Opinions
On your mark, get set, gold: World Athletics stirs Olympic pot with prize money
World Athletics has caused an Olympic-size stir by promising to pay prize money to medalists at the Olympic Games. Track and Field’s governing body will pay gold medalists $50,000 at the upcoming Paris Olympics and will add payments for silver and bronze medalists at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Why… Read
AI can now generate entire songs on demand. What does this mean for music as we know it?
In March, we saw the launch of a “ChatGPT for music” called Suno, which uses generative AI to produce realistic songs on demand from short text prompts. A few weeks later, a similar competitor – Udio – arrived on the scene. I’ve been working with various creative computational tools for the past 15 years,… Read
Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies: The outsiders who shaped modern Japan
Foreigners behaving badly goes down well with audiences in Japan. Stories of Yankee misfits, British conmen and Korean upstarts are guaranteed to find eager readers. Throw in shady espionage rings, guys who started out by sleeping on park benches, plus stories of massive transfers of dollars bills in brown paper bags, and you… Read
The Dutch are aiming to quarantine populism. Should the rest of the world follow suit?
In November 2023, Geert Wilders’ stridently anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim party swept the Dutch elections in what the media called a political earthquake. The magnitude of his win came as a shock to the centre and left parties in the Dutch legislature. They jointly decided that “Europe’s most dangerous man” should never become prime minister. The… Read
Japan’s demographic dialogue: A conversation on population
Japan is well-known for being a mostly homogenous nation. However, it’s aging population necessitates change. So far, the measures taken to address the issue haven’t worked well. Regardless, relying on immigration seems unavoidable despite the difficulties implementing this will bring. Perhaps a re-examination of the country’s foreign resident demographics can… Read
4 burning questions for 2024 Nippon Professional Baseball season
Spring is upon us, and more importantly than blooming flowers or warm sunshine, that means the 2024 Nippon Professional Baseball season is underway. The defending champion Hanshin Tigers are looking to repeat, and the Orix Buffaloes are chasing “dynasty” status. But beyond the top-flight teams, here are four burning questions… Read
Xi clearly determined to revamp his nation and make China great again
Coining the right slogan can pay mighty dividends in any political system. Ex-President Donald Trump swears by his MAGA message and China's supremo Xi Jinping loves his "China Dream." Of course, Xi isn't ever likely to wear a red baseball hat emblazoned with his rejuvenation message. Yet he has made it his… Read
The noise problem in conflict averse Japan
Having harmony with others is very important in Japanese society. So, people rarely make a racket in public. However, Japan is also a conflict-averse nation. This aspect has led to an ironic problem in that when someone makes noise, others hesitate to confront them because it creates conflict. Thus, certain… Read
The future of work: Why we need to think beyond the hype of the four-day week
Is reducing working hours a sign of progress? Since the 19th century, the number of hours spent at work has been steadily declining in developed countries. The four-day week emerged in the 90s as a political and economic demand for a more equal division of work. The idea was to reduce… Read
Some truths are self-evident: Joe Biden is too old, but who could possibly replace him?
It is possible, in politics as in life, for several things to be true at once. It is true that Donald Trump and his plans for a second presidential administration represent an existential threat to American democracy. It is true that a media imperative for “balance” in political reporting is further degenerating… Read
