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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 20, 2022

For women in China’s Communist Party, it’s lonely at the top

The Communist Party congress this week is once again a typical scene of suits and ties, with less than a third of the delegates being women.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 9, 2022

Donald Trump’s MAGA movement isn’t all about him

The midterm primaries are revealing that the former president's brash brand of politics, more than the man himself, is driving many Republican voters.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 22, 2022

Australia’s new leader faces peril of winning as ‘not the other guy’

Anthony Albanese won the election with a campaign that was gaffe-prone and light on policy but promised a more decent form of politics, delivering a stark rejection of Scott Morrison.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2019

Facebook bums us out, but we'll pay for it anyway

Those who deactivated their accounts for a month were less anxious and depressed.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2017

After Charlottesville: If you fire a fascist, you are a fascist

It's time to overthrow the millions of little Hitlers who think that issuing a paycheck turns their employees into slaves subject to thought control.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 3, 2017

'The May Sun': Cycle of life flowers in photo exhibition

The natural beauty of flowers has inspired artists for centuries, but for American nature photographer Terri Weifenbach, flowers have given rise to reflection on the cycle of life.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2017

The Japan-United States alliance of despotism

In both Japan and the U.S., the governments are retreating from the rule of law and guarantee of people's freedom under the cause of national security.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2017

Political realignment in the era of Trump

With the inauguration of new U.S. President Donald Trump, democratic politics are being confronted with changes of the magnitude that could happen only once in a century.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2017

The special effect of Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong Weerasethakul pokes a little fun at Thailand's superstitions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2016

Postwar polity at crossroads

A full-scale debate on the Constitution needs to begin with a discussion on the significance of Japan's wartime defeat and the postwar reforms, and involve historical and philosophical explorations on the nation's postwar path.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2016

Ranking the 2016 presidential primary polls and predictions

After more than 50 million votes cast in 100-plus nominating contests since early February, the U.S. presidential primary season is over and each major party finally has its presumptive nominee. Now, as the country prepares for the race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, and...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 15, 2016

New centrist conservatism

To address the challenges confronting the nation, the LDP must move leftward and once again embrace center-right politics.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2015

Chomsky's take on the state of Thai democracy

Noted academic and commentator Noam Chomsky takes a keen interest in the political wars embroiling Thailand.
EDITORIALS
May 18, 2015

What now for Osaka, Hashimoto?

The failure of Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's effort to reorganize Japan's second largest city will have major repercussions that extend to national politics.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 28, 2014

TV personality Haruka Christine wants youth to get politically savvy

Regular viewers of Japanese TV may remember young Haruka Christine's first appearances on the variety-show circuit in early 2010, when she had her fellow entertainers and audiences in stitches.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Oct 25, 2013

Entrepreneur touts power to the people as cure for Czech ills

Tomio Okamura — whose mother is Czech and whose father hails from Niigata Prefecture — ranks as the third-most-popular politician in the country. That's hardly surprising, though, given his near-omnipresence in Czech life.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 21, 2013

'Motor City Madman' rocks political world

On the final morning of the 2013 National Rifle Association annual convention in May, the day was bright, the mood was festive and Ted Nugent was neither dead nor in jail.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 28, 2013

After nation's first black president, who's next?

President Barack Obama's historic election in 2008 and his re-election last year proved decisively that race is no longer an insurmountable hurdle to high political office in the U.S.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2012

Spring erosion of Seoul's ruling party forecast

The ascension to power of the pudgy 29-year-old Kim Jong Un in North Korea has grabbed headlines around the world, but the most important story involving Korean young people and politics is taking place in the South.
COMMENTARY
Jan 9, 2012

Collision of political, economic logic condemns India to rudderless rule and chronic corruption

India's economy grows mainly in the night, some say, when the government is asleep. If every economic prospect pleases, India's politics can be vile.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2009

Women lack confidence, ambition for Diet: experts

Although last month's election brought an unprecedented number of women into the Lower House, female lawmakers both at home and abroad are still subject to double standards and lack the ambition to take the stage in national politics, experts said at a recent symposium.
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron (right) and former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg are both experiencing a revival in U.K. political and business circles.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2024

Has the U.K. learned nothing from Brexit?

The current success of David Cameron and Nick Clegg in the U.K. suggests that the country — and the world — have learned little from populism's rise.
Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Fumio Kishida delivers a speech during the LDP's 91st party convention in Tokyo on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2024

What is being missed about the funding scandal

In discussions about the LDP funding scandal, certain considerations are missing. Beyond lambasting the party, these must be addressed for a clear vision.
Outside of some activist movements pressing governments for more climate action, global warming is not yet at the heart of the political agenda in most countries.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2024

Climate change is political and we must treat it that way

Climate action hasn't made its way onto mainstream political agendas in most countries, to the detriment of our collective ability to solve the crisis.
A supporter wears a mask depicting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally for Amit Shah, the Indian Home Minister and a leader of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the city of Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, on April 30.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2024

As India votes, Modi's BJP takes aim at opposition seats to win supermajority

As the Hindu nationalist party targets 400 seats in India's lower house of parliament, it also hopes to wrest vital constituencies from the opposition.
The integration of large language models into war-game simulations and planning promises faster scenario analysis, but recent research highlights significant issues, including a risk of escalation.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2024

Resist the seductive power of AI in military decision-making

The maturation of AI and the creation of large learning models have driven the war-gaming industry — and it is an industry — to new heights of fever and frenzy.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to Liberal Democratic Party members during a leadership election at its headquarters in Tokyo in September 2020.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2024

Ex-defense chief Shigeru Ishiba announces fifth bid for LDP presidency

The party heavyweight underscored a commitment to clean politics, pledging to work to restore trust in the LDP after a wide-ranging slush fund scandal.
Campaign spending in the U.S. has surged, with dark money and Super PACs dominating elections.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 13, 2024

Dark money is a cancer on U.S. lawmakers — but it’s curable

Nearly three-fourths of Americans voters say lobbyists and special interests wield too much influence compared to constituents.
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.
Crowds attend a Sanseito rally in the city of Saitama during the Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 16, 2025

Doctrine forms the core of Sanseito’s strategy, with some caveats

Its adherence to doctrine makes it resemble older parties with strong organizational structures and voting blocs rather than smaller populist ones.

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