menu_open
The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

VOX POPULI: ‘God of shogi’ is smiling down on youngest Meijin, Sota Fujii

Toshihiko Kawaguchi (1936-2015), an 8-dan pro shogi player, famously stated that only those who are meant to become Meijin (grand master) can win a...

yesterday 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Government turns a blind eye to lessons from nuclear disaster

It appears that the lessons learned from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster have been taken so lightly. The government and a majority of the Diet are...

yesterday 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Serious doubts arise on fairness of screening of asylum requests

New facts related to the bill to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law, which is being considered by the Upper House, have cast...

previous day 30

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Politicians still getting in the way of same-sex marriage laws

“And Tango Makes Three” is an illustrated children’s book about two male penguins who fall in love. Based on a true story of two male birds...

previous day 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Brain drain bound to continue if Japan doesn’t wake up

Ten years have passed since a system was adopted to provide research academics with long-term job security by setting their employment periods at 10...

wednesday 40

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: On World Otter Day, don’t think about bringing one home as a pet

Ken-kun has many fans among visitors to Tokyo's Ueno Zoo. His round eyes are adorable and his magnificent swimming form is utterly mesmerizing. He is...

wednesday 50

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: TEPCO faces new crisis over pedestal blow at Fukushima plant

Damage to a pedestal inside the No. 1 reactor at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is more critical than previously believed,...

30.05.2023 50

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Sadness as final issue of oldest weekly magazine is put to bed

The cover of the final issue of the weekly Shukan Asahi magazine, which is hitting the stands today, humorously recaptures the periodical’s typical...

30.05.2023 50

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Realizing that animals have languages would be life changing

“Sukisukisukisuki.” When I opened a window at my house early one recent morning, I heard a bird singing. Surprised at the clearness of its...

29.05.2023 60

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Kishida’s son’s party hijinks raises doubt on fitness to serve

An article published in the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine shows how Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s eldest son, Shotaro, invited his relatives late...

29.05.2023 60

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

COMMENTARY/ Learning from Asahi’s failure to report sex abuse scandal

I have heard harsh criticism about the past failure of mainstream newspapers to report on suspicions that the late Johnny Kitagawa sexually abused...

28.05.2023 60

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: More remains to be done to stamp out gun crime once and for all

The shooting and stabbing rampage that left four people dead in Nagano Prefecture is a rare and unusually ghastly crime. Clarifying the factors behind...

27.05.2023 70

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: What possessed Nagano gunman to go on rampage in his hometown?

As one gets older, the Japanese word “furusato,” which translates as “hometown,” seems to start blending with one’s memory, permeating...

27.05.2023 70

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

INTERVIEW: New governor says BOJ will keep 2% inflation target for now

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said that the central bank's 2 percent inflation target “should not be changed easily" but hinted at the...

26.05.2023 70

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Financing child care support plan needs stable revenue sources

The outlook of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “different dimension” policy support for childbearing and child-rearing is becoming murky. The...

26.05.2023 80

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Hats off to all who protected ancient monk’s vital documents

“Konjaku Monogatarishu” (Anthology of Tales from the Past), written during the late Heian Period (794-1185), features many distinguished Buddhist...

26.05.2023 80

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Mix-ups show need to improve security of My Number system

Information breaches and data errors that have hit the My Number Card ID system seem to be a warning about the government’s single-minded rush to...

25.05.2023 60

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: ‘My Number’ system appears covered under Murphy’s Law

The so-called Murphy’s Law boils down to this maxim: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” This sardonic observation of U.S. society has...

25.05.2023 70

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Leave no stone unturned in bid to aid Fukushima communities

A new phase of reconstruction has begun for communities affected by the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Mandatory orders to...

24.05.2023 60

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Local bylaws ironically force ex-yakuza back to criminal ways

An old, venal politician went to court. On the day judgment was handed down, his attorney told him the verdict by phone: “As expected, justice has...

24.05.2023 60

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

Expert: Modi-Zelenskyy talks may alter India-Russian relations

The meeting between the leaders of India and Ukraine on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima could change the course of relations...

23.05.2023 50

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Summit outcome just 1st step in goal for inclusive world order

The famous epitaph of the cenotaph for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima in the city’s Peace Memorial Park reads: “Rest in...

23.05.2023 50

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Ethnic Korean hibakusha tell different story of atomic bombing

While recounting their experiences of the atomic bombing, many Hiroshima hibakusha start their narratives with what they remember of the blinding...

23.05.2023 30

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Strong earnings and rising stocks should fuel more wage hikes

Japanese companies are showing strong earnings performances while stock prices continue rising. This is a welcome upturn in the economy, which...

22.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: On his Hiroshima visit, Zelenskyy personified a wartime leader

How should the leader of a country at war look and act? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made a surprise visit to Hiroshima on May 20,...

22.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: By meeting in Hiroshima, G-7 leaders confront history head-on

The leaders of the Group of Seven democracies need to humbly learn the gruesome history of the atomic bombings, search for ways to end a horrific war...

