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COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 17, 2020

Japanese distrust of government stalls adoption of My Number card

Officials might have better success getting the public to sign on by providing clear information about what exactly is monitored through the program.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 10, 2020

For some in LDP, Koike's Tokyo win strengthens case for snap poll

Landslide triumph for the incumbent in Sunday's gubernatorial election underscored the current weakness of the opposition and voters' preference for the status quo.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 7, 2020

Moderna spars with U.S. scientists over COVID-19 vaccine trials

As the United States accelerates the search for a coronavirus vaccine, tensions have erupted between government scientists and Moderna Inc., one of the leading developers, it has been learned.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2020

EU rogue's nationalist tilt tested as Poland faces runoff vote

Polish voters denied President Andrzej Duda's bid for quick re-election, forcing him into a runoff that risks halting a nationalist makeover of the European country.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2020

Biden’s old-time liberalism finds its moment

The Democratic candidate's speech repudiated progressives by condemning riots.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2020

Johnson faces mounting fury for backing top aide Dominic Cummings

Cummings is alleged to have ignored government orders, driving more than 250 miles to his parents' property to get child care support.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2020

The Great Depression paradox: children survived, then thrived

National crises can actually have positive effects on the young, building character as much as destroying it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2020

Britain doesn't want to come out of lockdown

On the question of whether to prioritize the economy or the well-being of older people, Brits are much more bothered about the latter.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2020

Google and Twitter are right, workers should stay home

Rather than prepare to reopen, companies should help employees settle into operating remotely.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2020

Pandemic could foster new attitudes toward immigration

In recent weeks, doctors, nurses and care workers for the British National Health Service — in particular, immigrants — are presently being hailed for their gritty sense of duty, for standing between many people and premature death.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 13, 2020

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam pushes pro-China agenda, risking Trump’s wrath

Democracy activists see Lam's move to push the national anthem law as a potential precursor to bringing in national security legislation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 12, 2020

Abe follows Trump's example, approving drugs quickly after criticism

Japanese regulators are usually known for taking a year to approve new drugs, but authorized remdesivir just three days after receiving the application.
JAPAN
May 11, 2020

Japan shouldn't rush decision on academic year, scholars caution

Recent opinion polls by the media show the public is rather skewed toward supporting a September start for the academic year.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
May 3, 2020

Necessary or not? The LDP's proposed emergency powers clause for the Constitution

73 years since the Constitution took effect, arguments on revising it have focused on the war-renouncing Article 9. But the coronavirus has prompted a different proposal.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2020

Trump brushes off polls showing Joe Biden leading in U.S. election

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he does not believe opinion polls showing his likely Democratic opponent Joe Biden leads him in the 2020 race for the White House.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2020

The coronavirus is not Trump’s Vietnam

Sentient humans like to benchmark their successes and failures. So it’s understandable that in trying to put the coronavirus’s toll in perspective, some Americans have fastened their eyes on one particular grim milestone: The 58,300-plus deaths in the United States from COVID-19 over the last three...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2020

Diplomacy is another victim of the virus

China's “wolf warriors” are just responding to pressures that envoys everywhere are feeling in the age of social media.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Apr 17, 2020

In China, demands for more free speech outlast coronavirus lockdowns

Even as China seeks to revive its economy under a host of restrictions meant to prevent another outbreak, some are urging looser limits on speech.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Mar 25, 2020

Maverick presidents Bolsonaro in Brazil and Lopez Obrador in Mexico both in denial over COVID-19

The presidents of Mexico and Brazil scored stunning election victories in 2018 in defiance of the political establishment, but now their unwillingness to follow consensus on the coronavirus pandemic has left the two increasingly exposed.
Reader Mail
Mar 20, 2020

School closures are a cruel blow to children

About 300 million children worldwide are unable to go to school, not because of war, terrorist attack or natural disaster, but because of the coronavirus ("School halted for 290 million worldwide" in the March 6 edition). As a student, I would like to share my opinion about this unparalleled situation....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2020

COVID-19: A strategic shock shakes the world

For Japan, COVID-19 has taken a 2020 that was meant to be a stable and historic year with the Olympics and has thrown it into disarray.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 9, 2020

Amid strained ties, Fukushima fears grow anew in South Korea

Concerns over radiation from the defunct Fukushima No. 1 power plant remain strong in South Korea nine years after the March 2011 triple core meltdown triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 22, 2020

Japan can't run out the clock on coronavirus

Next month the Olympic torch will arrive in Japan for a four-month relay to launch the opening ceremonies for the Tokyo summer games. But rather than anticipating the sight of Olympic torchbearers, much of Japan is fixated on a different relay: hundreds of masked passengers grimly walking off the quarantined...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 21, 2020

Michael Bloomberg seeks reset after rough debate debut as Democrats sprint to Super Tuesday

Democratic presidential contenders began a frantic dash for votes on Thursday, as big-spending billionaire Michael Bloomberg sought to move past a bruising debate debut and several of his rivals jockeyed to be the moderate alternative to liberal front-runner Bernie Sanders.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2020

COVID-19's economic hit is all in your mind

Psychology can be more powerful than facts when it comes to an epidemic's impact
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 19, 2020

Changing attitudes, not regulations, is the key to Japan's future

There is little indication that the Japanese public will change and allow the reforms required to put Japan's economy on a more stable footing and facilitate growth.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 31, 2020

Ox walking, heckling and other strange Diet practices

Understanding Japanese politics, as with many things in Japanese society, is often an exercise of scratching beneath the surface to discover the true meaning.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami