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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2022

Drone strikes show Putin his homeland isn’t safe

Ukrainians aren't openly taking credit for the attacks on Russian air bases, but the message was clear: They are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2022

Climate change costs are eating up the money needed to avert it

Rich countries need to meet their ODA commitments, which would more than double the money available to avert the effects of climate change.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2022

Ukraine’s victories may become a problem for the U.S.

Washington has been a big winner from Moscow's fiasco in Ukraine — but a lengthy stalemate could become a huge burden.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2022

Amgen has a contender in the weight-loss drug wars

Amgen's obesity drug offers a new twist on proven methods to help people lose unwanted pounds.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2022

Japanese power utilities to face record antitrust fines

The figure dwarfs current record fine of u00a539.9 billion handed to eight major Japanese road-paving companies in 2019 for fixing asphalt mixture prices.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Dec 1, 2022

Only hard options: How China could navigate its way out of 'COVID-zero'

Beijing recognizes the damaging impact of quarantines and lockdowns, but it also understands that ceasing efforts to contain the virus would rapidly overwhelm the health care system.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2022

The soccer world must protect Iran’s team

After losing to the United States in World Cup, Team Melli returns home to a hostile population and a vengeful regime.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 1, 2022

For China’s leader, another dilemma: How to mourn Jiang Zemin

Paying tribute to Jiang while preventing him from becoming a symbolic cudgel against the current regime will be a challenge for Xi Jinping in the coming weeks
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2022

China’s video game ambitions threaten to one-up Japan

Along with the EU, the world's second-largest economy, China, wants to use gaming to promote soft power. Japan should take that as a warning.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2022

Russia’s mass abductions are genocide

Defeating Putin's troops isn't enough. Kyiv must also get back the hundreds of thousands of women and children the Russians have taken out of Ukraine.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2022

Eisai Alzheimer’s drug sparks debate over benefits as risks like brain bleeding emerge

The key issue is whether the modest slowing of the disease is meaningful to individual patients and their families, especially in light of the potential side effects.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 30, 2022

Proud, scared and conflicted. What the China protesters told me.

After nearly three long years of COVID zero, which has turned into a political campaign for Chinese President Xi Jinping, China's future looks increasingly bleak.
King Charles III coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey on May 6
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2023

Charles III has been a very dull monarch, thank God

Defying expectations, King Charles III is popular. Losing the fervor or his years as prince and being dependable — even dull — has paid off.
Sofia Coppola (right), Bill Murray (center) and Scarlett Johansson attend the Venice Film Festival to present their movie “Lost in Translation” in August 2003.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 13, 2023

The complex legacy of ‘Lost in Translation,’ 20 years on

Sofia Coppola's acclaimed film relaunched Tokyo's global fame, but along the way it forgot to show its Japanese characters some love.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida poses with his new Cabinet in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 14, 2023

Kishida's Cabinet reshuffle is about keeping friends and rivals close

The Cabinet reshuffle and Liberal Democratic Party senior leadership changes reflect a leader concerned with factional politics and potential rivals.
The incoming and outgoing presidents of Johnny & Associates, Noriyuki Higashiyama and Julie Keiko Fujishima, bow at a press conference on Sept. 7.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 14, 2023

Johnny’s talent agency has admitted to a past of abuse. What next?

Karin Kaneko joins the show to update us on how the story is unfolding.
Starting next year, all renovations to the new Imperial Hotel are scheduled to finish in 2036.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 16, 2023

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel enters the history books

The curtain is about to close on Frank Lloyd Wright’s contribution to Tokyo’s skyline.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks Tuesday during a press briefing outside his office on Capitol Hill in which he announces an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Joe Biden with regard to his role in the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2023

Republican impeachment inquiry marks low point in U.S. history

If any president can be impeached without reason, it is likely that every president will be impeached so long as the opposing party controls the House.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receives a send-off as he departs by train from Pyongyang for a visit to Russia on Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2023

North Korea’s newfound confidence is a dangerous and challenging thing

It is increasingly clear that Pyongyang has been emboldened by the formation of a new anti-U.S. bloc, prompting it to reach out to Beijing and Moscow.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Family Research Council and FRC Action annual Pray Vote Stand Summit in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2023

Sinner, savior or both? Trump woos evangelicals and women

Despite the legal, moral and sexual escapades of the Republican front-runner, support among his devotees remains strong.
Ukraine's Kateryna Volodko hits a return against Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic during a qualifying match prior to the start of the WTA Guangzhou Open in Guangzhou, China, on Saturday.
TENNIS
Sep 17, 2023

Women's tennis returns to China after Peng Shuai boycott

The WTA tournament in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou will be the first in mainland China since 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Sep 17, 2023

Climate litigation remains a tough sell in Japan despite wins overseas

So far, Japan has seen just four climate lawsuits, all concerning the construction and operation of coal-fired power plants.
On average, women spend more time on housework than men.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2023

It’s time for women to quit housework (again)

Women of the world unite in dedicating more time to yourselves and less to housework. Men might learn something along the way, too.
The far-right Confederation Liberty and Independence party rally against measures imposed by the Polish government to stem the spread of COVID-19, in Warsaw in October 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 18, 2023

The far right is advancing in a vulnerable Europe again

Disruptors in far-right political parties are taking advantage of resentment born out of COVID-19, a cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference last Wednesday following a Cabinet reshuffle.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 20, 2023

Kishida may reveal priority areas for economic package next week

The size of an envisaged fiscal 2023 state supplementary budget to finance the economic measures will be a major focus, informed sources said.
The XL bully dog is different than a normal pet. It is a symbol of fear, aggression and its muscular body and fierce countenance reflects this.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2023

Some kinds of dogs shouldn’t be allowed as pets

The case is weaker for a ban on bully dogs in the U.S. because population density is much lower and Americans seem to have a higher risk tolerance.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 21, 2023

Kishida to outline economic support measures next week

Speaking in New York, Kishida warned that Japan’s economic situation remains unstable.
Preliminary data suggests that updated COVID-19 boosters, which are matched to a previous variant known as XBB, could still offer protection against the new edition.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2023

New Pirola COVID-19 variant shows value of booster shots

Data suggests the updated COVID-19 boosters, which are matched to the XBB variant, could still offer decent protection against the new edition.
Leaves of marijuana plants from which hemp fibers are extracted at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 5, 2016
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 21, 2023

Does a university cannabis scandal point to a larger trend?

A drugs scandal at Japan’s biggest university draws attention to a troubling statistic: Cannabis use among young people is on the rise.
Sogo & Seibu’s flagship store in Ikebukuro is closed due to a strike on Aug. 31. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 19, 2023

As goes the Sogo department store, so goes Japan

The number of department stores located outside Japan's 10 biggest cities has dropped by 30% in the past decade.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes