Melanie Burton - The Japan Times

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Melanie Burton

A truck carrying rare earths travels toward Lynas Corp's Mount Weld processing plant, northeast of Perth, in Western Australia.

BUSINESS / Markets

May 27, 2026

A warning to critical mineral buyers: avoid butter mountains and aluminum floods

In the 1980s and 1990s, subsidies, cheap energy and price guarantees fueled overproduction of various products which flooded markets, tanked prices and spread pain globally.

Campaign signs depicting One Nation candidate David Farley and controversial former Australian Army officer Ben Roberts-Smith are displayed outside a pre-polling center ahead of a by-election in Albury, Australia, on Wednesday.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

May 7, 2026

As Trump-adjacent populism surges in Australia, wealthy donors join in

Encouraged by Australia’s richest person, some of the country’s wealthiest donors are shifting support from the conservative establishment to an anti-immigration outsider party.

A sample of antimony is displayed at the Natural History Museum in London on June 6

BUSINESS / Markets

Jan 12, 2026

Australia to prioritize antimony, gallium, rare earths in $802 million reserve

Australia and several other countries are joining a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies in Washington on Monday on the subject.

A boy looks on next to floral tributes and an Australian flag at the Adass Israel Synagogue after an attack in Melbourne, in December 2024.

ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal

Aug 27, 2025

Synagogue arson suspect appears in court for attack Australia says was ordered by Iran

Australia has also ordered the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador over the December 2024 arson attack in Melbourne.

China's Premier Li Qiang visits Western Australia's only operating lithium hydroxide plant Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia (TLEA) in Kwinana, on the outskirts of Perth, on June 18.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jun 18, 2024

Chinese premier’s Western Australia tour spotlights global race for critical minerals

Western Australia supplies more than half of the world’s seaborne iron ore, with China its top customer.

Jars containing rare earth minerals produced near Laverton, northeast of Perth, Australia, in 2019

BUSINESS / Markets

Jun 18, 2024

Brazil sees opportunity in race to loosen China’s grip on rare earths

Rare earths projects in Brazil are expected to be a test for how effectively the West can build a new advanced industry almost from scratch.

Steelmakers' concerns about BHP's coking coal market power could derail a deal between BHP and Anglo American.

BUSINESS / Companies

May 10, 2024

BHP-Anglo American deal raises alarm in Japan’s steel industry

Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coking coal and top supplier to Japan, making up around 60% of its imports.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Apr 24, 2023

Australia needs green energy policy response quickly, Fortescue exec says

Australia needs to match energy policies being unfurled by other countries to make the most of its green energy advantage, the head of Fortescue Metals Group’s energy unit has said.

Japan Times

ASIA PACIFIC

Aug 3, 2021

Financial firms develop plan for early closure of Asian coal plants

The proposal offers a potentially workable model, and early talks with Asian governments and multilateral banks are promising, sources said.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Dec 24, 2019

How rare earth shocks lifted an upstart Australian mining company

Sprawled across a spent volcano on the remote edge of the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia, the Mount Weld mine seems a world away from the U.S.-China trade war.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Mar 21, 2006

What will you take with you when you leave Japan?

Marc Bell Teacher, 32 I would bring my address book so I could keep in contact with people, which means there is never a final farewell. Also, I would bring back my keitai. It’s a symbol of Japan’s power -- how they can use Western technology and make it better than we do.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Mar 14, 2006

Where do you go to check for news on Japan?

Gabrielle Kennedy Journalist, 35 I check all the newspapers using the nexuslexus search engine. For regular papers, I read the Sydney Morning Herald and the Guardian. The only Japanese magazine I read is Casa Brutus. They often have a translated feature.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Mar 7, 2006

If you were to donate to charity, what kind of charity deserves your hard-earned dosh?

A. Walsh Teacher, 35 I would probably donate to some homeless guy in Ueno Park. It’s more direct and the money doesn’t have to go through all the people like charities do. I know that it’s going to make some difference to him.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Feb 28, 2006

Do you support adoption rights for gay couples?

Christian Butzek ALT, 27 There are a lot of bad two-parent hetero families People say kids should be raised in a “normal environment,” but I’m not sure what that is. If two gay people are going to do a good job then I have no problems with it.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Feb 21, 2006

Does Takafumi Horie deserve everything that he’s getting?

Jon Bro Student, 23 It wasn’t right. What Horie was supposed to show to investors, he lied about, and probably the same things have been going on in a lot of places. In America, he would probably be going to jail, but for Japan, I can’t say.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Feb 14, 2006

Is there a nationalist resurgence in the air?

Gwen Loubes Architect, 24 I live in China and from over there, Japan doesn’t seem so nationalistic. The Chinese all support the Chinese government and follow all the rules. They’re very nationalistic. I think China is a bit envious of Japan.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Feb 7, 2006

Was casting Chinese actresses in “Memoirs of a Geisha (Sayuri)” a blunder?

Josh Chua Student, 20 In Hollywood, it’s common for an actor of a certain ethnicity to play a character of another ethnicity. I don’t think Scots were in uproar over Mel Gibson in “Braveheart.” If anything, it says more about a lack of Japanese actors.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Jan 31, 2006

What are some the weirdest things you have eaten?

Richard Allen Banker, 33 I’ve eaten the still-warm heart of a goat. I ate that in Kenya. It was quite disturbing. It was salty and it had lumpy bits. It was really more of a tick-that-box experience than anything else. I probably wouldn’t do it again.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Jan 24, 2006

What steps should we take to assist the integration of Japan’s foreign population?

Yukiko TakahashiTeacher, 31 Ward offices do organize language lessons, but they need to advertise it more. If foreigners can speak the language better, it will be better for communication. Foreigners need to learn the culture more to be accepted.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Jan 17, 2006

Is the popularity of “Hard Gay“on tv a help or hindrance?

Shane Rice Marketer, 24 I think that it’s OK. I think it’s light-hearted, fun and not really too serious. People aren’t too threatened by it and don’t feel like they have to have much of an opinion on it, as opposed to having it shoved in their faces.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.

What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival

By Alex K.T. Martin

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