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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2020

Exxon's activist uses weapons provided by Exxon

The fact the activist led with this straightforward jab speaks to the difficulty inherent to landing the other punch: namely, getting Exxon to look beyond oil and gas.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2020

How to vaccinate a nation of skeptics against COVID-19

How to convince people to actually take the shot. Achieving herd immunity may mean at least 80% of people will need the vaccine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 9, 2020

Prime Minister Suga makes a $708 billion bet on political survival

The government's fiscal response to the pandemic already dwarfs measures taken after the global financial crisis, as well as the earthquake and tsunami of 2011.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 8, 2020

Study 'mushiro' and 'kaette' rather than falling behind on your Japanese

The adverbs 'mushiro' and 'kaette' indicate alternative preferences, but the difference lies in whether the alternative comes down to personal judgement.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 6, 2020

Russian state employees describe pressure to join vaccine trials

Some employees are coming under heavy pressure to sign up for the trials, an effort that medical ethicists say may run afoul of ethical norms.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2020

Is Wall Street ready to work on China time?

Many of the Chinese blue-chips have secondary listings in Hong Kong so stockholders should hold on to their shares because that's how they can continue to chase the China dream.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2020

All the happiness money can buy in the winter of COVID-19

While rates of depression and anxiety are up in some countries, many households now have more cash on hand than usual.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2020

What Africa needs now is its own Japan or Singapore

What Africa might need is its own Japan — a pioneering country that can industrialize first, and then invest in the rest of the continent.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2020

India’s angry farmers have reason to worry

The third rail of Indian politics has always been agriculture. While the economy has been partly liberalized since opening up to the world in 1991, the process has largely bypassed the three-fifths of Indians who depend for their livelihoods, directly or indirectly, on farming. In September, the government...
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 3, 2020

Chefs vs scientists: France's pandemic fight to keep eating out

In France and around the world, business owners have pushed back against curbs sought by scientists to slow the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 3, 2020

Why the U.K. approved a COVID-19 vaccine first

Doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be injected starting next week, the government said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2020

China scores big against poverty but the poor haven’t gone away

Almost 90% of the population was below the international poverty threshold in 1981, according to the World Bank; by the 2019, that was under 1%.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 2, 2020

An America in decline and the dangers that entails

The U.S. has dealt with the question of decline more than once in the postwar era.
Then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a news conference in Tokyo in December 2023 where he addressed the political fundraising scandal and announced plans to replace several implicated ministers.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2025

Cost of living trumps corruption as Japan heads to the polls

A recent NHK poll asked that question to prospective voters, and the majority answered “measures to deal with rising prices” and “social security and the declining birthrate.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime is supplying up to 40% of Russia’s ammunition, along with other military equipment, for Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, according to Ukraine's intelligence service.
WORLD
Jul 13, 2025

Ukraine spy chief says 40% of Russian ammunition is North Korean

Kim Jong Un’s regime is also sending other weapons to Russia, including ballistic missiles and artillery systems.
John Healey, Britain's defense minister, apologized for the 2022 leak that included details about members of Parliament and senior military officers who supported applications to help Afghan soldiers who worked with the British military and their families relocate to the U.K.
WORLD
Jul 16, 2025

Thousands of Afghans secretly moved to Britain after data leak

The data leak ranks among the worst security breaches in modern British history because of the cost and risk posed to the lives of thousands of people.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attends a rally in Sao Paulo on June 29.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 16, 2025

Trump tariffs put Bolsonaro and Brazilian right in a bind 

Three people close to right-wing ex-President Jair Bolsonaro said they were stunned by Trump's latest tariff move and fear it may do more harm than good.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets veterans involved in the Ukraine war, at the Kremlin on June 12. Europe should tap Russia’s frozen central bank assets to fund Ukraine’s defense, given Donald Trump’s conditions on U.S. aid.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2025

Russia’s frozen $245 billion can pay for Ukraine’s arms

Replacing the U.S. military and financial aid provided by President Joe Biden’s administration would cost about $45 billion a year for the duration of the war.
Tomoko Tamura, chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party, attends a debate with other party leaders in Tokyo in October. Her party urges voters to end the LDP’s business-centered politics and U.S. dependence by supporting its social, economic and foreign-policy reforms.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025

JCP vows fairer taxes, stronger social safety net and a commitment to peaceful diplomacy

Tamura says LDP’s politics are now in a terminal and critical state with the party unable to respond to domestic and international issues or the wishes of the people.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan President Yoshihiko Noda speaks during a debate with leaders of other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on July 2.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025

The Constitutional Democratic Party vows fight against inflation

The CDP will work to lower surging food costs and realize fair rice prices
Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, outlines his party’s policies during a news conference at the Diet building in Tokyo on June 30.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025

Nippon Ishin stakes its appeal on real results as Upper House vote nears

Neither the ruling coalition or other opposition parties have advanced political reform.
Masako Wada, assistant secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo, urged policymakers around the world to "take the leadership ... toward human society free of nuclear weapons."
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2025

Nuclear deterrence 'cannot save humanity,' Nihon Hidankyo member says

Masako Wada urged policymakers around the world to "take the leadership ... toward human society free of nuclear weapons."
Shigeru Ishiba, prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party, gives a campaign speech in Yokohama on July 6.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 17, 2025

In uncertain times, Japan needs responsible leadership

As a responsible political party, the LDP is determined to consistently pursue policies that are accountable to future generations.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito takes part in a debate with the heads of other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on July 2.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 17, 2025

Komeito hears those hit hardest by rising prices

“To stand forever with common citizens.” Our party has faithfully abided by that founding principle for over six decades
Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya makes a stump speech in Tokyo on July 3.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2025

Sanseito third-most-popular party in Upper House race, poll shows

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party remained the front-runner at 20.9%, albeit down 3.6 points from June.
Once seen as an unlikely prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba has struggled to deliver on promises, mishandled ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and now faces an election where the odds don’t look good for his party to come out victorious.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025

A trade deal fumble could be Ishiba’s last mistake

Ishiba already leads a coalition that lacks a majority in the Lower House, and another bad showing Sunday will likely mean Japan is looking for its third leader in as many years.
People vote during Japan's Upper House election at a polling station in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2025

Polls open for key Upper House election that could shake Japanese politics

A variety of scenarios await the country should the ruling coalition lose its majority in the Upper House — from an enlarged coalition to an opposition-led government.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 19, 2025

Ishiba and Bessent say 'good' trade agreement still possible

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged U.S. Treasury chief Scott Bessent to continue talks with Japan’s chief negotiator to achieve a win-win deal.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, waves to voters from atop an election campaign van during a rally Friday in Yokohama for Sunday's Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 19, 2025

Ishiba's future in balance as polls hint at rout in Upper House election

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba likes the nitty gritty of policy, cigarettes and making models, but his dream job as Japanese leader could go up in smoke this weekend.
Soil from the Fukushima No. 1 plant is delivered to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's office in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2025

Fukushima soil delivered to Ishiba's office for reuse

With few willing to take the contaminated earth, the government took it upon itself to reuse some of the soil to show it is not dangerous.

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