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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2016

Consensus rule blunts ASEAN's effectiveness

Although the requirement that all decisions be made by consensus enables disparate member states to unite while protecting their national interests, it also limits ASEAN's effectiveness in dealing with emerging security threats.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2004

Would permanent UNSC seat beget more responsible Japan?

OSAKA -- Becoming a permanent member of an expanded United Nations Security Council could force Japan to become a more responsible international player.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2004

Japan to accelerate push for permanent UNSC seat

When United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan met with Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura in Egypt's Sharm el Sheikh last week, he playfully asked whether the so-called G4 nations' campaigning for U.N. Security Council reform stands for the "Gang of Four."
Japan Times
JAPAN / 50 years of ASEAN
Aug 9, 2017

Working to boost regional business

The year 2017 is a landmark for the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was established half a century ago.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / AEC SPECIAL
Jan 29, 2016

Working to optimize relationships

Japan welcomes the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community, or AEC, as the prosperity of the Association of South East Asian Nations is expected to also benefit Japan, the world's third-largest economy.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Apr 10, 2023

Harassment of women in politics is rampant in Kyushu, survey finds

The text-based survey found that more than half of the 145 female members of prefectural and municipal assemblies surveyed had experienced some form of harassment in their work.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Aug 27, 2021

Off to the races: LDP presidential election campaign begins

A number of challengers to Suga are beginning to emerge, with Fumio Kishida currently being the prime minister's strongest rival.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 20, 2015

Japan bears a greater responsibility at the U.N.

No country is better positioned to serve as a 'bridge' between the U.N. Security Council and the general U.N. membership than Japan, given its leading experience as a non-permanent member of the UNSC.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 13, 2023

A showdown in Jamaica is deciding the fate of the deep ocean

Seabed mining has the potential to become a trillion-dollar industry as the transition to electric vehicles spurs demand for metals like cobalt and nickel.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 10, 2020

Nankai quake numbers skewed to prioritize budgets over science

When manipulated figures on the likelihood of a Nankai Trough quake were released, internal disagreements were kept hidden.
Japan Times
Uncategorized
Jan 19, 2017

AJC: Sole agent in Japan to boost Visit ASEAN@50

The year 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 11, 2016

Heal thyself: U.N.'s WHO at crossroads; experts call for fresh focus, structure

When executive board members of the World Health Organization sat down for their annual meeting in Geneva in January, many powerful figures spoke forcefully of the need to reform the leading global authority on health and disease.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 24, 2005

EU economic integration rolls on despite political crisis

After voters in France and the Netherlands rejected the proposed European Union Constitution, the bloc no doubt plunged into a deep crisis, but it is a crisis that will lead to "a period of reflection and a stronger European Union at the end," a Brussels-based think tank expert told a recent symposium...
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
BASEBALL / FOCUS
Aug 27, 2025

Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball

A young player’s dream was to play in the National High School Baseball Championship. A series of bullying incidents this year changed all of that.
The CDP head Yoshihiko Noda (front row, third from right) , newly-elected Secretary-General Jun Azumi (front row, third from left) and other executives gather in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2025

Noda appoints new leadership team members to help bolster CDP's base

CDP party leader Yoshihiko Noda chose new team members whose views sometimes differ from his to help reinforce the party’s base and show "a united party front."
Sanctions applied to the International Criminal Court as an entity could affect its basic day-to-day operations — from its ability to pay its staff to its access to bank accounts and routine office software on its computers.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 23, 2025

U.S. could hit entire International Criminal Court with sanctions soon

Washington has already imposed targeted sanctions on several prosecutors and judges at the court, but naming the court in the sanctions list would mark a major escalation.
Haruo Tsukamoto, a rank-and-file member of the Liberal Democratic Party and a rice farmer in Ibaraki Prefecture, questions if the party still stands for people like him.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2025

The party that ruled Japan for decades is in danger of crumbling

Long-time supporters are questioning if the Liberal Democratic Party still stands for them even as populist and far-right challengers make inroads.
The incoming and outgoing presidents of Johnny & Associates, Noriyuki Higashiyama and Julie Keiko Fujishima, bow at a press conference on Sept. 7.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 14, 2023

Johnny’s talent agency has admitted to a past of abuse. What next?

Karin Kaneko joins the show to update us on how the story is unfolding.
Leaves of marijuana plants from which hemp fibers are extracted at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 5, 2016
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 21, 2023

Does a university cannabis scandal point to a larger trend?

A drugs scandal at Japan’s biggest university draws attention to a troubling statistic: Cannabis use among young people is on the rise.
Finnish Army conscripts with the 2nd Military Police Company during a training exercise in a suburb of Helsinki on Sept. 6. After decades of going it alone in security issues, Finns are finding that life in a large alliance is complex, expensive and deeply political.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 26, 2023

Finland raced to join NATO. What happens next is complicated.

The country must integrate itself into the alliance and its requirement of collective defense — with all of its financial, legal and strategic hurdles.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2023

Drug scandal at Nihon University American football club seen spreading

The university suspended the football club's activities indefinitely in August following the arrest of one person the same month over cannabis.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses an emergency session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations headquarters on Oct. 27.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2023

Where’s the United Nations in all this? Oh, right, nowhere.

In times of crisis, the United Nations turns into a Babel in which everybody distrusts everybody else and finding common ground becomes impossible.
China's dominance in the electric vehicle market has prompted the European Union to take action regarding economic security.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 7, 2023

How electric vehicles became subject to EU economic security

The bloc has felt the pressure from China in the EV market, leading it to take steps to better protect vehicles, batteries and materials.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a news conference following the central bank's policy meeting on Oct. 31.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 9, 2023

BOJ debated groundwork for future easy-policy exit at meeting

The October discussions highlight how the central bank is looking to exit its decade-long accommodative regime.
An pride flag is seen under a rubber door mat at an entrance to a basement of an office building in Kherson, Ukraine, in 2022.
WORLD / Society
Nov 14, 2023

Can EU talks boost LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia?

Several candidate countries have faced criticism over lack of protecting LGBTQ+ rights.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Dec 2, 2023

The entertainment story of the year is long overdue

As entertainment heavyweights Johnny & Associates and Takarazuka Revue are hit by scandals, hope for reform emerges with changing attitudes toward abuse.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 3, 2023

Second LDP faction suspected of breaching political fund law

The allegation came after a similar practice at the faction previously led by the former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to light recently.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen arrives at the U.K. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Britain, on Nov. 2.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 6, 2023

EU set to hold talks to finalize agreement on world's first AI law

Brussels wants a legal armory to protect EU citizens' rights, while some member states worry that too much regulation will stifle innovation.
Incoming Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2023

Kishida axes Abe faction members from government over funds scandal

In replacing nearly a dozen ministers and officials, the prime minister is attempting to contain the worst crisis of his administration so far.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 19, 2023

Prosecutors search sites linked to scandal-hit LDP factions

Prosecutors searched the biggest faction, once led by late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and another led by former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?