Hidankyo's Nobel Prize: poll

The proportion of respondents who said that they knew of Nihon Hidankyo's award and the reason behind it stood below 10% in all seven countries polled.
Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) battle along the boards for a loose puck during a game in  Edmonton, Alberta, on Jan. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2025

The NHL could’ve had a good year if not for tariffs

In 2016, the league denied an expansion franchise to Quebec, citing the "state and volatility of the Canadian dollar.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin of Russia after a military parade on Victory Day in Red Square in Moscow on May 9, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2025

EU seeks a military revival under pressure from Putin and Trump

European leaders have been charged with reviving the continent’s military power after almost 80 years in which they essentially outsourced much of their security to the U.S.
Karlheinz Rabas, an 87-year-old historian, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on Jan. 16
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

German voters demand change as Europe's biggest economy stalls

A constitutional debt brake has prevented successive governments from making vital investments needed to overhaul Germany's ailing economic model.
Kodai Furutani, the assistant chief priest at Ryugasan Unmon Temple in Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, is working to become an interfaith chaplain.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025

Monk in chaplain training urges people to face death and live life

There is a deep-seated idea in Japan that a monk being seen at a hospital is a bad omen, as their presence reminds patients and medical staff of death.
While DeepSeek's low-cost AI has attracted businesses, security experts warn that patching these vulnerabilities can be expensive and still less secure than Silicon Valley's more expensive models.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

The DeepSeek AI revolution has a security problem

The AI model that shocked Silicon Valley by doing more with less might be doing too little on safety. That could hurt its business prospects.
U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza proposal is a reckless plan that would forcibly displace Palestinians, destabilize neighboring countries, empower Iran and and hinder any long-term peace efforts.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

Trump’s Gaza plan is a crazy answer to a valid question

It is a propsal that will love Israel to death, revive Iran to life and destabilize every American friend.
America's leading spokesperson on matters of public health, the surgeon general, has issued an advisory linking alcohol consumption to cancer, urging greater awareness and policy changes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

It's time to rethink how safe alcohol is

Raising awareness about the risks is key to helping people make decisions about drinking.
Manchester City's Omar Marmoush with manager Pep Guardiola after being substituted during a Premier League match against Newcastle United in Manchester on Saturday.
SOCCER
Feb 18, 2025

Manchester City's fresh faces offer hope of Madrid miracle

City blew a late 2-1 lead in the first leg of the playoff tie last week at home to lose 3-2 to the holders.
A banner belonging to the "Alley of Angels" project displays images of children purportedly killed in conflict, at a demonstration of far-right groups in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 25, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2025

How a Moscow-linked exhibit tried to erode German support for Ukraine

Publicly, the exhibit’s organizers say they aren’t affiliated with any government and are driven by a desire to end the suffering.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged troops for a Ukraine peacekeeping force, but Britain and its military lack the resources to deliver.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Starmer offers Ukraine a defense check it can't cash

Under Starmer’s leadership, there has been no sign that the U.K. is ready to expand its armed forces to the numbers that could sustain such a campaign.
Taiwan worries that Donald Trump’s dealmaking with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine signals uncertainty for its own security, and the island democracy is boosting  efforts to strengthen U.S. ties and defense spending.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Trump’s phone call with Putin is causing a stir in Taiwan

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te’s government should consider what it can offer Trump to avoid becoming a pawn in the U.S.-China rivalry.
An explosion of a drone and tracers are seen in the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike in Kyiv on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Dismay and defiance in Kyiv as Trump takes 'enemy's side'

Ukrainians decry the U.S. President's accusation against their leader of starting the war with Russia, saying they had no other choice than to fight.
Supporters watch archive footage of speeches by South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol on a screen near the Central District Court in Seoul on Thursday, as the ousted South Korean leader became the country's first sitting head of state to stand trial in a criminal case.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 20, 2025

Ousted South Korean president sought to stop 'dictatorship,' lawyer says

Yoon Suk Yeol has has been behind bars since he was arrested last month on charges of insurrection.
Rebel fighters with the Rwanda-backed M23 militia secure Congolese soldiers who had surrendered in Goma, Congo, on Jan. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

Sanctions on Rwanda alone won't stop war in DRC

Past peace efforts collapsed as Rwanda accused the DRC of sheltering the FDLR, a Hutu militia tied to the 1994 Tutsi genocide.
Prime Minister Shiger Ishiba waits for the Lower House Budget Committee session to begin in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Dispute over funds scandal questioning delays budget talks as CDP seeks leverage

Veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — a priority for the government.
Many Japanese companies like Toto have quietly shifted from consumer-facing products like toilets to specialized, high-value industries such as semiconductor materials, proving that Japan's innovation remains strong despite its lower global visibility.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2025

Japan’s toilet jokes are on you. Innovation is flourishing.

One of the most surprising stories in corporate Japan in recent months has been the emergence of semiconductor materials as a significant profit driver at Toto.

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