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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2020

The real winner of the work-from-home economy

South Korea has shown its resilience in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, and is seeing its economy return to positive territory.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2020

Can China’s COVID-19 recovery continue?

Unlike previous recoveries, fixed asset investment in the private sphere is rising while growing at a slower pace in the public sector.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2020

To retire rich, don’t leave too much to your kids

Don't be surprised if those retiring in 2035 need an extra five years or more of future income because of longevity alone.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2020

The Middle Eastern past is never dead

If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to develop a viable Palestinian state, his escape from history could prove very short-lived.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2020

Banning glitter won’t save the oceans

Those sparkly bits of plastic that make ornaments twinkle, wrapping paper glimmer and wreaths shimmer are increasingly seen as an environmental hazard.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2020

Zero hour is coming for emissions. Believe it.

Any targets laid out by politicians will find themselves up against institutional inertia, unintended consequences and political pushback.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2020

Two LDP factions face uncertain future after losing race to Suga

The status of Shigeru Ishiba's group is up in the air, while Fumio Kishida is exploring mergers with other factions to bolster his chances of becoming prime minister.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 27, 2020

COVID-19 tests are the real pandemic moneymakers

Renewed outbreaks highlight the need for a better approach to containing the virus, and broad surveillance testing offers a way forward that's easy on the economy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 27, 2020

Nine scenarios for the 2020 U.S. elections

Can U.S. voters really stop the degradation of their politics? Will they make the right decision on Nov. 3? There is not much that friends and foes can do about it now.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 27, 2020

Malaysia’s embattled premier retains support of key ally

Malaysia’s biggest ruling party said it would continue to support the government, providing a reprieve for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin amid calls for him to step down after a failed bid for emergency rule.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 27, 2020

Germany warns of ‘consequences’ if Thai king breached law

Demonstrators are questioning the king's legal status in the European country and asking Germany to probe whether he has exercised royal authority during his time there.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 26, 2020

COVID-19 explodes the myth that women ‘opt’ out of the workforce

While time away from work is often portrayed as a choice for women, the evidence shows that it's usually a choice reluctantly made.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2020

Tobacco nationalism is more toxic than tobacco

The Indian government, too, has a toxic dependence on tobacco. It's called ITC Ltd.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2020

Australia's money laundering detectives have been out at the pub

Unlike cash laundering, which involves a relatively small number of casinos and businesses, invoice-based laundering can take place between almost any two companies.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 25, 2020

Science panel controversy overshadows Suga’s Diet debut

The session will likely see a fierce showdown between an experienced power-broker with his own policy ambitions and opposition parties determined to grill the new leader.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2020

Aging is the next global economic threat

Falling in living standards in some countries, such as Japan, can be blamed in part on a smaller workforce having to prop up a growing pool of retirees.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2020

Biden punts on expanding Supreme Court, calling for panel on issue

The matter took on new urgency after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last month and Republicans rushed to fill her seat amid the election endgame.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2020

Trump’s H-1B immigrant visa reforms will make America poorer

The most important point is the simplest: The strongest possible U.S. economic recovery requires more talent drawn from the rest of the world, not less.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2020

U.S. Republicans running short on time and money to defend Senate majority

President Donald Trump's slide in opinion polls is weighing on Senate Republicans in 10 competitive races.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2020

Huawei’s rivals should be happy they’re not American

American tech giants have enjoyed incomparable growth over the past decade. But when it comes to network equipment, there's an advantage to geopolitical neutrality.
At Yawata Junior High School in Nagoya, there are no more rules on clothing and hairstyles. Students are free to wear either the school's uniform or clothes of their own choosing.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 18, 2025

Schools get students involved in revision of unreasonable ‘black rules’

Positive outcomes have emerged from such revisions, including greater student confidence and stronger trust between students and teachers.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference in Nagasaki on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2025

Approval for Ishiba Cabinet rises to 27.3%, poll shows

Respondents who think Ishiba should not resign following the ruling party's setback in last month's House of Councilors election slightly outpacing those who think he should.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 16, 2025

‘Dear neighbor’: A red carpet for Putin, no ceasefire for Trump

There was a lot the two presidents left unsaid at the end of an inconclusive summit, with details of a tantalizing agreement the pair had mentioned kept under wraps.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs speaks in 2007 at an iPod event in San Francisco. Top tech executives are engaged in a fierce battle for the best people, with employees holding all the cards and the days of collusion long gone. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2025

The AI talent war is the stuff of Steve Jobs’ nightmares

Today, as some of the same players become locked in AI talent wars, we’re starting to get a sense of what Jobs was so afraid of.
A prison van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts building for the closing submissions in the national security collusion trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, in Hong Kong on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 18, 2025

Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai given heart monitor for final stretch of marathon trial

Lai's lawyer told the court last Friday that Lai had some episodes where he felt that he was collapsing and had heart "palpitations."
Actors in period costume pose on a re-creation of a Tudor wine fountain at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England, in April 2010. England’s recent wine boom is hitting limits due to scale, costs and competition.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2025

England’s sparkling wine is losing its fizz

It really doesn’t help having higher taxes now measured on alcohol content. The going is only getting tougher for fledgling startups.
A new Facebook data center is under construction in Eagle Mountain, Utah, in May 2019. Manufacturers and builders are reaping windfalls from the AI-driven data center surge.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2025

The AI building boom is bound to bust

For now, the boom has room to run. The introduction of artificial intelligence into the workplace and society will match the rollout of electricity and the internet.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump at their summit meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, last Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2025

Ten ways to force Putin back to the bargaining table

Clearly, it’s going to take "severe measures," to use Trump’s own words, to get Moscow not just to sit at the bargaining table but stay for dinner.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. The former prime minister has signaled he’s ready to take his conciliatory approach to the government to new heights, hinting that the time for clashes with the Liberal Democratic Party is over.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025

CDP softens stance toward LDP in bid to bolster political center

“Right-wing populism has grown too strong,” CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda said. “Unless the center gains more strength, Japanese politics won’t improve.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the economy in the Oval Office on Aug. 7. From immigration to the Fed, Trump is making risky moves that could undo his wins while Democrats double down on policies that so far are not working.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2025

On economic policy, the White House is its own worst enemy

The White House needs to calm down and choose consolidation over controversy and chaos while the Democratic Party must dump, not just downplay, its plainly unpopular positions.

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