Âé¶¹´«Ã½

 
 
Japan's famous Fuji Rock festival this year included flag-waving for regimes whose actions contradict the ideals of peaceful assembly and human rights that reflect unexamined political sympathies that risk legitimizing oppressive regimes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 7, 2026
Flag-waving at Fuji Rock: Conviction or fashion?
Music has long served as an expression of a fundamental human freedom ¡ª the right to speak, to challenge authority and to be heard without fear of the state.
Clarisse Agbegnenou of France celebrates after winning her match against a disappointed Miku Takaichi of Japan during the judo mixed team final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2026
Âé¶¹´«Ã½ winning sports tradition shouldn¡¯t include abuse
Japan needs to establish an independent Safe Sport Center to address abuse in athletics and ensure that recent legal reforms translate into meaningful protections for athletes.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Tokyo on May 12.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2026
How safe is the yen under the U.S. umbrella?
Having Washington on board brings important potential benefits ¡ª and no small amount of danger.
This photo of Hiroshima was taken in March 1946, nearly half a year after the atomic bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, and shows the extensive destruction caused by the blast.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2026
Make anniversary of Hiroshima bombing ¡®Disarmament Day¡¯
Remembering Hiroshima cannot become a once-a-year ritual. It must become a reminder that nuclear weapons remain an urgent contemporary problem.
Institutions should draw on unconventional concepts to challenge entrenched assumptions to help navigate complex issues that leave policymakers stumped.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2026
New words to live by, new worlds to occupy
Institutions and policymakers should draw on unconventional concepts from diverse traditions to challenge entrenched assumptions and navigate complex change more creatively.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda addresses a news conference at the BOJ's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday. AFP-JIJI
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2026
The trans-Pacific yen team has a weak link in Ueda
The bank¡¯s statement on stabilizing underlying CPI inflation was seen as a hawkish shift, but its vague language did not provide the clear message that markets were looking for.
Chiikawa products are displayed at a store in Harajuku, Tokyo, last August.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2026
In Japan, Odysseus is scared of tiny, cute Chiikawa
Chiikawa is a phenomenon in Japan, with its character appearing on various products, and partnering with the brand is an instant way to increase revenue

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 Âé¶¹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN