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August 31, 2025
 

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There is a significant divide between security experts, who emphasize the unquantifiable risks of geopolitical instability, and economists, who focus on the measurable costs of restructuring supply chains.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2024

Traditional economics fail the geopolitical test

The seemingly yawning gap between the views of the security specialists and the business and economics types is striking.
Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, Bangladesh's army chief, arrives at Dhaka International Airport to receive Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Aug. 8 to lead the country's interim government.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024

Will Bangladesh go the way of Pakistan?

The Islamist resurgence poses a serious law-and-order challenge in Bangladesh, as it has long done in Pakistan.
A poll shows that many Israelis support expanding the war to confront Hezbollah in Lebanon, though this poses risks of involving Iran and other international actors.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2024

Should Israel want a bigger conflict with Iran now?

A poll shows that many Israelis support expanding the war to confront Hezbollah, though this poses risks of involving Iran and other international actors.
A protestor hold what they called a Stand up to Racism rally in Liverpool, England, on Aug 3. Savvy anti-populists should concentrate their rhetorical fire on populist leaders, rather than on their supporters.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2024

The counteroffensive against populism

One lesson from the past few months might sound like a truism: All parties that value democracy must unite to face down anti-democratic threats.
Despite the challenges, including sluggish consumption and market volatility, the Bank of Japan's recent policy adjustments reflect a strategy aimed at ensuring a stable path toward its inflation goals.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2024

BOJ’s recent policy changes highlight a shift toward global monetary practices

The BOJ's approach is influenced by global financial regulations and aims to balance market stability with effective monetary policy.
Tokyo needs to leverage its political, economic, diplomatic and security strengths to shape Washington's engagement and regional stability in the Asia-Pacific no matter who wins the U.S. presidential election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 1, 2024

Japan's strategy for navigating an uncertain U.S. election

Japan needs to continue its role as a diplomatic bridge in shaping U.S.-China strategic competition to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
A protester against the arrest of Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, near the French Embassy in Moscow on Aug. 25
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2024

Telegram’s hands-off approach to content faces a reckoning

The policies of Telegram, a popular social media platform, have allowed abuses to proliferate.
The challenge for Australia’s Indigenous communities that dot a harsh, sprawling landmass is how to mesh their thousands of years of cultural traditions that guide everyday life with today’s economic realities.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2024

60,000 years of history is facing economic reality

Both big business and governments have a role to play to improve the lives of Australia’s First Nations citizens.
An elevator at the Stade de France commuter train station in Saint-Denis, near Paris, France. Paris built highly accessible accommodation for competitors in the 2024 Paralympic Games, but overall, the city remains difficult to navigate for people with disabilities.
PARALYMPICS
Sep 2, 2024

Paris is utopia for Paralympians until they leave the athletes village

It will be decades before the city's streets, sidewalks and parks achieve even a semblance of the Paralympic Village’s accessibility.
Cars are assembled at a Maruti Suzuki manufacturing plant in Manesar, India, in September 2023. Suzuki is one of the success stories for Japanese manufacturers trying to establish joint ventures in India, having become a household name in the country.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024

For Japanese companies in India, local staff are an invaluable resource

The roots of Japanese investment in India go far back, to 1958, when the latter became the first country to receive official development assistance from Japan.
Despite current limitations, the progression toward practical humanoid robots is anticipated, driven by advancements in technology and artificial intelligence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 1, 2024

The future of robots is coming on two legs

Unlike traditional robots, which have already transformed industries with their transport capabilities, bipedal robots are still in the early stages of deployment.
For a billionaire with a mission to prevent climate change, “He greened the energy policy of the world’s fourth-biggest economy (Japan),” would make a hell of an epitaph for Mike Cannon-Brookes. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024

An activist investor could green Japan for $700 million

For a billionaire with a mission to prevent climate change, "Greened the energy policy of the world’s fourth-biggest economy” would make a hell of an epitaph.
With so many voters suffering financially and showing an eagerness to throw politicians out of office, delivering higher living standards appears to be a necessary condition for restoring political stability to the world’s democracies.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2024

Political and economic chaos through 'the looking glass'

America is not alone in experiencing an unanticipated upheaval. Five years ago, it seemed inconceivable that a major ground war would occur on the European continent.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa attends a new conference for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 25.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 3, 2024

Africa's rising importance for Japan’s Indo-Pacific goals

Africa is becoming an increasingly important element of Japanese FOIP strategy. It is a work in progress, but it is proceeding.
Kyoto International High Shool's baseball team receives a champion flag after winning the Japanese High School Baseball Championship final at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture on Aug. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 31, 2024

A high school baseball championship and Japan-South Korea relations

The reactions to Kyoto International High School winning the National High School Baseball Championship, both in Japan and South Korea, were intriguing.
Alimentation Couche-Tard’s bid to acquire Japan’s Seven & I Holdings has sparked discussions about Japan’s approach to foreign investment and whether rejecting or accepting the bid reflects an openness to international business.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2024

7-Eleven deserves more than shareholder supremacy

While Japan should consider investor interests, it should not forsake the broader social and community benefits that its businesses provide.
One survey revealed that 68% of recruiters admit to appearance-based hiring and 96% say interviews are influenced by visual impressions, which is why many employment experts advise job hunters to invest significantly in their appearance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2024

Why do I need a photo on my resume to apply for a job in Japan?

