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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2021

With Aso’s blessing, vaccine chief Taro Kono officially joins the LDP race

At a packed news conference on Friday, Kono touched on his achievements as the minister in charge of administrative reform and the vaccine rollout.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 8, 2021

Xi’s ‘common prosperity’ drive triggers a rare debate in China

Competing viewpoints in China's tightly controlled media space point to internal confusion over just how far Xi plans to go in reining in 'disorderly capital expansion.”
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2021

Facing intraparty obstacles, Ishiba wrestles with role in LDP election

The former defense chief has long had ambitions to become prime minister, but his fraught relationship with the LDP could block his way — and change the race for everyone else.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 6, 2021

Kono emerges as top contender to replace Suga in polls as LDP race gains steam

With the party's popularity having taken a hit over the pandemic, and an election due to be held this autumn, public support could give a candidate a crucial edge in the LDP vote.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 31, 2021

Don’t let politicians off the hook: Their choices determine Japan-South Korea relations

Many like to blame structural factors for the troubled ROK-Japan relationship. The focus should be on those who weaponize foreign policy to serve domestic political interests.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 30, 2021

China calls Xi’s regulatory crackdown a ‘profound revolution’

Xi's campaign calling for 'common prosperity” has intensified in recent weeks.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 20, 2021

Widening Hong Kong crackdown sweeps away unions and activist groups

The pressure on civic organizations — ranging from teacher's unions and legal societies to journalist associations and activists groups — shows Beijing isn't finished remaking Hong Kong.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 20, 2021

Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Jekyll and Hyde year

The artist famous for his riddling photos has turned to old-fashioned function and grace in his design for the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden in the U.S.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 13, 2021

Discovering 'meaning' in Japanese with one kanji in particular

As we reflect on the Olympics, some may be wondering what the significance of holding them during a pandemic was. The kanji that helps express that is used for other deep thoughts, too.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2021

Does Scarlett Johansson have a case against Disney?

The movie star claims that Disney breached her contract when it released 'Black Widow” simultaneously in movie theaters and on the Disney+ streaming service.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2021

Not vaccinated? Here’s how you could kill someone’s father

Misinformation, or even mere scientific confusion, can cause a lot of trouble when it appears to come out of the Centers for Disease Control.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2021

In defense of ‘misinformation’

The sight of powerful politicians and business leaders joining in a campaign to chase misinformation from public debate conjures up vicious images of ideological overreach.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 2, 2021

North Korea threatens week-old detente over U.S.-led exercises

Kim Yo Jong, sister of the country's leader Kim Jong Un, said Sunday that the plan to hold annual allied exercises this month 'seriously undermines” efforts to restore ties with South Korea.
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 Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2021

China and Taiwan’s ‘unrestricted vaccine warfare’

Last year, the countries of East Asia were hailed for their success stories in the effort to stop the coronavirus pandemic. Today, these same countries are battling a resurgence in infections. One unintended consequence of their early success in suppressing the virus has been a late start in vaccinating...
The decision significantly raises the prospects of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks on a social media app used by 170 million Americans.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 7, 2024

U.S. appeals court upholds TikTok law forcing its sale

The decision is a major win for the Justice Department and opponents of the Chinese-owned app and a devastating blow to TikTok parent ByteDance.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2024

Approval rate of Ishiba's Cabinet dips to 26.8%, poll shows

The Cabinet's approval rate has remained under 30% for months, including under Ishiba's predecessor, Fumio Kishida.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani,  at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 13, 2024

The global spy alliance should let Japan join

Tokyo’s inclusion in the club is long overdue, especially as the region combats China’s growing assertiveness and the unpredictability of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Tokyo Comic Con took place at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Dec. 6, 7 and 8.
CULTURE
Dec 18, 2024

Comic cons are far more than just cosplay

The conventions allow fans of comics to meet their heroes — both actors and authors — with manga and anime playing an increasingly bigger role each year.
A woman places a tribute with flowers and candles left near the "Alter Markt" Christmas market, where a man drove a car into the crowd through an emergency exit route on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, on Sunday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 23, 2024

Suspect in German Christmas market attack held on murder charges

The motive for the attack remains unclear.
Some of the same mistakes made during COVID-19 can be seen in the U.S. government's response to H5N1, which started in poultry before a new variant began infecting the nation’s dairy cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2024

Another pandemic is inevitable, and the U.S. isn't ready

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to lead the nation’s top public health agencies also don’t inspire confidence.
Black American women, who still heavily vote for the Democratic Party, are taking a much-needed break from political engagement after the last election, with the idea that rest and renewal will prepare them for future activism.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2024

Temporarily disconnected from politics? Feel no guilt about it.

Opposition movements are a recurring feature of American politics and predicts a robust, reenergized response when the time comes.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, South Korea's main opposition party, leaves after delivering a public statement on the impeachment motion against acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

In South Korea’s impeachment saga, who’s really in trouble?

Lee Jae-myung, facing six criminal cases, needs an election before any convictions are finalized, as a conviction could disqualify him from running for president.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's provocative rhetoric targeting Panama, Greenland and Canada underscores his preference for bold power plays over traditional rules-based diplomacy.
COMMENTARY
Jan 13, 2025

Trump’s trash talk revives the worst of world politics

Trump's provocative rhetoric targeting Panama, Greenland and Canada underscores his preference for bold power plays over traditional rules-based diplomacy.
What does the year hold for Japan? Make your own predictions using some key phrases.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 17, 2025

Let’s make some predictions about what will happen in the year ahead

The start of the new year comes with expectations as to how the following months will unfold. Learn how to respond to what others predict.
Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, looks at a paper as he speaks after Qatar helped mediate a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, in Doha on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 21, 2025

Mediators on standby for obstacles as Gaza ceasefire starts

"These kinds of deals are never easy to maintain," said a spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry, which helped broker the ceasefire.
French workers load a replica of the Statue of Liberty, or Lady Liberty, onto a truck outside the Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris in June 2021, before it departs for Ellis Island in New York to arrive on Independence Day.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2025

Liberal democracy faces doubts. But collapse? Not likely.

Democracy, it is often heard these days, is in crisis.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after the central bank's policy meeting in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ raised its rate by a quarter-point to 0.5% that day.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2025

Japan’s central bank drops the drama and wins on rates

The quarter-point increase, which took the main rate to 0.5%, was probably the most telegraphed this century.
A U.S. district judge did little to hide that he was highly skeptical of Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 27, 2025

Judge scoffs at legality of Trump’s bid to limit birthright citizenship

"This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” the judge said of Donald Trump's executive order.
Shinji Aoba is taken to the Kyoto Prefectural Police's Fushimi Police Station in May 2020. His death penalty has been finalized after he dropped an appeal.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2025

KyoAni arson suspect's death penalty finalized after appeal dropped

An attack by Aoba in July 2019 at a studio run by the animation powerhouse caused the deaths of 36 people and injured 32 others.

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Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear