The decline and fall of the samurai
There was more to the warriors than a readiness to die for honour
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China and Japan are on the verge of a breakdown
The war of words over Taiwan is escalating
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“We are providing vast amounts of rice”: Sumo wrestling at the Royal Albert Hall
Forty sumo wrestlers are competing in a five-day tournament in London, for the first time in the sport’s 1,500-year history
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VJ Day: the forgotten war
The defeat of Japan in August 1945 has become a footnote to Allied victory in Europe. But the world we…
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Keir Starmer would be a much happier politician in Japan
Instead, he is lost in Britain.
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What happened to the original Davos Man?
Also this week: Japanese Farageism and the birth of the new Observer.
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Why Britain needs Asia
In the wake of Trump’s turn against Ukraine, the UK must coordinate with both its European and Asian allies.
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Yukio Mishima’s lifelong death wish
The Japanese writer and nationalist, a darling of the US far right, was haunted by the aesthetics of self-destruction.
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Japan has rebounded but global markets are on edge
Trump, slowed progress in AI and military conflict contribute to an atmosphere of nerves.
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How Japan’s wartime history haunts its popular culture
In two new blockbusters – Godzilla Minus One and The Boy and the Heron – Japanese filmmakers grapple with atomic…
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Is China’s economy turning Japanese?
The country’s economic travails have echoes in history.
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Why G7 climate leadership is on the line in Japan
Fossil fuel use could decline as soon as next year, but G7 proposals risk slowing the green transition.
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The Bank of Japan’s new governor has the hardest job in economics
Ueda Kazuo faces a more extreme version of the challenge facing the UK: the end of cheap money in a…
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Asia’s dangerous new arms race
Russia’s war and China’s military build-up are provoking an unprecedented change in Japan’s approach to its defence.
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The global ageing crisis is becoming unignorable
As Japan’s prime minister Kishida Fumio has warned, low birth rates will revolutionise society – and it is a worldwide…
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What is the meaning of North Korea’s nuclear opportunism?
With the West distracted by the war in Ukraine, Kim Jong Un may have decided now is the time to…
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The assassination of Abe Shinzo
Japan’s former prime minister will be remembered as its most consequential modern leader.
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Shinzo Abe: The political legacy of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister
On 8 July, Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot during a campaign speech at an event in the…
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Biden tours Asia to reassure allies he is still focused on China
The US president will visit South Korea and Japan to reaffirm America’s regional policy in Asia.
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With Russia tied down in Ukraine, other frozen conflicts are thawing
From the Caucasus to the western Pacific, Russia’s opponents are eyeing their chances of redressing the balance of power.
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