Search - opinion

 
 
Japan Times
TENNIS
May 16, 2022

Daniil Medvedev holding out hope for spot at Wimbledon

'I don't know if this decision is 100% and it's over (for me). If I can play, I'm going to be happy to play in Wimbledon
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
May 16, 2022

Neutral Switzerland leans closer to NATO in response to Russia

The Defense Ministry is drawing up a report on security options that include joint military exercises with NATO countries and 'backfilling' munitions.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 14, 2022

Tattoos, still illegal in South Korea, thrive underground

Tattoo artists, long treated as criminals for their work, say that it is time to end the stigma against their business.
JAPAN
May 13, 2022

Japan granted refugee status to a record 74 people in 2021

The government also granted residential status out of humanitarian consideration to a record 580 people, most of whom were from Myanmar.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2022

Crypto’s chainsaw massacre bloodies digital exchanges

The platforms that have promoted Bitcoin and other new currencies have a lot to answer for.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 12, 2022

The war in Ukraine, as seen on Russian TV

To Western audiences, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has unfolded as a series of brutal attacks punctuated by strategic blunders. But in Russia, those events were spun as positives.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 12, 2022

Tokyo and Seoul need to learn how to agree to disagree again

Unfortunately, the leadership in Tokyo and Seoul have either forgotten the wisdom of the 1990s or have become too obsessed with the details of outstanding historical issues.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2022

BOJ official rules out policy tweak to counter weak yen, meeting summary shows

The yen's slide to 20-year lows against the dollar has pushed up the cost of raw material imports, drawing concern among policymakers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 11, 2022

Investors push Japan’s J-Power to accelerate climate action

Shareholder proposals call on the electricity producer to set new short- and medium-term emissions reduction targets and to disclose details on how to meet those goals.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2022

Making the case for NATO Indo-Pacific cooperation

Shifts in the balance of power from the U.S. to China, slowing world growth and increasing income inequality have changed the calculus of war and peace.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2022

Marcos Jr.’s rise is grounds for outrage — but hold the shock

It's troubling enough that a Marcos will again lead the Philippines. Bongbong will need deftness in a world as complicated as any his father faced.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2022

To hobble Putin, accelerate the brain drain

A proposal that would help Russian scientists and tech professionals to emigrate serves to undermine the Kremlin while benefiting the U.S. and its allies.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
May 11, 2022

MLB settles class-action suit over minor league wages

Originally filed in 2014, the case includes claims against the MLB and 22 major league clubs over alleged violations of state and federal wage laws.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 11, 2022

A coal mining hub could decide Australia’s future

At stake is the policy of a nation that is a potential renewable-energy superpower but still gets 70% of its electricity and about a quarter of its exports from fossil fuels.
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during the U.K. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes, Britain, on Nov. 2, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2024

South Korea and U.K. to host second global AI summit as boom fans risks

The breathtaking pace of innovation since the first AI summit in November leaves governments scrambling to keep up with a growing array of risks.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda has talked about the potential need for a monetary policy response given foreign exchange rates’ impact on the economy. Last month, the yen touched its weakest level in 34 years, ¥160 per dollar, before rebounding.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 20, 2024

BOJ Gov. Ueda finally toughens message on the weak yen

Though most of the factors behind the flailing currency lie outside of Japan, the central bank and Finance Ministry have some agency in determining events. They should use it.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with Reuters in Kyiv on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2024

Ukraine's Zelenskyy wants allies to step up aid and war involvement

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation on the battlefield was "one of the most difficult" he had known since the start of Russia's invasion.
A visitor to the Japan Olympic Museum walks past a display of the Olympic Rings on a wet day in central Tokyo on May 1.
JAPAN
May 26, 2024

Japan wrestles with legacy of graft-stained Games in Paris warning

Cost overruns, corruption and COVID-19 all tarnished the Japanese public's memory of the Tokyo Olympics.
The modernization of Japan's defense strategy is not just about military capabilities, it is also about building consensus and fostering public understanding.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 21, 2024

The winding road to Japan's defense modernization

The government's efforts to engage the public on defense issues are crucial for building consensus and ensuring the sustainability of defense reforms.
Even if the ICC issues arrests warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders of Hamas, there’s little risk of them being detained as neither the U.S. nor Israel are signatories to the Rome Statute that established the court.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2024

Biden's defense of Netanyahu undermines the ICC — and hurts the U.S.

If the U.S. scorns the court it helped create in the 1990s, it will undermine the international regime of law and order that it claims to defend.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump sits for his trial at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on Tuesday.
WORLD
May 22, 2024

How Trump's hush money trial verdict could affect the 2024 election

Jurors could deliver a verdict as soon as next week.
Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi said in a video posted on TikTok in December that the party did not want to be seen as part of the same group as the LDP.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2024

Challenges mount for Komeito amid rift with LDP

As the junior partner in the ruling coalition approaches its 60th anniversary, an existential crisis looms over it.
Joe Biden’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other imports are more than symbolic — they are a signal that the U.S. won’t accept a surge of imports that could undermine crucial parts of his administration’s agenda.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2024

The U.S. is preparing for a second 'China shock'

The immediate impact of these tariffs will be small, because the United States currently imports very few of the affected goods from China.
Though he enjoyed making films when he was younger, Ryan Filiatrault wound up working a slew of other jobs before returning to his passion in his 30s.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 24, 2024

Ryan Filiatrault: 'Failure is an obstacle not a barrier. You can always get back on track.'

The Canadian filmmaker has taken a regimented approach to following his passion — and it has worked.
People carry their belongings as they leave a makeshift migrant camp near the banks of the Grand Canal, west of Dublin on Tuesday. Asylum seekers sleeping rough in tents in Dublin say life under a tarpaulin cover is better than facing the risk of the U.K. deporting them to Rwanda.
WORLD / Politics
May 24, 2024

U.K.'s Rwanda migrant plan may never get off ground

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's message seems to be that only by reelecting him in July would the Rwanda deportation plan get up and running.
In the digital age, it will get harder for institutions such a the British Museum to keep looted cultural possessions as communities in Africa and elsewhere learn about what was taken from them.
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2024

How are museums still justifying keeping stolen artifacts?

As much as 90% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s cultural artifacts are outside of the continent, according to a 2018 report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te is sworn into office during the inauguration ceremony in Taipei on Monday. The global community should stand firm in their support for Taiwan and not be intimidated by China's aggressive tactics.
EDITORIALS
May 24, 2024

Taiwan and its new president deserve our support

Taiwan is not an independent country, but neither is it a “renegade province” as the Chinese leadership insists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2024

Putin wants Ukraine cease-fire on current front lines, sources say

The Russian president is also prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond, according to sources.

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