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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2021

Biden stumbles with cryptocurrency tax-collection plan

Since investors first started trading cryptocurrencies a decade ago, the IRS has been slow to define the rules of the road.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 27, 2021

Japan doctors union warns games could lead to 'Tokyo Olympic' virus strain

IOC member John Coates has said the Olympics could be held even under a COVID-19 state of emergency, an opinion the union's leader said was infuriating.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2021

London’s pubs and restaurants aren’t out of the woods yet

Rules such as staying at least one meter away from anyone not from your household limits how many people a pub or restaurant can serve at a given time.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2021

China should celebrate its Mars success by sharing

The propaganda value of a landing on another planet, as the Communist Party prepares to celebrate its centenary, is not lost on Beijing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2021

Sexy tea, the 'Lion King' and Taiwan's lost innocence

In just one week earlier this month, the case count for COVID-19 infections in Taiwan spiked by more than 40%, and it's likely that figure will keep climbing.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
May 26, 2021

Death threats and arrests: Belarus opposition media struggles at home and abroad

The Belarusian Association of Journalists says 477 journalists were detained in 2020.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2021

This Bitcoin chaos will blow up your cyberpunk utopia

The mania and panic that have gripped decentralized cryptocurrencies are heightening the attraction of their coming rivals: digital cash, issued by central banks.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2021

Asia’s COVID-19 surges should worry us all

Variants must be caught before they explode, and we can't afford to overlook what's happening now across the region.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 24, 2021

Huarong drama: Inside the race to avert disaster at China’s biggest ‘bad bank’

The company's fate will test China's vast, debt-ridden financial system, the technocrats working to fix it, and the foreign banks and investors caught in the middle.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 24, 2021

Marc Davies: ‘To write beautifully is to solve a fundamental problem of art’

Nationally acclaimed calligrapher Marc Davies has been practicing shodu014d since 1996, achieving the rank of Master Instructor in 2019. Here, he shares his take on the art form.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 24, 2021

Risk of nuclear war over Taiwan in 1958 said to be greater than publicly known

The famed source of the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, has made another unauthorized disclosure — and wants to be prosecuted for it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2021

Where is the economic case for Scottish independence?

The threat of an independent Scotland hasn't gone away, but the U.K. government still has many cards to play to preserve the most durable union in democratic history.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2021

What explains America’s antagonism toward China?

In the last few years, the view of China as a strategic rival has taken over the American political mainstream, with leaders largely choosing confrontation over cooperation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2021

‘Minari’ haunted me by what it left out

Growing up, I never saw my Korean American parents touch each other. No hugs or kisses, or even pats on the back. It wasn’t the byproduct of a loveless marriage, just the consequences of a life centered on survival — that endless list of unsexy chores. I’ve lived 30 years without acknowledging...
Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold placards showing a picture of Yoon during a rally near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Feb. 25.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

South Korean court says Yoon can leave jail

The Seoul Central District Court accepted Yoon’s complaint against his arrest, it said Friday in a text message.
Japan is grappling with a budget shortfall, and while raising the tax-free threshold has sparked political debate, the country's booming tourism industry presents an untapped revenue source.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2025

Japan has a revenue hole. Plug it with tourists

More than 35 years after sales tax was first introduced, it remains incredibly unpopular and reducing it is a regular promise of opposition parties.
Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney speaks after he won the race to become leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party and will succeed Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister, in Ottawa on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2025

Mark Carney wins Canada Liberal contest and will succeed Trudeau in days

Carney takes the reins at a time when the White House is creating upheaval in the global economy — and with U.S. trading partners — with increasingly chaotic tariff announcements.
When Ukraine gets bulldozed into accepting a ceasefire on the capitulatory terms President Vladimir Putin might accept, Trump’s America will dismiss complaints from Kyiv as warmongering.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2025

Kyiv and Moscow are divided by a valley of lies

When Ukraine gets bulldozed into accepting a ceasefire on the capitulatory terms Putin might accept, Trump’s America will dismiss complaints from Kyiv as warmongering.
Artificial intelligence is set to disrupt white-collar jobs, making it crucial for knowledge workers to embrace AI, develop backup plans and adapt to an evolving job market.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2025

How to hedge against AI stealing your job

"Knowledge workers" need a back-up plan as artificial intelligence keeps getting better.
A town hall meeting with residents of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, one of the municipalities evacuated in the aftermath of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. More dialogue is needed to foster truly participatory energy democracy in Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2025

Japan needs collective public support to reach its nuclear goals

Over a decade after 3/11, Japan has the chance to foster truly participatory energy democracy by engaging its civic environmental organizations in nuclear policymaking processes.
Members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel discuss proposals about allowing spouses to retain their respective surnames, in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2025

Eternal debate over surname law comes to fore again

Since last October’s general election, momentum has picked up for a legislative change to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori says he wants the central government to clarify and accelerate the plan for disposing of soil from radiation decontamination work.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2025

Governor urges contaminated soil be disposed of outside Fukushima by 2045

A law states all contaminated soil must be disposed of outside Fukushima by March 2045.
Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole participates in spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida on Feb. 13.
BASEBALL
Mar 11, 2025

Yankees ace Cole to have season-ending elbow surgery

The Yankees confirmed that Cole would have Tommy John surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn right ulnar collateral ligament.
Fertility rates remain low across much of Asia, with past policies to curb population growth proving difficult to reverse, while governments explore adaptation strategies like immigration and AI.
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2025

It’s time we adapt to low fertility rates

South Korea’s fertility rate saw a slight increase, but experts doubt it signals a long-term reversal. Similar trends are seen in Singapore and Japan.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's arrest on an ICC warrant for crimes against humanity related to his brutal drug war is a victory for affected families, but it may plunge the country into political chaos.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2025

The law finally caught up with Rodrigo Duterte

A reckoning for Duterte — the man they called "The Punisher” — is long overdue. The former Philippine president’s anti-drug crusade killed thousands of people.
U.S. President Donald Trump is often portrayed as a master dealmaker, but his approach tends to be erratic, his business record includes notable failures and his style leans more toward performance than strategic negotiation.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2025

Trump’s dealmaking is all about him

From effectively ending the war in Ukraine to setting tariffs, the president’s negotiating skills are coming up short.
Donald Trump’s skepticism of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty should push Japan to rethink its defense posture, increase military spending, expand arms exports and even consider the nuclear question instead of relying on outdated postwar norms.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2025

Use the bogeyman to confront Japan’s defense taboos

Donald Trump’s criticism of the U.S. security treaty with Japan is the perfect cover that Tokyo needs to confront outdated attitudes about defense.
Upper House Budget Committee chief Yosuke Tsuruho (right) and his Lower House counterpart, Jun Azumi, meet in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 12, 2025

Medical cap fumble paves way for unprecedented second revision of fiscal budget

While there have been cases of bills returning to the Lower House after amendments in the Upper House, it has never happened with the budget.
A recent study shows promise for a personalized mRNA vaccine to prevent pancreatic cancer recurrence, offering hope for patients and highlighting the potential of tailored cancer treatments.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2025

Pancreatic cancer vaccine shows hope. Make the investment.

When researchers offer data suggesting a personalized vaccine might be able to keep the cancer at bay for years, it’s worth paying attention to.

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