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Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 13, 2022

IOC contacted Ukrainian team after Vladyslav Heraskevych's anti-war message

The 23-year-old briefly flashed the paper sign reading 'NO WAR IN UKRAINE' after his third run. He did not do it again after his last run.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 12, 2022

Puzzle in Ukraine crisis: Where’s the U.S. ambassador?

Neither the Biden administration nor Ukraine's government is providing a clear explanation for a delay that career diplomats say would be baffling and inexcusable even in ordinary times
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 11, 2022

Armed nationalists in Ukraine pose a threat not just to Russia

Any resolution seems likely to force Kyiv to accept politically perilous concessions that could be destabilizing domestically.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2022

South Korea's demographic shift away from reunification

Reunification is falling out of vogue, both in South Korea's progressive and conservative camps, with younger generations becoming increasingly hostile to the North.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Feb 9, 2022

Omicron threatens to extend sumo's two-year absence from Osaka

Losing the spring tournament would be a huge blow to the sport's birthplace, but the spread of COVID-19 within sumo is making it a possibility.
BUSINESS
Feb 9, 2022

Biden moves to soothe allies in China’s shadow with Japan deal

The deal would allow most steel shipments from Japan to to enter tariff-free for the first time since 2018 and would see the countries working together to combat Chinese trade practices.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2022

The court of Britain's prime minister is collapsing

Even if Boris Johnson survives the current round of resignations and scandals, he faces a perilous, friendless few months ahead.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2022

Boris Johnson’s brave face can’t hide his fading grip on power

Key ministers suddenly appear less willing to give Boris Johnson their full backing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2022

Olympic delegations should side with Taiwan and leave their national flags at home

Although the Olympic Charter forbids discrimination, the International Olympic Committee bans the Taiwanese from expressing their national identity, even after a hard-earned victory.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2022

With celebrations and controversy, the 2022 Winter Olympics begin

There are fears that China will use COVID-19 protocols to affect competitions, disqualifying some athletes to ensure the “proper” outcomes.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 4, 2022

Winter Olympics opening gives China a chance to spin its image

But even with the advantage of viewers' general excitement, Beijing has an uphill battle as reports of human rights abuses and suppression of dissent linger in public memory.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 4, 2022

Boris Johnson’s key aides quit, leaving the premier on the brink

The U.K. prime minister's chief of staff and his principal private secretary both resigned on Thursday, along with his director of communications.
Japan Times
PRESS / Events
Feb 3, 2022

“Patagonia's initiatives for environmental groups and 1% for the Planet” with Marty Pomphrey

The Japan Times Cube Inc. (representative director: Minako Suematsu) launched Roundtable by The Japan Times, a series of talk events broadcasted in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2022

There is a big economic and political cost to closed minds

One of the main reasons for the uneven COVID-19 recovery has more to do with politics than economics as support for aggressive nationalistic trade barriers has grown sharply in recent years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2022

Deja vu: Putin, another Chinese Olympics and rumors of war

Fighting broke out on Aug. 1, 2008, between Russia-backed separatists and Georgian government forces as the Olympics were getting set to open in Beijing.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 1, 2022

Absence of Yuzuru Hanyu fans at Beijing 2022 a relief for Xi’s Pooh-paranoid censors

One of the Games' recent buzzworthy moments, the tossing of hundreds of stuffed bears onto the ice following Hanyu's performances, will be missing from the Olympics this year.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2022

Former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, known for controversial views, dies at 89

Ishihara left his mark on Japanese politics as a staunch hawk whose nationalistic views often ruffled the feathers of Japan's neighbors.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 31, 2022

Hong Kong's 'COVID-zero' strategy is on the brink of collapse

Officials instead are pursuing what they call 'Dynamic Zero,” an approach that emerged from China and aims to work toward no new infections while acknowledging some may still occur.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 31, 2022

The hard-line Russian advisers who have Putin’s ear

Some analysts in Moscow still see a pragmatic streak in Putin, but there are growing signs that the 'radicals' in his inner circle are gaining sway.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 31, 2022

Ahead of key polls, India's ruling party revives Hindu-Muslim dispute

Hindus and Muslims have argued for decades for control over a religious site Mathura, echoing other quarrels between the two groups in India that have flared into deadly riots.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2022

Unite to protect Ukraine and the global order

With Putin's Ukraine actions, he wants nothing less than a rewriting of the rules of international order and must be resisted.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2022

For Olympic sponsors, ‘China is an exception’

The U.S. and a handful of other nations may have declared a 'diplomatic boycott” of the Winter Games, but some of the world's most famous brands will still be there.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2022

Appeasing Putin on Ukraine may be the only option

Today we live in a new strategic environment. The bipolar Cold War era has been replaced with a new one where U.S. superiority still persists, but is no longer unchallengeable.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2022

How to prevent famine in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has faded from global view. And now almost 9 million Afghans are at risk of famine, and a further 14 million are facing acute hunger.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 27, 2022

‘Pure Japanese’: Dean Fujioka’s passion project is a fascinating muddle

A typical genre-movie premise gets complicated in director Daishi Matsunaga's film about a stuntman living out his fantasies of old-school heroism.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2022

Why the EU can’t get its act together on Ukraine

Geopolitically, Europe is much less than the sum of its 27 parts as its inaction amid the Ukraine crisis demonstrates.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 26, 2022

China’s COVID-19 blame game fizzles over infection-by-mail theory

The abrupt reversal in tone shows the pressures China faces in managing the official narrative as they look to contain omicron outbreaks while also hosting a successful Winter Olympics.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 26, 2022

As West warns of Russian attack, Ukraine sends different message

Some analysts say Ukraine's posture of playing down the threat is to prevent panic, while others say it reflects the country's uneasy acceptance that conflict with Russia is nothing new.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo