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August 13, 2026
 

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Heizo Takenaka

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Heizo Takenaka
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 7, 2021
What¡¯s behind Â鶹´«Ã½ ambivalence about Kishida
Kishida has toed a cautious line on almost everything, raising questions about how he will actually deliver on his policies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 11, 2021
Will Â鶹´«Ã½ economy improve in 2021?
The Japanese economy is slowly recovering. In the second quarter of 2020, GDP growth rate was a grim -28%. The third quarter showed a recovery of 23%, but there are still many problems.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 25, 2020
The post-COVID-19 industrial revitalization
There¡¯s still no end in sight for the pandemic crisis, but as Â鶹´«Ã½ economy averts a worst-case scenario, how to revitalize its industries is becoming a major issue.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2020
Getting ¡®Suganomics¡¯ on track: Three points to gauge PM¡¯s progress
The new Japanese government will be successful if early and small successes can be achieved to give it momentum.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 21, 2020
Macroeconomic challenges amid the COVID-19 crisis
The government faces a difficult road ahead in guiding the economy through all the twists and turns of the pandemic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2020
Â鶹´«Ã½ post-pandemic information technology challenges
A ¡®shock therapy¡¯ policy that identifies clear targets and timelines, and implements reforms in one go, is needed to push forward Â鶹´«Ã½ digital transformation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 26, 2020
Â鶹´«Ã½ structural problems exposed by COVID-19 crisis
A crisis exposes the contradiction inherent in a society in various forms. That is an important lesson from history. The confusion caused by the COVID-19 crisis has brought various problems of Japanese society into focus. But that also means an opportunity to drastically reform society in one go. It...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2020
The right economic response to the COVID-19 crisis
Extraordinary measures are needed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2020
Coronavirus crisis exposes Â鶹´«Ã½ strength and weakness
The COVID-19 pandemic will likely prompt Japan to fully embrace the digital shift.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2020
Now is the time for Japan to make a digital shift
The coronavirus pandemic has made it clear that Japan lags far behind other countries in putting new digital technologies to actual use.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 3, 2020
Reforming Â鶹´«Ã½ social security system
Rebuilding Â鶹´«Ã½ fiscal health will be impossible without overhauling the social security system.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 24, 2020
Take a fresh look at intangible assets
A key challenge for the economy going forward is to how to invigorate Japanese firms¡¯ investments in intangible assets.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 27, 2019
Nurture Â鶹´«Ã½ strength to innovate
Japan is lagging behind many other countries when it comes to innovation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 29, 2019
What Â鶹´«Ã½ next stimulus package should aim for
The government¡¯s challenge will be to put together a spending package that shores up consumer spending and increases the economy¡¯s growth potential.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 31, 2019
Questions over raising minimum wages
The adoption of a social security policy for the purpose of a competition policy must be avoided.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2019
New Cabinet¡¯s must-do economic policies
The Cabinet must pursue management of the economy that will achieve near-term stimulus and medium- to long-term growth.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2019
Break the bureaucrats¡¯ grip on policy power
Despite past reforms, the bureaucracy continues to wield strong influence over policy decisions today.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2019
Managing the economy in a slowdown
The Abe administration has secured a stable political footing, but is now confronted with major challenges in its economic policies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 25, 2019
Politicians must address retirement concerns
The government needs to make information about the public pension system more transparent and easy to understand.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2019
The high cost of the U.S.-China confrontation
Japan must not underestimate the cost that the U.S.-China confrontation could bring.
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Severe tropical storm Chan-hom makes landfall near Tokyo
Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom made landfall around Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, on Tuesday night.
What Â鶹´«Ã½ language rules for permanent residency should look like
Potential health care workers hoping to find work in Japan take Japanese language instruction in Jakarta. Not all applicants for permanent residency should be expected to reach this level of proficiency.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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