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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2020

Here’s to the immigrant heroes behind the BioNTech vaccine

Their journey as Turkish Germans cannot have been easy. Discrimination, overt or subtle, is rife in German society.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2020

Macron doesn’t need to insult Islam to defend free speech

It is one thing to defend freedom of expression — an obligation of all democratic leaders. It is quite another to deploy a whole nation behind a particular expression of that freedom.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 14, 2020

Subsidizing fertility treatment leaves Japanese gynecologists in a bind

Fertility treatments are not covered by national health insurance because, in most cases, infertility is not defined as an ailment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2020

World’s populists may regret their embrace of Trump

The likes of Putin, Bolsonaro and Erdogan may be about to see an end to their years as part of a U.S.-led strongman brotherhood.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2020

Australia becomes climate change outlier after Biden victory

As the world's largest exporter of coal and gas, the country may struggle as other nations take pledges to go carbon neutral.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2020

Truth and de-Trumpification

Historically, plenty of other countries' transitions from authoritarianism have been characterized by a willingness to leave former power-holders unpunished.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2020

What happens to the other COVID-19 vaccines now?

If the vaccine created by Pfizer and partner BioNTech fails to live up to its promise, will any slower but better competitors have a chance?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 13, 2020

‘A black eye’: Why U.S. political polling missed the mark. Again.

This year's problems are alarming, both to people inside the industry and to the millions of Americans who follow presidential polls.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2020

PlayStation dominates Xbox and will for years to come

As incredible it may seem that Microsoft had no new games ready for its first console launch in seven years, it now looks like the disparity for 2021 will be just as bad.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 12, 2020

How the dream of Hong Kong democracy was dimmed

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers said Wednesday that they would resign en masse to protest Beijing’s growing control over the local legislature, one of the last remaining centers of dissent in the Chinese city.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 11, 2020

Hong Kong opposition quits en masse to protest new China powers

The resignations came after China moved to disqualify unpatriotic lawmakers, one of Beijing's strongest moves yet to stifle dissent in the territory.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2020

Boris Johnson has a serious Joe Biden problem on Brexit

Donald Trump's very presence encouraged Johnson's Brexit brinkmanship with Brussels. Britain could threaten to walk away knowing a friendly White House approved.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 11, 2020

America’s age of anger is just getting started

There is little respite from clownish demagoguery once a long-standing political order loses credibility and legitimacy among a significantly large proportion of the population.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2020

A Ferrari may be less polluting than you think

Ferrari's boss has taken issue with European environmental regulations that aim to cut emissions by penalizing the sale of vehicles with particularly thirsty engines.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 10, 2020

The danger lurking behind the U.S.’s reciprocity policy

Washington must take care when fighting Beijing's tariff hikes and visa restrictions with like-minded measures.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2020

America’s dangerous transition

Biden now, like FDR then, must reiterate his message of hope and unity as an antidote to the coronavirus and political division.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2020

Hold the schadenfreude for America

Even before ballots were cast, media in China and Russia were talking up the chaos. One Russian deputy compared the U.S. to Kyrgyzstan, where a disputed vote last month ended in turmoil.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2020

It's the Fed, not the White House, that matters most in Asia

Asia's monetary system depends on the stability of the greenback. Currencies are mostly priced against the buck with more than a few countries have soft pegs to the dollar.
Voters cast their ballots for the Upper House election at a polling station in Tokyo on July 20.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 2, 2025

Japan to ramp up measures against foreign election interference

In last month's Upper House election, foreign actors were suspected to be behind the spread of disinformation on social media.
Actor Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan and David Corenswet attend the Los Angeles premiere of “Superman” at the TCL Chinese Theater on July 7.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2025

Hollywood has lost the plot on telling stories

Western culture seems to have reached an impasse — wistful for our youth and unable to come up with any new ideas.
Britain’s latest defense review highlights a growing gap between its military ambitions and economic constraints, as limited spending, troop shortages and political hesitation hinder readiness amid rising global threats.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2025

U.K. military rhetoric is not matching fiscal reality

U.K. prime ministers have a habit of over-promising and underdelivering on military commitments.
Experts warn the world is drifting dangerously close to disaster as North Korea, Russia and China expand their nuclear arsenals and old arms-control frameworks crumble.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2025

Even nuclear experts are at a loss right now

Who would have thought strategists would be almost nostalgic for the Cold War?
Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara speaks at a party plenary meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 4, 2025

Nippon Ishin no Kai could join ruling coalition, if the conditions are right

The party might be open to joining if there is a new prime minister and Osaka is designated as Japan's backup capital, its leaders say.
The author’s photo of his son, Max, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Aug. 6, 2022, standing before a photo of 10-year-old Yukiko Fujii taken by Mainichi Shimbun photographer Yukio Kunihira in Hiroshima on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the U.S. atomic bombing of her city and the day of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2025

Nuclear destruction through the eyes of a 10-year-old

Still, I wasn’t sure how Max would react to the enormity of the human suffering that took place in Hiroshima.
A tense exchange of nuclear threats between U.S. President Donald Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and prime minister, underscores the danger that reckless rhetoric could spark a war.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2025

Moving nuclear subs isn’t something you announce on social media

A tense exchange of nuclear threats between U.S. President Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and prime minister, highlights the dangers of reckless rhetoric.
A Palestinian girl carries buckets of water in Gaza City on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Aug 7, 2025

Israeli military chief opposes Gaza war expansion, raising pressure on Netanyahu

Taking the rest of Gaza could trap the military in the territory and could lead to harm to the hostages being held there, the military chief warned.
People pay their respects for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Wednesday, the 80th anniversary of the attack.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 7, 2025

Why Hiroshima must keep being commemorated

The anniversary is generating a wave of commemorations and renewing the arguments for and against the mission.
Japan faces a demographic crisis that threatens its research talent and must build a more inclusive and welcoming society to attract and keep world-class scientists amid rising nationalism and economic challenges.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 7, 2025

Japan gets serious about attracting world-class researchers

The stakes are high: Without a cultural shift, even the best-funded policies may fail to secure Japan’s future.

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