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ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 18, 2022

U.S. envoy vows military operations will continue in Taiwan Strait despite Chinese warnings

The top U.S. diplomat for Asia said any moves by China to prevent the operations would be “deeply destabilizing,” a day after Beijing's envoy to Washington warned against such operations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 14, 2022

How Japan is building on U.S. policy for economic security

A number of factors have left Tokyo unable to maintain its industrial competitiveness and security through existing policies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 29, 2022

Manila’s helicopter deal cancellation increases pressure on Russian defense industry

The Mi-17 cancellation was unexpected as the Philippines had reiterated as recently as March that it was planning to proceed with the procurement.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2022

Boris Johnson leaves behind a sterling mess

Investors appear to view the British pound more like the currency of a troubled emerging market than of a stable advanced economy.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 18, 2022

Travelers ask, 'Cash, what’s that?'

On a recent trip to England, Andrew Dodson, 35, and his wife, Erin, 32, who live in Traverse City, Michigan, had an unexpected problem: No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t spend the 700 British pounds they’d brought along.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2022

Ukraine crisis pushes the world’s hungry over the brink

If the prospect of mass starvation in distant countries due to the Ukraine war is not horrific enough to motivate the world to take action, self-interest should.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 7, 2022

Senior economist urges China to seize top chip firm TSMC if U.S. strengthens sanctions

Chen Wenling, who made the comments in a speech, is chief economist at a research group overseen by China's top economic planning agency.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2022

Biden vows to defend Taiwan as Kishida pledges unprecedented hike in defense spending

The U.S. leader's comment — which was at odds with Washington's long-standing policy — came after his first in-person summit with Kishida.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 19, 2022

North Korea's Kim looks to rocket himself to top of Biden-Yoon summit agenda

Officials in the U.S. and South Korea say that Pyongyang could stage a nuclear test, intercontinental ballistic missile launch or both around Biden's visit.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2022

Russia looks to avoid default with last-minute dollar bond payment

Russia's $40 billion of international bonds have become the focus of a game of financial chicken amid sweeping Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 24, 2022

South Korean delegation faces uphill battle in rebuilding ties with Japan

South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has dispatched a team to Tokyo for five days of meetings with top officials and possibly Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a bid to repair relations.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 20, 2022

The U.S. races to arm Ukraine with heavier, more advanced weaponry

The West is focused on sending longer-range weapons like howitzers, anti-aircraft systems, anti-ship missiles, armed drones, armored trucks, personnel carriers and even tanks.
For the first time in 16 years, Taiwan will have a minority government when Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party is sworn in on May 20.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2024

To Taiwan’s president-elect, here is a proposal for your consideration

For the first time in 16 years, Taiwan will have a minority government when Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party is sworn in on May 20.
Japan's fall to No. 4 in the global economic rankings reflects an aging population and declining resources.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2024

Japan slips in the global economic rankings: So what’s next?

The IMF has forecast that India will overtake Japan economically in 2026 and Germany in 2027.
Japan, Britain and Italy have made headway in their joint next-generation fighter aircraft project, with industry officials saying that the partners are close to completing the aircraft’s conceptual design phase.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 26, 2024

Japan joint fighter program gains steam as firms zero in on conceptual design

The completion of the conceptual design phase will allow Japan, Britain and Italy to move to the next stage of the program next year.
Shipping risks have escalated due to repeated Houthi strikes in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since November in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Israel-Hamas war.
WORLD
Feb 28, 2024

Houthis say they can reassess Red Sea attacks if Israeli 'aggression' stops

Shipping risks have escalated due to repeated Houthi strikes since November in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians.
Research from the International Monetary Fund suggests that gains from fully closing the gender gap in labor markets could increase gross domestic product in developing economies by 23% on average.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 8, 2024

The economic power of gender equality

There is ample empirical research demonstrating that gender equality delivers better results for people, for the planet and for profits.
Sapporo had hoped the Winter Olympics, which the city had hosted in 1972, would return in 2030, but it was not meant to be.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Apr 15, 2024

Why Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics failed

Part of the city's downfall in trying to secure the Games was, ironically, snow.
The international departure lobby at Haneda Aiport in Tokyo on April 29, 2023, at the start of the Golden Week holidays.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2024

Golden Week travel plans near pre-pandemic levels as overseas bookings surge

This year's Golden Week marks the first since the government downgraded COVID-19’s classification to the same level as the seasonal flu.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
WORLD / Politics
May 5, 2024

Russia puts Ukraine's Zelenskyy on wanted list

Russia's Tass news agency reported that the Russian Interior Ministry database showed the Ukrainian leader was on a wanted list but gave no other details.
Russian officers march during the main military parade rehearsals in Moscow's Red Square on May 5.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2024

Russia’s war economy starves crucial oil industry of manpower

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, its oil and gas sector has faced increasingly strict international sanctions aimed at limiting petrodollar revenue.
As the entire world is fixated on Gaza, the Iranian government has been arresting girls who go out in the street without headscarves and executing people.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2024

Don't let Gaza help Iran cloak its own repression

As the entire world is fixated on Gaza, the Iranian government has been arresting girls who go out in the street without headscarves and executing people.
Mourners gather in Tehran's Valiasr Square on Monday to honor President Ebrahim Raisi and others who died in a helicopter crash a day earlier.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2024

Iranian President Raisi's failed experiment in ideological purity

Yet totalitarian regimes such as Iran don’t need their populations to be content, so long as they have security forces willing to kill to suppress dissent.
Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video on Sunday.
WORLD
May 27, 2024

Scores killed as Israel strikes tent city in assault on Rafah

The Israeli military said it carried out the strike based on "precise intelligence” and that it killed two "senior” Hamas officials.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara delivers a speech during the Shangri-La Dialogue regional security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

Japan defense minister warns of ‘simultaneous crises’ in Asia and beyond

Defense chief Minoru Kihara said Tokyo is “ready to lead the way” in preserving and strengthening a free and open international, rules-based order.
Israeli soldiers ready a tank near the border with Gaza on Thursday. The Jewish state's victory in the Gaza conflict will depend on addressing Palestinian despair.
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2024

Israel will always be held to a different standard

Arrest warrants, campus protests and genocide accusations were not inevitable. These were the direct results of Netanyahu’s choices.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam speaks during a ceremony marking the new legal year in Hong Kong on Jan. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 11, 2024

British judges' resignations put Hong Kong rule of law in spotlight

Foreign judges have been described as a "canary in the coalmine," generating confidence in Hong Kong's judiciary system.
Kali Adem port, north of Jakarta, is flooded due to rising sea levels and land subsidence. Climate change has a dire impact on the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities, therefore exacerbating maritime security challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2024

Climate change threatens security in the Indo-Pacific

Leaders need to recognize that climate change is a maritime security challenge due to its impact on coastal regions, which exacerbates old problems and creates new ones.
For Japan, carbon credits are seen as important as the nation waits for its climate technology bets to pay off.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 24, 2024

Japan makes a late play on under-fire carbon credit trading

The government and Japanese companies see carbon offsets as important as they wait for their climate tech bets to pay off.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (left to right), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara prior their "two-plus-two" talks at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on Sunday
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 28, 2024

In historic move, U.S. to upgrade military command structure in Japan

The move — one of the most significant in the alliance's history — comes as Washington and Tokyo overhaul military ties in the face of an increasingly assertive China.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?