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May 03, 2026
 

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COMMENTARY

World
Japan
DeepSeek¡¯s R1 breakthrough helped trigger a frenetic year in AI, but Alibaba¡¯s move toward proprietary models is now raising concerns that China¡¯s open-source shift may be slowing.
COMMENTARY / World
Why Beijing can¡¯t quit ¡®open¡¯ AI
By Catherine Thorbecke
The shift away from open source may be driven by the need for companies to make money, but it's unlikely to happen all at once.
Ispace's Resilience lunar lander at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Tsukuba Space Center in Ibaraki Prefecture, in September 2024.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Japan¡¯s space systems face growing cybersecurity threats
By Kota Umeda
Space systems depend on data links between satellites and ground infrastructure, making them inherently tied to cybersecurity.
Collingwood Ingram is seen under cherry trees at his home in Benenden, England, aged 99.
COMMENTARY / Japan
¡®Sakura diplomacy¡¯: One tree, two men, three wars
By Naoko Abe
Using cherry blossoms to salve war wounds is as important today as in 1926.

Japan

Collingwood Ingram is seen under cherry trees at his home in Benenden, England, aged 99.
Japan
¡®Sakura diplomacy¡¯: One tree, two men, three wars
By Naoko Abe
Using cherry blossoms to salve war wounds is as important today as in 1926.
Japan
Japan¡¯s balancing act in an era of U.S.-China dominance
By Stephen R. Nagy
Japan
Japan can help Asia learn to live without the U.S.
By Mihir Sharma
Japan
Japan¡¯s constitutional theater: Revising Article 9 would be a mistake.
By Andrew Latham
Japan
Rethinking how Japan chooses its central bank governor
By Kumiharu Shigehara
Japan
SoftBank is going all in on OpenAI, but at what cost?
By Shuli Ren
Japan
Falling for Beijing¡¯s anti-Japan propaganda is dangerously naive
By Stephen R. Nagy

World

A Walker S2 humanoid robot demonstrates its skills at the UBTech Robotics headquarters in Shenzhen, China, on April 16.
World
U.S. adopts China's playbook on tech and security
By Brad Glosserman
U.S. thinking is only catching up with that of China, which has long considered technology essential to the country's sovereignty and survival.
World
Memo to Xi: There is no downside to freeing Jimmy Lai
By Mark L. Clifford
World
AI is coming for our aging parents, ready or not
By Catherine Thorbecke
World
Cherry blossoms are proof of a planet going awry
By Mark Gongloff
World
Netanyahu¡¯s Trump alignment leaves American Jewish community at risk
By Steven Simon
World
How Asia should deal with the ¡®Malacca dilemma¡¯
By Karishma Vaswani
World
Hungary¡¯s shift unlocks new opportunities for NATO and Ukraine
By James Stavridis
Read more COMMENTARY stories
Yen soars as Japan intervenes after issuing 'final' warning
Pedestrians walk past a stock quotation board showing the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen, outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Thursday.
New Zealand officials reject statue remembering 91²Ö¿â comfort women
A statue symbolizing former South Korean comfort women in Seoul
Japan secures enough petroleum-derived naphtha to last into 2027
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a government meeting on the Middle East on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
Japan mum on yen intervention, heavy on jawboning, ahead of long holiday weekend
The yen was back in ?150-to-the-dollar territory after reports of intervention by the Japanese government.
Foreign business owners in Japan feeling the strain of tighter visa criteria
The streets of Ikuno Korea Town in the city of Osaka in December 2023
For tourists in Japan¡¯s outdoor sports scene, safety is not guaranteed
Each winter, countless tourists flock to Japan's famous snow-covered mountains, but a lack of top-down regulation on the country's outdoor sports industry can make certain activities unnecessarily risky.
¡®Sashiko¡¯ needlework artisan says craft is about 'the stories behind the stitching'
Traditional Japanese needlework has exploded in popularity, but a book from a third-generation artisan aims to bring more context to the craft's newfound popularity.
Tennis trailblazer Kei Nishikori announces his retirement
Kei Nishikori, who has won 12 titles on the ATP Tour and climbed as high as No. 4 in the world rankings, on Thursday announced his retirement.
Documentary captures the long echo of Fukushima's nuclear disaster
Toru Yamada¡¯s documentary ¡°At the Triangle Intersection,¡± which delves into the lingering impact of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, follows Tetsu (center), the matriarch of the Watanabe family, her son, Takemasa (right) and her daughter-in-law, Shigeko.
Japanese fried chicken with a Southern twist
A buttermilk-inspired marinade gives a rich umami flavor to your fried chicken.

Podcast

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

Longform

Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
Can AI replace a priest? Japan¡¯s temples and shrines are testing the limits.
By Alex K.T. Martin

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