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September 01, 2025
 

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin leaves a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 4, 2024

China is winning the communications competition

It's a mistake for the U.S. to take for granted that the world sees it as “the good guy” in its competition with China.
Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2024

Why Line, a superapp, sparked a diplomatic dispute

Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, meet in Tokyo in May 2022 on the sidelines of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. The coalition is now adrift and the reason for the drop-off is simple: The U.S. is preoccupied with Europe and the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2024

Is 'the Quad' becoming a Potemkin alliance?

Despite its initial promise, "the Quad" coalition now appears to be losing momentum, posing significant security risks.
Despite the Sino-American trade war, China's export competitiveness has strengthened, with its share of global exports increasing in 2023 and its trade surplus reaching $823 billion.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2024

Why the U.S. can’t win the trade war with China — and shouldn’t try

There is no evidence that China is actively targeting the exchange rate, and even the U.S. does not label China as a currency manipulator.
China’s defense minister, Dong Jun, addresses the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday. Beijing says it has a long commitment to regional peace and stability. The problem is its actions speak louder than words.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2024

Great powers talk past each other in Singapore gathering

Beijing says it has a long commitment to regional and global peace and stability. The problem is that China's actions speak louder than words.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda bows at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday, the day the automaker said it had suspended domestic shipments of three car models after falling foul of government certification rules.
COMMENTARY
Jun 6, 2024

Why Toyota's so-called safety scandal is a 'nothingburger'

Unlike the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal, there have been no recalls, and Japanese vehicles have passed retests without issues.
Voters show their index fingers marked with indelible ink after casting their ballots at a polling station in Amritsar, India, on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2024

India keeps its glorious, messy tradition alive

"People were fed up with the BJP,” a local business leader said. "People will not always fall for the caste or temple-mosque politics."
China isn’t worried that Hyundai and other South Korean firms will outcompete locals. However, their presence ensures a continued supply of production factors: equipment, chemicals and labor.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2024

Why China wants South Korea to stay open

Countries push for free trade when they have an edge. Beijing knows it.
The policies of just-reelected Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reflect India's desire for independence in international affairs, emphasizing friendship without dependence.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2024

A resurgent India to play a bigger role on the world stage

With a busy foreign-policy agenda awaiting him, Modi is expected to hit the ground running right after he is sworn in.
French President Emmanuel Macron awards two U.S. World War II veterans with the Legion of Honour during the International commemorative ceremony at Omaha Beach on Thursday, marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy, France.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2024

Why we commemorate D-Day, 80 years later

This year's D-Day anniversary was marked by a grand commemoration and was especially poignant as only a few survivors are left to share their stories of that fateful day.
A Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility under construction in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2022. Washington aims to strengthen domestic chip manufacturing as it engages in a trade war with China.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 9, 2024

Does economic security undermine the benefits of interdependence?

While economic security concerns are not new in the U.S., coercive methods are. These risk undermining the rules-based international order and its global appeal.
A U.K. biannual customer satisfaction index based on a survey of 15,000 consumers fell to its lowest since 2015 in January and has declined for three straight periods.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2024

Bad service is in the U.K.’s cultural DNA

While the U.K. could treat its customers better, not doing so is a choice. Why? There's a strain of British society that doesn’t accept the idea of service.
The Asia Peace March is held in observance of Human Rights Day in Tokyo in December 2021. This year, as Japan sits on key U.N. bodies, the government can show leadership in tackling human rights issues in Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 7, 2024

Japan can aid in preventing human rights slide in Asia

As a stable democracy and big development donor, Japan should lead in tackling human rights abuses in countries like China, North Korea and Myanmar, and across Asia.
The BJP’s failure to secure even a simple majority has damaged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reputation not only in the eyes of Indian voters, but also within his own party.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2024

The Indian election’s winners and losers

The BJP’s failure to secure even a simple majority has damaged Modi’s reputation not only in the eyes of Indian voters, but also within his own party.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivers the work report at the opening session of the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 5. Li dropped the mention of "peaceful" from unification with Taiwan this year.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2024

The Taiwan question: 'Strategic ambiguity' and U.S. foreign policy

Chinese Premier Li Qiang in a government report delivered at the opening of the National People's Congress dropped the mention of "peaceful" for unification with Taiwan.
Some experts believe if Beijing wants to assert its dominance on the world stage, then it is hard to see where common ground for compromise with the West can be found.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2024

The U.S. debate over China policy intensifies

Some experts believe if Beijing wants to assert its dominance on the world, then it is hard to see where common ground for compromise with the West can be found.
Researchers are still years away from understanding the actual impact of AI on addressing human diseases. But given the speed with which the technology is evolving, its increasingly looking like the impact could be vast.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2024

Inventing medicines is one of the most exciting uses of AI

AlphaFold has advanced significantly since its earlier version, offering static images of protein interactions.
This proliferation of American alliances is not tangential, but central to the foreign policy of U.S. President Joe Biden.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2024

America has many allies. Maybe too many.

