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U.S. President Donald Trump meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2025

A painful display at the United Nations

The U.N. will rarely actually solve problems but it can expose them.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth greet each other during a meeting of senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2025

Trump and Hegseth advance militaristic noise over nuance

For countries that study U.S. actions closely, this week’s spectacle was anything but reassuring.
Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi is often compared to Margaret Thatcher, but the analogy fails because Japan today is not 1980s Britain and her success depends on pragmatism, not ideology.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2025

Pragmatism, not ideology, must guide Takaichi

The key difference from Thatcher lies in economic policy, as the LDP has never been a truly neoliberal party.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends the world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war and securing a
ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Oct. 13.
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2025

Trump’s Middle East breakthrough may prove fragile

Hamas is unlikely to give up its weapons. Its existence is predicated on armed resistance to the Jewish state and disarmed it will be prey to its enemies among the Palestinians.
Emperor Naruhito officially swears in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 24, 2025

Sanae Takaichi stands tall and heads into the breach

Her Cabinet includes several rivals from the presidential campaign. It is an attempt to smooth over ill and a smart move.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell