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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2013

Stunned pope asks for prayers

Pope Francis understands that the Catholic Church is bleeding. In Latin America, it is losing members to evangelical Christianity and to secularism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 17, 2013

History of British intelligence

'Empire of Secrets' is, as Calder Walton himself writes, 'the first book devoted to British intelligence during the twilight of empire that has been based on declassified intelligence reports.'
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2013

Did Rodman lay up a net gain in North Korea?

Clown-job or not, former pro basketball star Dennis Rodman's fast break to North Korea did draw our attention to monstrous problems on the Peninsula.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2013

Asia's dammed water hegemon

China's announcement of three new dam projects on the Brahmaputra underscores the emergence of water as a new divide in Sino-Indian relations.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2013

Exiting a wounded church

Roman Catholics pray that the Holy Spirit will cut through all the politicking by cardinals and light upon a pope who can rescue a wounded church.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2013

From ADB to BOJ: a 'twofer' for Abe?

As President Barack Obama struggles to get his Defense and Treasury choices in place, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has his own personnel challenges.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 18, 2013

The 'Afraid of China Club' beckons, though free farm trade is still a farce

Given the regional paranoia concerning China's regional ambitions, the Trans-Pacific Partnership could realistically be called the 'Afraid of China Club.'
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2013

AKB48 and sexual politics

The tearful video from a 20-year-old female pop group member who 'broke the rules' was a disturbing reminder of Japan's troubling gender issues.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 11, 2013

Brazil dams Amazon to feed energy-hungry economy

When it is completed in 2015, the Jirau hydroelectric dam will span the Madeira River, feature more giant turbines than any other dam in the world and hold as much concrete as 47 towers the size of New York's Empire State Building.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 8, 2013

The Hitler home movies: how Eva Braun documented the Nazi dictator's private life

Lutz Becker was born in Berlin, he says, "during the anno diabolo, 1941. Mine was the generation that was sent into a dark pit." Meeting this survivor of the Third Reich, now in his 70s and living in Bayswater, London, it's hard to suppress the thought that Becker, a distinguished artist and film historian,...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2013

To regain its vitality, U.S. must lose its paranoia

A Marine officer cannot square the pettiness in the discourse of U.S. elders with the nobility of the men and women he served with in Afghanistan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2013

The up- and downside for the biggest economy

'Is America in decline?' may be the wrong question, as most of the affluent world — including U.S., Europe and Japan — faces similar threats.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2013

Rhetoric won't solve problems

For Asia, it is potentially bad news that the U.S. president seems to have little room for seriously considering the delicate balances between nations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Jan 27, 2013

You read about them here first

Ever since 1897 The Japan Times has reported daily in English on people, places and goings-on in and beyond this country. During those 116 years, our articles have often included information that never made it into the Japanese-language press — as in 1934, when the Society Page carried an interview...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 26, 2013

Take a deep breath of everyone else's air and pollution

Perhaps it was due to the fever of impending flu, or the arctic winds rattling our Tokyo home, but recent media photos of Beijing's thick smog suddenly brought to mind thoughts of the late U.S. president, John F. Kennedy.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2013

An appalling waste of food

An alarming new report estimates that between 30 and 50 percent of all the food produced in the world is lost and wasted. This is a shocking finding given the scale of malnourishment and hunger on our planet.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2013

Agricultural land grabs in developing countries?

Should rich countries — or investors based there — be buying agricultural land in developing countries?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2013

Agricultural land grabs in developing countries?

Should rich countries — or investors based there — be buying agricultural land in developing countries?
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2013

The NIC's crystal ball

Noted philosopher and aphorist Mr. Yogi Berra once said that "making predictions is hard, especially about the future." The U.S. National Intelligence Council (NIC) hasn't been deterred by the inherent difficulty of that endeavor, as it has just produced its sixth report on the state of the world some...
LIFE
Jan 13, 2013

What Japan needs to do

With its economy spluttering, large parts of its northeastern region still devastated by the effects of the mammoth Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 — and releases of radioactive materials that followed — its population shrinking and aging at unprecedented rates and its citizens despairing of...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2013

Christianity vs. secularism

Pope Benedict XVI had a busy holiday season, as you might expect, since it is a sacred time for Catholics and other Christians. He set himself the difficult-to- impossible task of trying to put Christ back into Christmas.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2013

Globalization is on the ropes

One fateful question for 2013 is this: What happens to globalization? For decades, growing volumes of cross-border trade and money flows have fueled strong economic growth. But something remarkable is happening; trade and international money flows are slowing and, in some cases, declining. David Smick,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 29, 2012

Textile scholar advocates sustainable fashion

Yoshiko Wada, textile artist and scholar, believes the word "sustainable" in foods and fashion shares the same philosophical taste. "Both are a holistic approach, about health, environment, and the community that supports it. We must recapture and rethink how we are going to sustain our Earth and society,...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2012

The rise of the attention economy

I was recently posed the following question: "The most important way in which the Internet and online social media are changing our world is [fill in the blank]."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Dec 11, 2012

Is Shintaro Ishihara the most dangerous man in Japan? Readers discuss

Parallels with wartime general
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2012

Expertise on climate is a terrible thing to waste

Doha, the capital of the oil state of Qatar, might be regarded as the most appropriate host for the climate change talks that have started, given that it is a living, breathing testament to the oil and gas-guzzling modern economy.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2012

New global energy picture

Anew report hails a crucial shift in the global economy. If current trends continue, the United States will surpass Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer by 2020. This development will not only transform the world's energy picture, but geopolitics as well.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2012

Something new for China?

Political leadership transitions typically signal either a change in direction or continuity. But the mere prospect of such a transition usually postpones some important political decisions and freezes some economic activity, pending the resolution of the accompanying uncertainty.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji