Search - author

 
 
Many moods come and go, inspiring our art. Though love could be fleeting, it proved the most inspirational of all.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Nov 27, 2023

Tales of a Closed Country: Part 2

Even Japan's "sakoku" policies couldn't deter the lovers, artists and poets from their muses. After all, we humans tend to look for beauty where we can.
Ukrainian military members fire a howitzer at Russian forces in the Zaporizhzhia Region of Ukraine in December. Ukraine’s war effort is highly dependent on the U.S. and the other Western nations who comprise the country’s largest military and economic backers. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2023

The wars shaping the new world order

From Gaza to Urkaine to Taiwan, there is an unfolding geopolitical drama and global rebalancing among the great-powers.
Yoshiko Koide sits in a classroom at Nagoya College where she teaches a Japanese-language observation seminar.
LIFE / Language / Longform
Nov 27, 2023

How a dictionary came to spark outrage among the web’s otaku

A project to create a reference book categorizing subcultures didn't seem to cause offense until it was packaged and sold as a dictionary.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) meets soldiers at undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 27, 2023

Netanyahu's two-front war against Hamas and politics

The Israeli prime minister is conducting a two-front war, one against Hamas and the other for his own political survival.
A protest is held in Toronto on Sept. 25, a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the prospect of New Delhi's involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2023

India’s denials of Sikh separatist plots ring hollow

Now that the U.S. is also raising concerns about New Delhi-orchestrated plots against Sikh separatists, why are many Indians reacting with a shrug?
A pipeline transporting seawater is part of the facility for releasing treated radioactive water into the ocean from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 27, 2023

Japan’s wastewater release could bring the region together

The release of treated radioactive water from Fukushima No. 1 could be a springboard for more transparency around nuclear energy in Japan and all of Asia.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addresses a news conference during an artificial intelligence safety summit in Milton Keynes, England, on Nov. 2.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2023

Foreign policy and defense concerns in the age of AI

Researchers warn of the potential 'signaling risks' artificial intelligence poses to global politics and military conflict.
In recent years, Jack Ma has largely stayed out of public view after clashing with the Chinese government.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 30, 2023

Jack Ma returns to rally troops after Alibaba’s troubles deepen

"Every great company is born in a winter"
Chinstrap penguins in Orne Harbour in the western Antarctic peninsula in March 2016
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Dec 1, 2023

Antarctic chinstrap penguins get by on just secondslong micronaps

Falling asleep while guarding a nest can spell doom for the eggs and later the chicks, but the species has an ingenious way of getting enough sleep.
A Palestinian resident inspects the destruction caused by air strikes on their home in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2023

Israel’s war aims move south with Hamas leadership in crosshairs

Israel is bearing down on the city of Khan Younis where it says the Hamas leadership is entrenched deep inside tunnels.
The former lead singer of The Pogues, Shane MacGowan, attends the funeral service of his mother in Silvermines, Ireland, in January 2017.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2023

The life of the Pogues' frontman and the ‘banality of crazy’ in U.S. politics

The current focus on performative acts in politics diminishes serious policy debates, leading to social and political divides.
Practioners of Judaism pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on Nov. 12.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2023

Unraveling the new roots of modern antisemitism

Whereas antisemitism reproaches Jews for being rootless, Zionism tries to correct this supposed failure.
The fossil of a new species of dung beetle found during a geoscience class at Keio Senior High School
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2023

Fossil found in Japan school class confirmed as new beetle species

The almost perfectly preserved fossil was found in a rock during a geoscience class in last year at Keio Senior High School in Yokohama.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng meet for talks in Beijing on Aug. 29.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2023

The Washington-Beijing tech war is just getting started

U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo emphasizes the need to prevent China from accessing cutting-edge technology, citing national defense concerns.
Palestinians gather to receive food rations for their families outside a United Nations warehouse in Rafah, Gaza, on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 11, 2023

International law is failing displaced Gazans

Where international law fails, the international community has the moral imperative to step in and assist displaced Gazans.
Toranosuke Katayama is a photographer who's photo assignments lead him to become a soba researcher with 70 publications on the cuisine.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 22, 2023

