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The ‘Great Game’ enters uncharted territory

I cannot recall a New Year holiday during which I felt less at ease than the one that ushered in 2026. Even in the opening days of the year, anti-...

yesterday 40

The Japan Times

Kuni Miyake

Japan is right to rethink its immigration approach

The world can’t get enough of Japan. The feeling isn’t exactly mutual. Amid a surge in arrivals of both migrants and tourists, Prime Minister Sanae...

previous day 30

The Japan Times

Gearoid Reidy

Feminism’s failures and the secret to Takaichi’s success

Just three months ago, in October, Japan saw two historic firsts: Sanae Takaichi became the nation's first female prime minister and Satsuki...

previous day 40

The Japan Times

Waka Ikeda

Why is Putin silent on the capture of Maduro?

Russia’s patriotic bloggers and war correspondents — the group most supportive of the country’s “special military operation” in Ukraine —...

previous day 40

The Japan Times

Nina L. Khrushcheva

Why the challenge to Iran’s regime is different this time

Iranians have taken to the streets to protest the collapse of the country’s currency and surging inflation, with many calling for an end to the...

previous day 40

The Japan Times

Vali Nasr

Can Japan’s popular new leader beat the heat with a snap election?

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly hates the summer. "It’s a state secret,” Koichi Hagiuda, a senior figure in the ruling Liberal...

thursday 4

The Japan Times

Gearoid Reidy

Silence won’t protect the Bank of Japan’s independence

In recent weeks, two seemingly unrelated developments have cast a revealing light on how central bank independence is understood in Japan. The...

thursday 3

The Japan Times

Kumiharu Shigehara

Canada undermines its own China engagement

The art of diplomacy with rising powers demands more than goodwill. It requires strategic literacy, carefully cultivated leverage and the...

14.01.2026 60

The Japan Times

Stephen R. Nagy

Japan can keep calm and carry on decoupling from China

Tokyo has displayed admirable restraint in the face of Beijing’s outbursts over the past two months. When China signaled a 40% cut in tourists to...

14.01.2026 60

The Japan Times

Gearoid Reidy

Simple reforms could help prevent the next ICE shooting

Hours after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good on a snowy Minnesota street, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he’d been worried just such...

14.01.2026 60

The Japan Times

Erika D. Smith

Why Takaichi would call a snap election

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may have found her answer to the question of how she legislates despite minority control of the government: Get more...

13.01.2026 50

The Japan Times

Michael Macarthur Bosack

The economic roots of Iran’s unrest

The protests that erupted in Tehran on December 28 and quickly spread across Iran were triggered by a specific grievance: the collapse of the...

13.01.2026 60

The Japan Times

Djavad Salehi-Isfahani

The U.S. sphere of influence is bigger than it looks

There’s an enticing way to rationalize this month’s extraordinary events in Caracas. It means the return to Spheres of Influence, rather than a...

13.01.2026 50

The Japan Times

John Authers

Japan can no longer afford strategic confusion

It is not too dramatic to say that Japan has only 12 years left to secure its future. By 2038, Chinese President Xi Jinping will be 85 years old....

13.01.2026 40

The Japan Times

Taniguchi Tomohiko