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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 10, 2023

Thai election jockeying heats up as PM eyes way around term limits

Former coup leader Prayut Chan-ocha is maneuvering to stay in power despite a steady decline in his popularity and a constitutional term limit.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jan 9, 2023

Italy's resurgent right takes on a woman's right to choose

Abortion repeatedly made headlines in September's elections, a process that elevated Giorgia Meloni to lead Italy's most right-wing government since World War II.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2023

Four ancient truths to help you lead a modern life

The old Greek philosophers struggled with the same hard questions we're still asking today: What makes life worth living? What makes us thrive as human beings?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 1, 2023

The ‘red wave’ washout: How skewed polls fed a false U.S. election narrative

Coupled with the political factors already favoring Republicans, biased polls earlier this year helped feed an ultimately false narrative: A Republican wave was about to hit the U.S.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2022

It is time Europe begins Russia-proofing itself

The West, and especially the European Union, must get serious about positioning itself for a protracted and multi-pronged conflict with Vladimir Putin's Russia.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2022

Kishida Cabinet unpopular among young people, survey shows

Approval ratings for Kishida's Cabinet tend to drop as the ages of the respondents go down, according to the results of the opinion poll.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2022

Jiang Zemin’s mixed legacy

One can attribute many of China's current achievements and problems to policies initiated during Jiang Zemin's tenure.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2022

The Indian diaspora has arrived

The values and traits that have allowed U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and others like him to thrive in the West are the ones that the BJP government now seeks to suppress.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 5, 2022

Ukraine war strips shine off Angela Merkel's legacy

In many quarters the broad German support she once enjoyed as a staunch defender of Western liberal values has curdled.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 4, 2022

Komeito wary of Unification Church issue ahead of local races

Supported largely by lay Buddhist group Soka Gakkai, the party fears that increased public attention on ties between politics and religion could harm its electoral chances.
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
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 29, 2022

'Neymar haters': Brazil's political divide spills over to World Cup

The Selecao superstar came under criticism after saying he would dedicate his first 2022 FIFA World Cup goal to Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 22, 2022

Taiwan's Kuomintang finds new star in great grandson of Chinese nationalist leader

Chiang Wan-an was a teenager when his father sat him down to tell him he is the great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese nationalist leader who fought Mao Zedong's Communists forces.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Nov 22, 2022

In male-dominated North Korea, leadership prospects of Kim's daughter uncertain

Some analysts argue that despite North Korea's deeply patriarchal society, gender may not disqualify a daughter or another woman from taking the reins.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 16, 2022

Samurai Blues: The J. League, the World Cup and Japan’s place in global soccer

Sports writer Dan Orlowitz joins the show to catch us up on where Japan stands in the global soccer landscape and the controversies swirling around the host nation of Qatar.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2022

Is the clock running out for the prime minister?

Will Prime Minister Fumio Kishida be able to recover from his political troubles, or is he on a path to join the party's long list of short-lived prime ministers?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2022

What does Donald Trump do now?

After his candidates fell flat in the midterm elections, does Donald Trump have a chance to win in 2024?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 10, 2022

Abortion and Trump dashed Republican hopes for 'red wave'

Exit polling and interviews with analysts and voters showed that while inflation was a leading driver for voters, the issue of protecting abortion rights was nearly as paramount.
Sanae Takaichi's new Cabinet poses for a group photo at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 22, 2025

Breaking down Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet picks

Takaichi only appointed two women in the Cabinet, which was identical to the previous Shigeru Ishiba administration.
Thailand's Queen Sirikit waves to people during her arrival in Chinatown for Lunar New Year celebrations in Bangkok, in January 2012
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 25, 2025

Thailand's Queen Mother Sirikit, influential style icon, dies at 93

The palace said she had been hospitalized since 2019 due to several illnesses before passing away late on Friday.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama speaks at a news conference in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 27, 2025

Japan’s first female finance chief is a veteran on banking policy

Satsuki Katayama joined the Finance Ministry in 1982 and reached a higher position in the influential Budget Bureau than any woman before her.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gifts U.S. President Donald Trump a putter owned by late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a golf bag signed by Hideki Matsuyama and a gold leaf golf ball in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2025

With gifts and hospitality, Takaichi taps Abe's legacy to forge bond with Trump

Talk turned to Abe as soon as the U.S. leader stepped into the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo to exchange pleasantries with Japan's recently appointed prime minister.
Rob Jetten, leader of the progressive Democrats 66 party, addresses supporters in Leiden, Netherlands, on Wednesday. His party is on track to win this week's parliamentary election.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 30, 2025

Dutch far-right party falls in election as centrists set to win

The result would put D66 leader Rob Jetten in a position to form a coalition government and potentially become the country’s next prime minister.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday. Whether Takaichi can follow through on her promises will determine whether her relationship with Trump truly ushers in a new era for Japan-U.S. relations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2025

Takaichi earns kudos for following Trump ‘manual’

The Takaichi administration’s diplomacy toward Washington will face many trials in the months and years to come.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2025

How is Takaichi doing after a week at the helm?

The Japanese public's reaction to her first week as prime minister has been overwhelmingly positive.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a self-made politician from a humble family, earned her way into Japan’s old-boys’ club through sheer determination, an achievement worth celebrating.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 31, 2025

Takaichi deserves better than gendered stereotypes

Takaichi’s diplomatic interactions don't strike me as “selling her womanness” to Trump, as some have claimed.
Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, speaks at a campaign event in the Queens borough of New York on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 2, 2025

Obama calls Mamdani and praises campaign ahead of New York mayoral election

Mamdani, a Uganda-born state assembly member, has polled well ahead of his main rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, ahead of the Nov. 4 general election.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (left) listens to questions from Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), regarding her policy speech at the Lower House in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2025

Takaichi defends choices for government posts in first debate with Noda

CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda lambasted the prime minister's decision to appoint LDP lawmakers involved in the slush fund scandal to government posts.
A news program in Taipei shows the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2025

‘Stability’ in U.S.-China competition isn’t surrender

A recent Rand report urges a stable rivalry between the U.S. and China, emphasizing managed competition and the need for mutual recognition of each other's political legitimacy.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions from lawmakers at the Diet in Tokyo on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 7, 2025

Domestic issues dominate prime minister's strong Diet debut

It was a solid performance that was, not surprisingly given her minority government and the new coalition that she heads, short on details.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years