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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 12, 2021

How Vietnam's 'influencer' army wages information warfare on Facebook

Force 47 soldiers are tasked with setting up, moderating and posting on pro-state Facebook groups, to correct 'wrong views' online.
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.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 26, 2021

Mapping the cyber-activism of Japanese rightists

Jeffrey J. Hall's 'Japan's Nationalist Right in the Internet Age' brings academic rigor to exploring how neo-nationalist groups use the internet to bypass the mainstream media.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 24, 2021

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says new rules taking game in 'right direction'

The league's enhanced enforcement of foreign-substance usage by pitchers has made mandatory umpire checks a strange new sight in every game.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 23, 2021

As Japan reboots 44-year-old nuclear reactor, experts sound alarm

Kansai Electric Power Co. restarted the No. 3 reactor at its Mihama station in Fukui Prefecture on Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 21, 2021

These Olympics will be about doctors, not athletes

For medical personnel, eliminating spectators could mean the difference between controlling the pandemic at the doorstep or being overrun by a fresh outbreak.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 18, 2021

Okinawa reversion agreement stands the test of time

Greater foresight by the two governments was thus necessary then, as is a more proactive approach by them today regarding the bases.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 16, 2021

Proposed changes to South Korea citizenship law face anti-China headwinds

The controversy highlights the challenges South Korea faces as it seeks to ensure a robust population in the face of declining birthrates and rapidly aging workers.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 10, 2021

A Chinese invasion of Taiwan: Why Japan should prepare for the worst

As tensions rise in the region, Tokyo needs to coordinate with Washington and Taipei to counter the threat of war from Beijing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2021

China may be the answer to Janet Yellen's 'mystery'

China is no longer easily caricatured as a place with a limitless supply of cheap labor churning out bargain-basement stuff for consumers and businesses around the world.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 3, 2021

Mr. Xi, policies are more important than narratives

While Chinese culture is laudable, culture does not equate to policy and will not guarantee that others will automatically respect your government.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 27, 2021

Suga's top-down management style under scrutiny after series of rapid policy shifts

The prime minister's approach could backfire and is already undermining the government's traditional chain of command.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
May 15, 2021

Athletes willing and eager to participate in Tokyo Olympics

Athletes have apparently not been deterred by the conditions they will likely compete under in Tokyo.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
May 13, 2021

Chinese shot takes controversial path to vaccinating the world

Used to operating within China, where public opinion is censored, Chinese vaccine-makers have had a tough time showing their 'growth in front of the world,' an expert said.
JAPAN / Politics
May 10, 2021

As opposition to Tokyo Games grows, Suga says he has 'never put Olympics first'

Suga's remarks came the same day an opinion poll showed nearly 60% of people in Japan want the Olympics cancelled less than three months before they begin.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends an ordinary session of parliament along with his Cabinet ministers on Friday. Ishiba has toned down his stance on legally allowing married couples to have separate surnames.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 28, 2025

Ishiba tones down stance on dual-surname debate

While previously being all in favor of a dual-surname system, the prime minister has recently suggested considering a "compromise" of legally expanding the use of maiden names.
DeepSeek’s latest R1 model was built with just $6 million in raw computing power and inferior AI chips, a fraction of the money and resources spent by firms like OpenAI and Alphabet’s Google.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2025

Deepseek shows Silicon Valley’s huge blindspot on AI

OpenAI and others have coasted along believing money was their moat. It’s not.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and members of the Liberal Democratic Party take a group photo at the party's headquarters in Tokyo during the Oct. 27 Lower House elections.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2025

Adjusting to the new normal in Japanese politics

The upheaval of the past year has forced a fundamental rethinking of how political watchers must observe things in Tokyo
The Osaka Expo site on Yumeshima island in December. A survey of 3,000 people from across Japan conducted in October by the Mitsubishi Research Institute showed that just 24% of respondents expressed an interest in attending the Osaka Expo.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 4, 2025

Excitement for the Osaka Expo is low. Can organizers build hype?

A little over two months before it opens, the Osaka Expo is just about ready to welcome guests from Japan and the rest of the world — that is, if they are ready to come.
A Ukrainian serviceman fires a howitzer toward Russian troops, in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Jan. 11.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 4, 2025

Ukraine's politics warms up as U.S. focuses on war's endgame

In the past week, one Ukrainian political camp has accused President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's team of caring more about elections than the war.
If Donald Trump abandons internationalism, partnerships and alliances, the result will be tragic for both humanity and America itself.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025

The U.S. must avoid isolationism — a path to nowhere

The scariest aspect of the Trump presidency is that he promotes unpredictability and disruption as his principal techniques of governance and especially foreign policy.
U.S. President Donald Trump receives a status report on Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office in September 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2025

Trump keeps up his ‘Sharpiegate’ attack on science

The nomination of Neil Jacobs to run NOAA highlights U.S. President Trump’s loyalty-over-expertise approach to leadership.
Canada faces a tough decision on how to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's economic threats, particularly regarding energy exports, with options ranging from strategic energy cuts to export taxes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

Weaponizing Canadian oil would rattle Trump

Reducing crude output has the potential to inflict real pain on U.S. refiners and consumers.
The rapid advance of artificial intelligence and technology threatens traditional human life and values, but finding a balance between innovation and preserving human connection may offer a path forward for humanity's future.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Does humanity have a future in the virtual and AI age?

The virtual age and artificial intelligence are making traditional ways of life seem increasingly obsolete, and this will only grow with AI's spread.
U.S. President Donald Trump's approach to ending Russia’s war in Ukraine appears to prioritize re-establishing U.S.-Russia relations over securing a fair settlement for Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2025

Ukraine is just a pawn in a Russian reset

Donald Trump's approach makes U.S. actions more logical, but no less shameful.
President Donald Trump’s order making English the official language of the country is unnecessary, as nearly 80% of people in the U.S. already speak it at home.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2025

America doesn’t need an official language

After all, what is our shared culture if not the mix of cultures — including languages — that make and remake America every day?
Mark Carney, Canada's incoming prime minister (center), during a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Friday. Carney has been sworn in as Canada's 24th prime minister, bringing the former central banker to power in the middle of an explosive trade war with the U.S.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2025

Canada has a new prime minister with a very hard first assignment

Mark Carney steps into his role as U.S. President Donald Trump sets his sights on Canada’s sovereignty and keeps threatening more tariffs.
France has expressed concern after U.S. border agents read the contents of a visiting French space scientist's smartphone and deported him after accusing him of "hateful" messages against U.S. policy.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2025

U.S. denies entry to French scientist over 'hateful' messages

France has expressed concern over the incident, in which U.S. border agents read the contents of the scientist's smartphone before deporting him.

Longform

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