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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2022

Why China won't cooperate on finding the origins of COVID-19

For Beijing, winning its u2018people's war' against the coronavirus by controlling the propaganda narrative is more important than learning the truth about the pandemic.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2022

As politics swayed Japanese retailers in China, few have had lasting success

In the 1990s, Japanese retailers rushed to launch operations in China, a huge market with a population of some 1.2 billion people at the time. But only a few have been able to endure.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 29, 2022

A dignified farewell should transcend politics

Though the nation was divided over holding a state funeral, it was a fitting and dignified farewell for the nation's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 25, 2022

Imran Khan’s street politics sets up showdown with Pakistan army

Since his ouster in a no-confidence vote in April, Khan has sought to rally his supporters to hit the streets and push for a fresh national vote.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2022

Japan’s youth shun politics, leaving power with the elderly

With just 34% of 18- and 19-year-olds heading to the ballot box, youth turnout for the Upper House election relative to the overall figure hit a new low.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2022

Don’t jump to conclusions on politics of ending Roe v. Wade

Americans favor abortion rights, but most aren't intense pro-life or pro-choice partisans. A definitive Supreme Court ruling might alter the current landscape.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 8, 2022

Peter Thiel is now free to go all-in on far-right politics

For years, even as Facebook came under increasing scrutiny from Washington politicians and regulators, the controversial billionaire Peter Thiel kept his seat on the company's board.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 11, 2021

Nour Eldin Sultan: ‘Listening and lending your support is the best thing you can do to help someone’

Nour Eldin Sultan came to Japan, fell in love with Yamagata Prefecture and ended up becoming the first Arab Muslim to be elected to a local prefectural assembly.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 12, 2021

Europe’s region of rogues looks to be on more shaky ground

Central Europe has seen the abrupt resignation of one leader, a shock election defeat for another and tens of thousands of anti-government protesters flocking to the streets.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 3, 2021

Day 10 recap: Politics and drama as Biles, Belarus and New Zealand's Hubbard in spotlight

China has pulled ahead on the medals tally with 29 golds, followed by the United States with 22 and Japan on 17.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2021

At this point, the U.K.'s COVID-19 rules follow politics as much as science

If the last 18 months have taught us anything, it's that a successful COVID-19 policy requires three things: high levels of public trust, a coherent strategy and effective implementation.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 3, 2021

Japan’s LGBTQ community ends up losing thanks to intraparty politics in the LDP

The media coverage of a bill on LGBTQ 'understanding' focuses on a conservative purity test instead of the contents of the legislation.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland (center of three) looks dejected after Thomas Partey scores Arsenal's second goal on Sunday.
SOCCER
Feb 6, 2025

Manchester City’s troubles spread from Premier League to politics

After years of dominance, this season Man City is regularly losing matches. But it is events off the pitch that risk undoing one of the world's biggest soccer clubs.
“May You Have Delicious Meals” focuses on a trio of young office workers at the same workplace who have mixed feelings for food and each other.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 8, 2025

‘May You Have Delicious Meals’: The ugly taste of office and gender politics

The English-language debut of Junko Takase’s Akutagawa Prize-winning novel serves complex prose in translation by Morgan Giles.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (left), who also chairs the Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association, meets with Zhao Leji, the third-ranked official in the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in Beijing on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 30, 2025

Communist China’s quiet influence on Japanese politics

China Communist Party influence operations have been embedded in the Japanese government and political structures for 75 years.
Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Nashville, Tennessee, last July.
WORLD / Politics
May 19, 2025

$TRUMP dinner blurs lines between profit and politics

Launched hours before his January inauguration, the $TRUMP memecoin is only one example of the Trump family's ever-expanding moves into cryptocurrency.
Politics find a way into the bedroom as a stay-at-home wife (Ami Chong, left) clandestinely tends to a series of johns (including Kenji Iwaya, right) in “A Unique Country in Asia.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2025

‘A Unique Country in Asia’: Sex and politics make for strange bedfellows

With sex work and small talk, Kenji Yamauchi’s politically sharp film paints a complex portrait of modern Japan.
Former Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi addresses a meeting of the party's lawmakers held in the Diet building on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 20, 2025

Former Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi to retire from politics

Yamaguchi served as Komeito chief for eight terms, or 15 years, through last September.
Tokyo stocks are underperforming shares in other large markets globally.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 15, 2025

Tokyo stocks hit by a perfect storm of tariffs, politics and budget worries

The Nikkei 225 is down about 6% from its peak, hit in July 2024.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits a rice farm in Ibaraki Prefecture on July 9. Inflation is eating into household budgets, and higher prices are causing much concern among the Japanese public.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025

In Japanese politics, rice is the 'third rail'

If inexperienced politicians inadvertently damage Japan’s food security, voters will send them packing.
Elon Musk leaves the stage after addressing a campaign rally for Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5, 2024.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 23, 2025

SpaceX warns investors Elon Musk could return to U.S. politics

Musk had said in May he would focus on his business empire and pull back his political spending, but after a spat with Trump, he vowed to form a new political party.
Japan’s ruling LDP-Komeito bloc lost big, smaller parties gained ground and the country now faces a more fractured, uncertain political future.
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2025

Voter revolt shatters Japan’s ruling coalition and empowers smaller parties

The big winners were smaller, newer parties on the right, Sanseito and the Democratic Party for the People.
Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Aug 15, 2025

The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers

An decades-long effort to recover the remains of those who died during World War II, most of them abroad, may be entering its final phase.
China’s massive parade in Beijing on Wednesday showcased military power, historical revisionism and calls for a new world order, signaling Xi Jinping’s ambition to elevate China’s global leadership.
EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2025

China looks to the past to signal its future

At last weekend’s SCO summit, Xi urged members to oppose hegemonism and embrace true multilateralism.
Candidates for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election stand together on stage before a debate in Tokyo in September 2024. Pictured are future Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Sanae Takaichi, Shinjiro Koizumi and others. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 9, 2025

Ishiba’s resignation triggers a battle for the soul of the LDP

To become the next prime minister, the new LDP leader will also need to secure enough support from one or two of the other larger conservative opposition parties.
Stephen Miran, one of U.S. President Donald Trump's top economic advisers, attends a Senate hearing on his nomination to join the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, in Washington on Sept. 4.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 16, 2025

U.S. Senate confirms Trump aide to Fed as politics loom over rate meeting

A U.S. federal appeals court also ruled that Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook can remain in her position while challenging President Donald Trump's attempt to remove her.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attends a private dinner for technology and business leaders hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 4.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 1, 2025

Trump and America’s tech giants: Coexistence or collaboration?

The impact of Trump’s policies on online platforms is also significant. During his first term, Big Tech faced intense antitrust pressure.

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