20.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: A-bomb fell on Hiroshima, but also dropped on the human race

Where was the world’s first atomic bomb dropped on Aug. 6, 1945? This question popped into my head--and just wouldn’t go away--while I watched...

20.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Ishin’s Umemura disgraced party with remarks on dead detainee

Upper House opposition lawmaker Mizuho Umemura made baseless and insulting remarks before the Diet about the death of a Sri Lankan detainee being...

19.05.2023 10

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Humans could learn from the giant isopods in the deep ocean

“Ogusokumushi,” or the deep-sea giant isopod called Bathynomus doederleinii by its scientific name, is always a favorite among aquarium visitors....

19.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

Ex-diplomat: G-7 leaders have chance for ‘moral awakening’

Editor’s note: One of the major themes at the Group of Seven summit, to be held in Hiroshima from May 19, is working toward a world without nuclear...

18.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: With abortion pill approved, related issues need addressing

The health ministry has approved an abortion pill developed by the British pharmaceutical company Linepharma, which has started selling the first pill...

18.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Kishida’s desire to use the term ‘Global South’ hard to fathom

In Japanese, the four cardinal directions are referred to as “east, west, south and north” in that order. In Chinese, as mah-jongg fans must be...

18.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Hiroshima most appropriate site to steer world away from nukes

No city on Earth can measure up to Hiroshima when the purpose is to provide the most graphic testimony to a nuclear weapon’s capacity for human...

17.05.2023 30

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Let us set a good example for teaching children about LGBT lives

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on May 16 drafted its “LGBT bill” to promote understanding of sexual minorities. I imagined there would be...

17.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: The tragedy of Okinawa is a problem for all of Japan to share

Okinawa Prefecture on May 15 marked the 51st anniversary of its return to Japanese sovereignty, fearful it could again become the frontline in a war....

16.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Pop idol fans lose out as sex abuse scandal leaves mixed emotions

Penlight is the name of a petition group demanding that Johnny & Associates Inc. look into, and apologize for, a series of sexual assaults allegedly...

16.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Time to face up to the past wrongs of robbing the graves of Ainu

The remains of four Ainu indigenous people have recently been returned from Australian museums and are back in Japan for the first time in about a...

15.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: The relationship between mother and daughter is uniquely complex

One day, feeling depressed after a prolonged hospital stay, Lucy found her mother sitting in a chair at the foot of her bed. “My Name is Lucy...

15.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: No foreign child in Japan should be missing out on proper education

More than 8,000 foreign children of compulsory school age in Japan are apparently missing out on receiving a formal education. The figure was...

13.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Amateur night in Ginza heist: Was someone pulling the strings?

In Kotaro Isaka’s “Yoki na Gyangu ga Chikyu wo Mawasu” (A cheerful gang turns the earth), nobody is hurt when a team of three men and a woman...

13.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: TEPCO yet again fails to deliver, this time it can’t afford redress

Tokyo Electric Power Co. was exempted from fiscal 2022 payments of its contribution to victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster because the electric...

12.05.2023 10

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Princess Anne symbolizes the strength of the royal monarchy

Britain’s Princess Anne, 72, is the only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Four days after her mother’s death, Anne became the first female...

12.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Clear line needed between roles of SDF and Japan Coast Guard

If the Self-Defense Forces and Japan Coast Guard (JCG) cannot cooperate effectively during a security crisis, neither can properly perform their...

11.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: A sad farewell to Noppo-san, NHK star who taught children crafts

By his own admission, Noppo-san had been terrible at craftwork and clumsy with his hands ever since he was a young boy. When trying to make a model...

11.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Mr. Putin, face reality and withdraw from Ukraine quickly

It boggles the mind that an iron-fisted leader who is waging war against a neighboring country had the temerity to boast of thwarting a...

10.05.2023 30

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Russia’s taking of children from Ukraine echoes Nazi Germany

“Lebensborn,” or “The fountain of life” in German, was the name of Nazi Germany’s secret World War II project, the purpose of which was to...

10.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: G-7 tasked with finding common rules to tackle risks posed by AI

Digital and tech ministers of the seven leading democratic powers recently met in Japan and adopted a declaration calling for “Responsible AI” as...

09.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Hurtful rumors can spread faster and farther in today's world

A light-hearted comment a high school girl uttered to her friend triggered a massive bank run in December 1973 that came to be known as the Toyokawa...

09.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

EDITORIAL: Vigilance needed on COVID-19 flare-ups despite downgrade

The legal status of COVID-19 will be downgraded on May 8 and be reclassified as a Class V contagious disease such as the seasonal flu under the...

08.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

VOX POPULI: Life during the COVID pandemic changed all of us 360 degrees

It may be less difficult than you might think to become your polar opposite--from right to left or from black to white--psychologist Hayao Kawai...

08.05.2023 20

The Asahi Shimbun

The Asahi Shimbun

c7361fbedb2a16c2714862854bd61e50