Search - opinion

 
 
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2022

Defense and fiscal policy loom large ahead of Japan's Upper House campaign

The ruling LDP is seeking to put an emphasis on defense and diplomacy, but worries over inflation threaten to limit the party's success.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2022

The world can stave off Putin’s food fight

Wealthy countries should support Ukraine's efforts to export grain and make sure poorer countries can afford to buy it.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 20, 2022

War derails plan to ditch coal after U.K. championed global cuts

Efforts to get rid of dirty power are being slowed as the war hits European economies, with soaring gas and electricity prices stoking inflation and raising the specter of recession.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 19, 2022

NATO warns of long Ukraine war as Russian assaults follow EU boost for Kyiv

The warning came as Russia stepped up its assaults after the European Union recommended that Kyiv become a candidate to join the bloc.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2022

Climate change is a military problem for the U.S.

The U.S. military needs concrete plans to address every looming danger from sea-level rises to an opening Arctic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2022

Jerome Powell took Ben Bernanke's advice a bit too far

The former Fed chief Bernanke had a famous recipe for setting monetary policy that relied heavily on communication. Officials today would do well to scale it back.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 16, 2022

Taiwan radio enthusiasts tune in as Chinese and U.S. warplanes crowd sensitive skies

A band of Taiwanese radio enthusiasts has been tuning in to related radio traffic and publishing the recordings online.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2022

If AI ever becomes sentient, it will let us know

What we humans say or think isn't necessarily the last word on artificial intelligence.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 15, 2022

The yen won’t be moved by ‘90s nostalgia

The currency hit its weakest level since 1998, prompting speculation Japan might intervene again. But the world is a very different place today.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2022

Kishida gets the credit for Abe’s work

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe transformed Japanese thinking about security policy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2022

For Tesla, Facebook and others, AI’s flaws are getting harder to ignore

Investors are pouring money into artificial intelligence, despite clear setbacks in self-driving cars, social media and even health care.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2022

The Republican climate plan forgets about the climate

The GOP is flashing just enough green to woo voters in vulnerable Democratic House districts.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2022

Should the U.S. have a monarchy?

A U.S. monarchy is a terrible idea, but the very question says a lot about the current state of thinking on the American right.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 8, 2022

Opposition CDP submits no-confidence motions ahead of election

CDP leader Kenta Izumi has lambasted Lower House speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda over sexual harassment allegations and targeted Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's response to price hikes.
People walk past a mural depicting Iranian missiles in Tehran on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 20, 2024

Israel's Iran attack carefully calibrated after internal splits and U.S. pressure

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war Cabinet had initially approved plans for a strike on Monday night, but held back at the last-minute.
Sunrockers fans at a game in Tokyo in March.
BASKETBALL / B. League
Apr 20, 2024

'Mr. Incredible' and Japan’s improbable bid to compete with the NBA

Japan is a latecomer to basketball’s global expansion, but it has stratospheric expectations for its future.
Rainbow flags were flown through the capital's busy Shibuya and Harajuku areas for Tokyo Rainbow Pride events this weekend as organizers hailed 30 years of one of Asia's largest LGBTQ celebrations.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 21, 2024

Tokyo Rainbow Pride lights up capital as organizers celebrate 30 years

Under the theme “Until it changes, don’t give up,” this year’s Tokyo Rainbow Pride was held after an eventful 12 months for Japan’s LGBTQ movement.
Elections kicked off in India on Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the likely winner. Though India’s wages and employment have not mirrored its stellar growth, the government has managed to keep inflation stable.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2024

Modi has one thing to teach leaders facing voters

Despite India's rapid growth, wages and employment have not risen at pace. Yet Modi is spectacularly popular. How? By controlling inflation.
Wind turbines off the coast of Zhunan Township, Taiwan. Misguided policies threaten to sink outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s hopes of achieving his renewable energy targets.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2024

Taiwan’s wind power ambitions are in peril

Misguided policies threaten to sink outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s renewable energy targets, putting a lot on the incoming administration's plate.
A rally in support of Ukraine outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Saturday, the same day the House of Representatives approved a $61 billion aid package supporting Kyiv's war effort.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2024

Ukraine aid shows MAGA hasn’t cowed Johnson

The U.S. House speaker rejected the isolationism that has come to dominate his party, extending a lifeline to Kyiv by approving a long-debated aid package.
Sicily and organized crime have been synonymous since at least the 19th century. The island's mafia infiltration is extending beyond violence, manifesting in subtle economic coercion and sophisticated tax evasion schemes.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2024

Sicily's mafia is expanding its white collar crime

Economic inequality fuels mafia exploitation, with wealthy enclaves thriving while impoverished areas provide fertile ground for criminal activity.
Despite the potential benefits AI might have for bank customers, like finding the best interest rates, there are concerns about the destabilizing effects it may have on financial stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2024

Generative AI is coming for your bank. Maybe.

Tech investors reckon that supersmart agents will soon upend the business model of traditional banks, but there are caveats.
With U.S. protectionism hindering Chinese electric vehicle makers' overseas expansions, Japanese giants like Honda are poised to capitalize.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 24, 2024

Japan is poised to fill an EV gap left by China

A new Honda facility in Canada shows that Asia’s auto industry is ready to meet North American needs.
Recent cases of alleged Chinese espionage in Germany and Britain are the latest reminder of Beijing's immense intelligence network and its ability to penetrate into the heart of European capitals.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 25, 2024

Europe ill-prepared to counter China's espionage push, analysts say

This week's cases of alleged Chinese spying in Germany and Britain are the latest reminder of Beijing's immense intelligence network.
Everywhere, U.S. allies are taking steps to defend or advance their interests in the event former U.S. President Donald Trump returns to power in November elections, an even chance based on recent opinion polls in swing states.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 25, 2024

How U.S. allies are preparing for a possible second Trump term

They want to avoid Trump's "America First" policies dealt them before, which included trade wars and a shakeup of security alliances.
Police officers stand guard in front of the entrance to the venue of the so-called Palestine Conference in Berlin on April 12. Anger over Israeli aggression in Gaza is growing in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, including in the West.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2024

The world cannot just cancel Palestine

Germany and other Western governments are appropriating cancel culture to stop demonstrations against Israeli aggression, using antisemitism as a shield.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel meets with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in February 2022. Emanuel has praised the Kishida administration's efforts to boost national and regional security.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2024

Japan's unlikeliest cheerleader is an American ambassador

U.S. Ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel showers his host country, and its government, with praise. And in his view, Washington doesn't understand Japan well.
Chelsea defender Alfie Gilchrist celebrates after scoring the club's sixth goal during their English Premier League football match against Everton on April 15.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2024

Arsenal? Liverpool? Chelsea? Help me pick my 'football' team

This writer’s been in England for six years. It’s time he backed a club.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails near one of the disputed East China Sea islands that Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls Diaoyu, in August 2013.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2024

China confronts Japanese politicians visiting near disputed East China Sea islets

The Japanese group, including former Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, was on an inspection mission organized by the city of Ishigaki, in Okinawa Prefecture.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's Natsumi Sakai (center) celebrates with other CDP officials and supporters on Sunday in Tokyo's Koto Ward after being announced as the winner of the Tokyo No. 15 district by-election.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 29, 2024

Election trouncing a blow to Kishida, but snap election unlikely

The PM might order a Cabinet reshuffle and make leadership changes within the LDP to boost his popularity ahead of the party's presidential election.

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