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  • Politics
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  • Japan

Japanese director Takashi Miike at an event for the film 'Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki' IMDb

Takeshi Miike's new Kabuki documentary surprises critics

For a filmmaker who has spent decades challenging norms, a film about traditional Japanese theatre seems like an odd choice. At the Venice Film Festival, he explains to Al Majalla why it is not.

Leila Amar 07 September 2026
Donald Trump walks alongside Xi Jinping at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, on 14 May 2026.
 AP

Japan's read on the Trump–Xi summit

From Tokyo's perspective, there were three key issues: Taiwan, Iran, and the broader bilateral framework

Futoshi Matsumoto 20 May 2026
A man walks past an anti-USA and anti-Israel mural in Tehran on 8 April 2026. ATTA KENARE / AFP

'Unconditional surrender' was never an option for Iran

The IRGC doesn't just defend the state, it runs it. To wave the white flag wouldn't just mean giving up its arms; it would mean dismantling the organisation and its patronage networks.

Futoshi Matsumoto 12 April 2026

Sanae Takaichi: Japan's iron woman?

Fares Garabet 16 February 2026
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), places a red paper rose on the name of an elected candidate at the LDP headquarters on general election day in Tokyo on 8 February 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

How Japan’s prime minister will use her massive new mandate

A remarkable election victory that will reshape Japanese politics for years to come

The Economist 09 February 2026
Haiku poet Banya Natsuishi Hiroyuki Izutsu

Banya Natsuishi: a haiku poet detached from all things

This Japanese art form reveals 'a bitter awareness of the frailty of human existence and the impermanence of nature,' one of its most perceptive proponents tells Al Majalla.

Osama Esber 10 December 2025
Go Nagai with a 'Grendizer' poster
 AL MAJALLA/ AFP

50 years on, 'Grendizer' still stirs Arab hearts

The Arab world's connection to the cartoon series remains uniquely intimate. No other animated comic hero has achieved the same level of fame, resonance, and longevity.

Shadi Alaa Aldin 25 November 2025
Al Majalla

Japan quietly prepares itself amid China's rise

While the world discusses Beijing's ascendancy and the rivalry among great powers, Tokyo forges its own path—one dotted with patience, discipline, and strength

Ibrahim Hamidi 27 October 2025
LDP President Sanae Takaichi receives applause after she was selected as Japan's new prime minister during an extraordinary session of the lower house of parliament in Tokyo on October 21, 2025. Philip FONG / AFP

Sanae Takaichi: Japan's first female prime minister

Her task will be to balance the country's security imperatives with American expectations regarding burden-sharing, defence spending, and economic cooperation

Futoshi Matsumoto 21 October 2025
Mark Smith

80 years on, the world still has much to learn from Hiroshima

The two atomic bombs dropped on Japan by the US remain a subject of intense debate, and the world is still learning the lessons of those fateful events

Futoshi Matsumoto 06 August 2025
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Pete Reynolds
Politics

Benjamin Netanyahu is damaged goods in the West

25, Oct 2026

Key voices in the West appear to be throwing him under the bus ahead of the approaching Israeli election

Brian Katulis
Al Majalla
Business & Economy

Energy security and resiliency in an uncertain world

24, Oct 2026

Türkiye's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources writes for Al Majalla

Alparslan Bayraktar
People shout slogans as they gather after a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war was announced, in Tehran, Iran, on 8 April 2026. Majid Asgaripour / Reuters
Politics

An emboldened Iran could trigger an IS comeback

22, Oct 2026

Should the US and Israel fail in their war on Iran, Tehran would likely expand its regional influence at the expense of Sunni Arabs, who could potentially turn to extremist groups to fight back

James Jeffrey
Al Majalla
Culture & Social Affairs

The Palestinian flag in France: from student activism to social unrest 

23, Oct 2026

Once a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian cause, it is now being used by different groups to advance their own grievances and agendas

Waddah Abu Jamea
Ukranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba listens to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General during the alliance's 75th anniversary at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels on 4 April 2024. KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP
Politics

Dmytro Kuleba on Trump’s drift towards Moscow

24, Oct 2026

Ukraine's former foreign minister is pragmatic about the war, peace talks, Kyiv's opponent, Washington, the Chinese, and the Gulf. His thoughts are a fascinating insight into Europe's biggest battle

Ahmed Maher

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OPINIONS

The Middle East: three dates, one uncertain future

Ibrahim Hamidi
Ibrahim Hamidi

Iran's new defence minister is a missile man, not a military man

Alex Vatanka
Alex Vatanka

Benjamin Netanyahu is damaged goods in the West

Brian Katulis
Brian Katulis

Tale‘ Nazel and the meaning of female independence

Sarah Ashraf
Sarah Ashraf
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