Toranosuke Katayama: ‘Soba is about saving history and identity’

A photographer who chose to document soba for a book soon found himself drawn into the deeper world of the buckwheat noodle.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2023

It’s time to kick our addiction to fossil fuels

The COP28 deal is historic in that it calls for a transition away from fossil fuels for the first time, but it's too weak to tackle the climate emergency.
There are no villains in Saikaku's stories … just people caught more or less helplessly in life's vortex.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Dec 17, 2023

Tales of a Closed Country: Part 3

There are no truly evil villains in Ihara Saikaku's stories, just people caught helplessly in life's vortex.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after testifying in his civil fraud trial at the State Supreme Court building in Manhattan,  New York, on Nov. 6.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 16, 2023

Material from Russia probe went missing as Trump left office

A binder given to the Trump White House contained details that intelligence agencies believe could reveal secret sources and methods.
"Concussed: Sport's Uncomfortable Truth" by author Sam Peters details the issue of concussions in sports, particularly rugby.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 17, 2023

Rugby in denial over concussion problem, author Sam Peters says

Peters' book includes a section on the damage of repeated heading in soccer but is predominantly concerned with rugby.
A pair of wolves carved from wood exhibited at Mitsumine Shrine’s museum in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Dec 15, 2023

In praise of wolves

Premodern Japan's reverence of wolves mirrors its close bond with nature, a state eventually disrupted by the ecological impact of industrialization.
Harvard University President Claudine Gay testifies before a United States House of Representatives hearing on antisemitism in American campuses on Dec. 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2023

U.S. campus antisemitism debate muddles nuances of free speech

The debate on antisemitism in U.S. campuses doesn’t lend itself to easy answers. What is free speech and what harmful conduct is down to context.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg meet during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 19, 2023

NATO's delicate balancing act in the Indo-Pacific

Japan and NATO are already working together on new technologies and on efforts to safeguard the new domains of cyber, outer space and other vectors.
Buildings in Xiamen on mainland China across the Taiwan Strait from anti-landing barriers on a beach in Kinmen, Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 20, 2023

Taiwan’s ability to defend against Chinese invasion questioned

For all the support given by Washington, the reality is that when it comes to both civil and military defense, Taiwan still has a lot to do.
JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft is expected to land on the lunar surface in early 2024.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2023

One small step for a JAXA spacecraft, one giant leap for exploration

In 2024, we can look forward to the arrival on the moon of JAXA's SLIM spacecraft. Its groundbreaking accuracy could further propel space exploration.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2023

U.S. Supreme Court unlikely to uphold Colorado ruling disqualifying Trump

The U.S. Supreme Court could overturn the Colorado courts decision, including challenging the state court's authority to keep Trump off the ballot.
Well-wishers light candles as people mourn the lives lost in Thursday's mass shooting, outside Charles University in Prague on Friday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 23, 2023

After Czech mass shooting, shock, grief and a focus on guns

As police Friday scrutinized online threats of copycat attacks, students at Charles University proposed a simple way to prevent any recurrence: ban guns.
An image from Dec. 9 appears to show the Russian container ship Angara, sanctioned by the U.S., unloading cargo at Najin port while containers from North Korea await loading at an adjacent pier.
WORLD
Dec 27, 2023

Ghost ships at reawakened North Korea port put Ukraine in peril

The vessels are suspected to be delivering arms to Russia that eventually make their way to the frontlines of Vladimir Putin's invasion.
The iconic structure with its shell-shaped roof at Bennelong Point in Sydney is a source of immense pride for many Australians.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2023

Yuzo Mikami: The unsung hero behind the Sydney Opera House

On the building's 50th anniversary, those with memories and knowledge of the Japanese architect say recognition of his achievements is long-overdue.
Next year, U.S. President Joe Biden will seek a mandate to govern into his mid-80s. His likely opponent, former President Donald Trump, is only three years younger.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 27, 2023

Making or breaking democracy

As 2024 approaches, one milestone looms menacingly on the horizon: The U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.

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