Christoph Neidhart

Christoph Neidhart is a Swiss writer and journalist based in Tokyo where he is German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung bureau chief.

Fukushima and Chernobyl: are there silver linings in chain reactions?

The author reported on the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and from on Fukushima in 2011. The silver lining of Chernobyl was that it really did ignite the process of glasnost. Unfortunately, though much needed, that is unlikely to happen in Japan because of the grip of the "nuclear village" on Japanese

By Christoph Neidhart

/ 5 May 2011

Lame-goose Japan

Geese flying in formation, led by the strongest, this paradigm, taken from classical Chinese poetry, has been used by Japanese scholars to symbolize their nation's leadership in East

By Christoph Neidhart

/ 14 Nov 2008

China v Russia: communist mask v democratic hat

World leaders are calling for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, US presidential contenders are accusing China of ‘stealing American jobs.’ That racist term the “Yellow Peril” has even resurfaced.

By Christoph Neidhart

/ 21 May 2008

The Malthusian energy-trap: old Europe, new China

The price of oil is approaching $100 a barrel, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is accumulating faster than the most pessimistic scenarios are predicting, anthropogenic climate change

By Christoph Neidhart

/ 13 Dec 2007

Tokyo’s change, Moscow’s echoes

The party has ruled the country for many decades, monopolising political power. But it has seemed to run aground. Its head of government was deeply unpopular, with approval ratings in

By Christoph Neidhart

/ 28 Sep 2007

Vladimir Putin, "Soviet man" who missed class

A year ago the Kremlin issued a list of expressions Russia's TV stations are banned from using when reporting from Chechnya, among them mujahideen, emir and imam. Instead,

By Christoph Neidhart

/ 23 Oct 2006