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August 05, 2026
 

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Opinion

COMMENTARY
EDITORIALS
Geoeconomic Briefing
CARTOONS
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda addresses a news conference at the BOJ's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday. AFP-JIJI
COMMENTARY / Japan
The trans-Pacific yen team has a weak link in Ueda
By Gearoid Reidy
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.
COMMENTARY / World
The limits of Asia¡¯s two major growth models
By Hinh T. Dinh and Karim El Aynaoui
China and India entered the last decade at opposite extremes, with China dominating global manufactured?goods exports while India derived roughly half of its GDP from services.
Japanese police check for mock chemical agents during Pacific Shield 18, a multinational exercise focused on preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, in Yokosuka in July 2018.
COMMENTARY / World
The real reasons to be terrified about AI and WMD
By Andreas Kluth
The threat of AI and WMDs is nuanced and takes different forms for each type of weapon, with AI helping both the offense and the defense.

EDITORIALS

The collapsed worship hall of Yatsushiro Shrine a day after Tuesday¡¯s magnitude?7.1 earthquake that struck southern Kumamoto Prefecture
Kumamoto quake reminds us ¡ª again ¡ª of the ties that bind
Tuesday¡¯s quake was measured at magnitude 7.1, or shindo 7, the highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale.
EDITORIALS
To succeed, the prime minister must get back to basics
EDITORIALS
There is more at stake than the Strait of Hormuz
EDITORIALS
China¡¯s missile test exposes Beijing¡¯s misdirection
EDITORIALS
Little hope for a declining yen amid structural pressures

COMMENTARY

Japanese police check for mock chemical agents during Pacific Shield 18, a multinational exercise focused on preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, in Yokosuka in July 2018.
World
The real reasons to be terrified about AI and WMD
By Andreas Kluth
The threat of AI and WMDs is nuanced and takes different forms for each type of weapon, with AI helping both the offense and the defense.
World
The Rohingya drown while ASEAN debates oil
By Imran Khalid
Japan
The trans-Pacific yen team has a weak link in Ueda
By Gearoid Reidy
World
The limits of Asia¡¯s two major growth models
By Hinh T. Dinh and Karim El Aynaoui
Japan
In Japan, Odysseus is scared of tiny, cute Chiikawa
By Gearoid Reidy
World
Beyond the language of decline: Hope for democratic renewal
By Kumiharu Shigehara
World
How Canada can gear up for the Arctic ¡®Great Game¡¯
By James Stavridis
World
A misdiagnosis of U.S. failings leaves Trump stuck in Iran
By Marc Champion
Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
What Ukraine and Iran teach us about deterrence
By Hirohito Ogi
Read more Opinion stories
Current permanent residency applications to be judged using new income criteria
Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Beast of Reincarnation shows Game Freak has more to learn
Releasing on Aug. 4, Beast of Reincarnation is set in a far-future version of Japan ruined by a mysterious apocalypse.
U.S. to close consulates in Canada, Japan and Indonesia, sources say
The U.S. State Department said in a notice ?sent to some congressional committees last week that it plans to close ?its posts ?in St. George's, Grenada; Nagoya, Japan; Medan, Indonesia; Douala, Cameroon; and Winnipeg, Canada. ?
¡®Hey Siri, call 119¡¯: How three kids proved a smartphone can be a lifeline
Kobe Kita Police Station honors local heroes Yuito Kuroishi (left), Ruito Nagai (center) and Sakutaro Akutagawa during an award ceremony on July 24.
Japan defense report says China challenge must be met with ¡®overall national strength¡¯
Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers walk in front of a Type 88 surface-to-ship missile launcher, during the Balikatan annual joint military exercises at Culili Point Sand Dunes, in Paoay, Philippines, on May 6.
A pressing question on the front lines in Kumamoto: Who cares for the caregivers?
Tomoko Sato, the chief of emergency medicine at Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital, brought her two children to the hospital so she could continue treating patients following the Kumamoto earthquake.
This children¡¯s cafeteria in Shikoku serves up free meals and global perspectives
Volunteer Vicky Parthasarathy (right) believes that people from various cultures can understand each other better through food.
For Japan¡¯s aging homeless population, brutal summers are dangerously inescapable
A homeless person near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Authorities have warned the public to avoid unnecessary outings and advised people to stay in air-conditioned spaces, but for people who are homeless this is often not an option.
¡®Hey Siri, call 119¡¯: How three kids proved a smartphone can be a lifeline
Kobe Kita Police Station honors local heroes Yuito Kuroishi (left), Ruito Nagai (center) and Sakutaro Akutagawa during an award ceremony on July 24.
At Nonna Nietta, Italian magic in suburban Tsukuba
Chef Kenji Kawamura honed his craft in Italy for six years before returning to his hometown in Ibaraki Prefecture to open Nonna Nietta.

Podcast

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

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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