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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2020

The agonizing wait for better COVID-19 treatment

It's time to put renewed and coordinated emphasis on finding treatments for the novel coronavirus.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2020

Trump heads into election he casts as a crusade for law and order

U.S. President Donald Trump accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for a second term Thursday, joining a general-election contest against Joe Biden that he and his party cast this week as a crusade against left-wing ideology and violent social disorder, fought against the backdrop of a virus that...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 27, 2020

Abenomics finally finds its moment of genius

Muscular fiscal stimulus, large-scale monetary easing and a helping hand for businesses have become the global standard in the COVID-19 era.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2020

Did Europe make a mistake reopening its borders?

After a surge in new cases linked to travel within the continent, thorough testing is vital.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2020

Pharma rivals are fighting COVID-19 together — Why stop there?

Pandemics make for strange bedfellows.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2020

Belarus is Putin’s to lose

The Russian president's continued support for the Lukashenko regime risks pushing the country toward the West.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 26, 2020

In a second Trump term, Tokyo would need to bolster ties elsewhere

The U.S. president has repeatedly voiced disdain for the existing alliance system, calling allied countries freeloaders that should pay more of its costs.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 25, 2020

Japan's take on a most unconventional Democratic convention

The reaction in Tokyo was mostly even-handed, if a little less enthusiastic than the coverage in the U.S. media.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2020

The crippling return of long-term unemployment

When joblessness is prolonged, more than people's economic security is at stake.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2020

An epidemic of depression and anxiety among young adults

As COVID-19 spreads, so do mental health problems, especially among Gen Z and millennials. A lot of this had to do with uncertainty.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 24, 2020

Longtime White House adviser Kellyanne Conway to leave at end of August

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said late Sunday that she will be leaving the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of August, citing the need to focus on her family.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 23, 2020

For Abe, latest milestone is a moment of trepidation

Shinzo Abe, already Japan's longest-serving prime minister, is set to pass another milestone on Monday, when he surpasses a half-century-old record set by his great-uncle Eisaku Sato for the longest consecutive tenure.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 23, 2020

Abe faces hurdles to ambitions despite latest milestone

With criticism over his coronavirus response and questions about his health, Abe faces questions about what he might still be able to accomplish before his term ends.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2020

Wearing face masks outdoors isn’t always necessary

Joe Biden's call for a universal mask mandate is part of a confused public health message.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2020

U.S. college admissions are about to get even more unfair

The pandemic will make institutions even more eager to admit wealthy legacy students.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 22, 2020

'The Iconoclast' tackles Shinzo Abe’s political legacy

Tobias Harris' sweeping new biography serves as a definitive work on Japan's longest-serving prime minister.
On Friday, Nidec said in a financial report that it had unearthed new problems following an external probe that found evidence of systemic accounting problems.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 29, 2025

Nidec shares slide after widening accounting scandal hurts trust

The company said in a financial report — submitted after a three-month delay — that it had unearthed new problems following evidence of systemic accounting problems.
Shipping containers near the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai. The U.S. under President Donald Trump has revived mercantilist trade policies to favor American industry, but China is outpacing the U.S.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2025

Why America will lose its mercantilist game to China

There is already one country that has been practicing mercantilism for decades and it appears to be a step ahead of the U.S. as it starts to play the same game: China.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi touts his own "experience and achievement" during the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election candidate debate at Nihon Kisha Club in Tokyo on September 24.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2025

Japan’s ‘Mr. 119’ might be facing his biggest challenge yet

Time is running out for Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi to convince colleagues in the Liberal Democratic Party that he is best suited to lead them.
Public executives in Japan are held to exceptionally high standards of judgment and propriety, as shown by the swift resignation of Suntory CEO Takeshi Niinami after a police inquiry into his alleged involvement in the import of CBD supplements. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2025

'For relaxing times...' don’t be a CEO like Suntory’s Niinami

Niinami says he’s done nothing wrong and he hasn’t been charged.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung before their meeting in Busan on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 30, 2025

South Korea and Japan look to cement ties before Ishiba’s exit

The two countries agreed to continue working-level discussions on low birth rates, regional growth and measures to prevent suicide, among other issues.
A woman visits an exhibition of North Korean art at a museum in Moscow on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 30, 2025

A secret no more: Russia and North Korea's battle against Ukraine is celebrated in Moscow exhibit

For months, Russia and North Korea sought to keep secret the role Pyongyang's soldiers played in helping Moscow push Ukrainians out of Kursk in western Russia.
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi poses with supporters at Hie Shrine in Tokyo on Sept. 22.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2025

Can Takaichi win back conservative voters? Maybe not.

The conservative champion has been trying to soften her image to reach more moderate voters — the party’s largest support base.
The Pokemon mascot Pikachu wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey attends the Tokyo Series at Tokyo Dome in March. As the world rediscovers Japan, it’s learning that many preconceptions no longer apply.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2025

Is Japan finally back? That’s the wrong question.

Almost three decades after prices first fell into negative territory, they’ve now risen every month for the past four years.
Some of science’s most sensational claims were later debunked by skeptical scientists, showing how hype can overshadow facts but also how scrutiny keeps science reliable.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2025

Too many scientific ‘discoveries’ get discredited

Volunteer scientific sleuths play an important role in policing their fields.
Ukrainian soldiers walk past a damaged apartment building, amid Russia's war against Ukraine, in the front-line city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on Sept. 10.
WORLD
Oct 1, 2025

Ukraine's front-line cities filled with dread and defiance

Thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles hover above more than 1,000 kilometers of front lines in Ukraine's east and south at any one time.
Signage outside the Capitol Hill visitors center in Washington notifies the public of its closure due to the government shutdown on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2025

The U.S. government shutdown fight has life-or-death consequences

About 4.2 million people are expected to lose coverage if Congress fails to extend premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
August’s unemployment figures showed a slight tempering of Japan's job market, but the data still points to overall firmness amid an ongoing labor shortage.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 3, 2025

Japan’s jobless rate edges up to highest in over a year

August’s figures showed a slight tempering of the job market, but the data still points to overall firmness amid an ongoing labor shortage.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks during the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok in May 2024.
SOCCER
Oct 3, 2025

Gianni Infantino says FIFA must promote peace amid calls to ban Israel

Infantino "stressed the importance of promoting peace and unity, particularly in the context of the ongoing situation in Gaza."

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