This proliferation of American alliances is not tangential, but central to the foreign policy of President Joe Biden.
The rates of unmarried Japanese have been rising across every age group. More than 90% of women age 30-34 were married in 1980, versus 65% now.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 11, 2024

Tokyo government's 'Tinder' is actually a good idea

The rates of unmarried Japanese have been rising across every age group. More than 90% of women aged 30-34 were married in 1980, versus 65% now.
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.
Wins by conservative parties and losses by their leftist green opponents in the EU elections reflect broader trends of political polarization and nationalism not only in Europe, but also the world. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 13, 2024

Impact of EU elections on global politics and Japan's foreign policy

Japan is concerned about the rise of right-leaning parties that might undermine support for Ukraine and send signals to revisionist powers like China.
Parasitic paper mills producing fake studies are flourishing by helping scientists cheat to bolster their resumes, snag competitive academic jobs and impress funding agencies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2024

Fake scientific studies are a problem that’s getting harder to solve

Publishing house Wiley announced it was dropping 19 journals that they said were infested with fake papers.
Recently, Japan designated Hokkaido Prefecture (including its capital, Sapporo), Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka as special zones for financial and asset management businesses. Kumamoto Prefecture was also named a national strategic zone for semiconductors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2024

International social infrastructure key to Japan’s high-tech future

Across the globe there is an ongoing search for talent, especially in high-tech sectors, and Japan is no different.
Ukrainian servicemen patrol in the heavily damaged town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine on May 20. It is time to stop wondering what is on Vladimir Putin’s mind and start making him fear a potential Western response to his aggression.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2024

NATO must not go wobbly on Ukraine

If Russian President Vladimir Putin wins his war of aggression in Ukraine, his next targets could be Poland and the Baltic states.
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett attends the opening ceremony of Tungaloy's new plant in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, in November 2011. Buffett says Tokyo executives are good value for money amid a widening pay gap between local and foreign business leaders.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2024

The pay gap in Japan’s boardrooms is unacceptable

The job market in Japan is, at all levels, much less liquid and executives are less likely to need incentives to avoid jumping ship to rivals.
Russian warships take part in a rehearsal for the Navy Day parade in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea, in July 2019. Without a decisive victory in Ukraine, Russia's influence in the Black Sea, Mediterranean and Middle East will likely decline.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2024

The Ukraine war threatens Russia’s regional influence

The war in Ukraine has undermined Russia’s capacity to project power and looks set to redefine its role in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
After just 1.3 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels, the countries with the most refugees, asylum-seekers, and displaced people are already among those hardest hit by climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2024

It’s far cheaper to help migrants before they leave home

As global temperatures rise, so will the frequency of heat waves, droughts, floods, pandemics, natural disasters, food and water shortages and conflicts over resources.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine in Switzerland on Sunday. The gathering brought together over 50 heads of state and government, excluding Russia, to work out a way toward a peace process for Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2024

Why Ukraine isn’t ready for peace talks

It's no exaggeration to say that what happens in Ukraine matters to the world order. A rushed peace would stop the fighting, but by compromising the country's future.
A protest accusing Deutsche Bank of greenwashing. Its subsidiary DWS was fined $25 million last year for misstating its environmental, social and governance activities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2024

Too many companies make false claims about their social impact

Exaggerated claims about companies' positive social and environmental impact ruin our chances of achieving a sustainable future. An entirely new system is needed.
Expecting that the Palestinian Authority implement reforms, build institutions, reconstruct Gaza and police its people while Israel withholds its main source of finance is unfair and unrealistic.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2024

Palestine's fiscal demise

The G7 and other powerful countries should help the Palestinian economy tap into international financial assistance like any other developing country.
Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
YouTube Music Weekend is where Japan’s internet-born performers go global
Headlining the second day of YouTube Music Weekend is Vocaloid artist Kikuo, who, with 1.46 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the most popular artists in the genre.
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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