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August 29, 2025
 

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DEMOCRACY

Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2021
Biden’s democracy summit: Just talk or can it effect change?
Biden's summit comes at a challenging time for democracy. The global monitoring organization Freedom House called this year's report on the state of global freedom “Democracy Under Siege.”
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 8, 2021
Biden's democracy summit: Problematic invite list casts shadow on impact
Rights advocates are questioning whether the virtual Democracy summit can push world leaders who are invited, some accused of harboring authoritarian tendencies, to take meaningful action.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 26, 2021
Illiberalism appeals, even in democratic societies
A growing number of people are alarmed by changes they see in their own country and fear that a tipping point has been reached where some are ready to abandon democracy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2021
Has nation-building in Afghanistan failed?
Experts say history has shown that Afghanistan's traditional tribal groups tend to reject central government rule, which was the case during the British, Soviet and U.S. interventions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2021
The fight for open societies begins again
Freedom House reports that less than 20% of the world's population now live in what it categorizes as fully free societies, the lowest share in more than a quarter century.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2021
Democracy in the digital age
While populism is hardly new, the internet — especially social media — has enabled misinformation and reckless promises to be disseminated more efficiently than ever before.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Perspectives
Apr 3, 2021
COVID-19 hits the biggest democracies the hardest. But why?
The pandemic is thought to be further entrenching economic and social inequalities.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2021
Putin is losing the battle for Russia’s future
Since Russians began protesting opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s imprisonment, the security forces have apparently had carte blanche to arrest demonstrators — and they have done so by the thousands. If Russians so much as honk their car horns in solidarity with the protesters, they risk personal...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 1, 2021
Japanese 'Magnitsky Law' would send strong message to Hun Sen
There is a global trend toward adopting Magnitsky laws, which allow countries to freeze the assets of and impose travel bans on those who violate human rights.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2021
The Myanmar coup’s dangerous aftershocks
Although the army has declared a state of emergency for a year, past history in Myanmar with such declarations could easily suggest that the state of emergency could go on for many years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2021
The eternal promise of the Arab Spring: Democracy isn’t like instant coffee
Instead of undergoing a genuine transition to freedom and social justice, almost all Arab Spring countries have reverted to various combinations of autocracy, poverty and violence.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2020
After 23 years of Chinese rule, Hong Kong is back to square one
Hong Kong's chief executive has created a path for the city's leadership to remove legislators at will, without involvement of the legislature itself or the judiciary.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2020
Updating democracy: The younger generation is losing faith in the system
'Capitalism' and 'socialism' describe the once emerging industrial world, so we need the same inventiveness to describe the digital world that has replaced it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Post-Coronavirus Briefing
Sep 6, 2020
A supersurveillance society and its impact on democracy
The coronavirus pandemic has given rise to stronger authoritarianism, populism and nationalism, threatening to harm rights-based systems.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 2, 2020
'Democracy in China: The Coming Crisis' review: Democracy is in China's best interest
As the pro-democracy movement has roiled Hong Kong and people worldwide lament China's lack of transparency surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, it seems like auspicious timing for Jiwei Ci's new book, “Democracy in China: The Coming Crisis.”
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2020
Keep a tight rein on virus-tracking tools
Tools that democracies need to fight a pandemic are not appropriate when it's over.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2019
Democracy is on the march worldwide, not in retreat
Mass protests in country after country show how powerful the demand for social equality remains
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2019
2020 Tokyo Olympics: Democracy in the spotlight
Democracies must accept they are in a contest of political ideas, especially in Asia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Oct 6, 2019
'The Democracy of Suffering': Wit, erudition and philosophical change
Todd Dufresne's 'The Democracy of Suffering' argues that, if we are to understand the Anthropocene, then philosophy itself needs a radical overhaul.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 3, 2019
Low voter turnout in Upper House election may reflect an indifference to democracy
In May 1993, general elections were held in Cambodia. Voter turnout was 89.56 percent.
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.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
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.
Confusion over Japan’s ‘hometown’ plan overshadows African development event
First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba (center, in white and blue dress) hosts an event on Japanese culture with the first ladies of African leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
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.
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
Virtual singer Kaf got her start in 2018 by posting songs and covers to YouTube. Now, after having performed live shows at major venues including Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, she is turning to voice acting and starring in the new anime series “Kamitsubaki City Under Construction.”
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.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.

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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