It is time to build a recruitment system in Japan that rewards people’s talents, irrespective of their looks
The shutdown of Elon Musk's X has drawn parallels with authoritarian regimes, damaging Brazil’s international reputation and raising concerns about judicial overreach.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2024

Shutting off Elon Musk won't help Brazil's democracy

While regulating hate speech is complex, the approach by Brazil's Supreme Court might be excessive and counterproductive.
Weighting the total number of medals won by each country by value — three points for gold, two for silver and one for bronze — reveals that the 12 countries with the highest medal count in Paris are all advanced economies.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2024

The geopolitics of Olympic medals

A larger population offers a broader talent pool, and economic development supports better sports infrastructure and policies.
Beyond losing the American market, China is losing some of its own manufacturing companies, which are shifting parts of their production to countries such as Vietnam and Mexico to avoid U.S. tariffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2024

The rise and coming fall of Chinese manufacturing

Despite China's significant investments in technology, the decline of its manufacturing sector seems inevitable.
Osaka is set to open Grand Green Osaka in the city’s Umekita area. It is a sprawling redevelopment that combines a park with mixed-use skyscrapers and is part of a push to rejuvenate the merchant city.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2024

Japan’s second city can finally make Tokyo jealous

For the first time in years, Osaka has something that will make Tokyoites jealous. It might also serve as a symbol of the merchant city’s push for a comeback.
One problem with Japan’s investments in African infrastructure compared to other countries is that its projects often lack long-term sustainability and alignment with local development plans, limiting their impact. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2024

Is Japan’s involvement in Africa’s development outdated?

Japan's traditional aid approach is seen as too transactional and insufficiently addressing Africa's broader development challenges.
Red Square in Moscow. According to U.S. authorities, the Kremlin used an elaborate scheme to use American influencers to spread propaganda.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

Russia used a fake investor to dupe influencers, U.S. says

U.S. authorities have highlighted what they say is an elaborate scheme by the Russian government to spread propaganda.
Bangladeshi military personnel stand guard at an empty police station in Dhaka on Aug. 9. The U.S. and Western nations have sacrificed democracy for geopolitics, evident in Bangladesh’s chaos and violence after the prime minister was recently forced from power.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 6, 2024

The Western world's stealthy assault on democracy

Elections alone — even if competitive — do not guarantee popular empowerment or adherence to constitutional rules, especially when the military holds decisive power.
The world’s largest system of hydroelectric power has been on standby since late 2022, when droughts drained the reservoirs that feed it. China's torrential downpours of the past few months are switching that immense machine back on.
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2024

A flood of hydro is washing coal from China's grid

The world’s largest hydroelectric system, located in China, has been dormant since late 2022 due to droughts, but recent heavy rains are now reviving its operations.
Predicting the winner of the 2024 presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris remains exceptionally challenging as the the current landscape is highly fluid.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2024

Election predictions are too noisy to tell if Trump or Harris will win

There’s a lot of campaigning to go, a lot of events that could turn the election into a landslide for either candidate.
The Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race is expected to have a record number of candidates.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Perspectives
Sep 8, 2024

Unpacking Japan’s messy leadership election

With so many candidates and old rules gone, brace for the most unpredictable LDP race in ages
Attorney General Merrick Garland sits between Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and FBI Director Christopher Wray during a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, in Washington on Sept. 4. Federal prosecutors say Russia secretly paid the American company Tenet Media to push pro-Kremlin messages from social media influencers including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Russia secretly worms its way into America’s conservative media

The latest indictment reflects the growing sophistication of the Kremlin’s long-standing efforts to shape American public opinion and advance its geopolitical goals.
California has ambitious climate policies. But the state should shift more green energy-related costs from electricity bills to taxes to promote fairness and sustainability.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2024

California's crushing power bills challenge its climate goals

California is incredible, but making it livable, what with its droughts, floods, fault-lines and wildfires, has never been cheap.
Ashwini Vaishnav (left), the Indian minister of electronics and information technology, and N. Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Sons, take part in the foundation stone laying ceremony for India's first AI-enabled semiconductor fabrication facilities in Dholera, Gujarat, India, on March 13.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2024

Could India become an alternative to China in the ‘chip war’?

As decoupling from China gains traction, the U.S. and its allies are betting on India for supply chain restructuring and semiconductor development.
Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
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.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
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.
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.
Jesse Kirkwood: ‘Languages are entire cultural universes with all sorts of baggage’
Jesse Kirkwood is part of a vibrant field of translators who have nurtured what might be called a “post-Murakami era of Japanese literature and translation,” one book at a time.

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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Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality
Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

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