The Prospects of Japan-NATO Cooperation
written by: Yoshikazu Hirose
Jun 11, 2010

"Japan and NATO are partners," Shinzo Abe told the North Atlantic Council in January 2007 in what became the first address delivered by a Japanese head of government to the top decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "We have in common such fundamental values as freedom, democracy, ...more

Japan's Defense Industrial Base in Danger of Collapse
written by: Yukari Kubota
May 20, 2010

Structural Change in the Defense Industry

The Japanese defense industry is undergoing structural change. First of all, in an unprecedented development, a defense business between the government and its main contractor has gone into litigation. In 2001, the Defense Ministry ...more

An East Asian Community and Japan-China Relations
written by: Yoshihide Soeya
May 10, 2010

Since the end of the Cold War, the most important strategic relationship in East Asia has been and will continue to be the one between the United States and China. Given this profound reality, Japan is obviously a lesser strategic player, and it is a fundamental mistake, both analytically and policy-wise, ...more

Left Behind by the Reform Bandwagon: Ozawa's Political Strategy
written by: Hiroshi Hoshi
Apr 21, 2010

Ichiro Ozawa is a politician with two faces. He has immersed himself in a power struggle while seeking to reform Japan's politics, economy and foreign policy. This article traces back Ozawa's reform ideas and considers the trouble that they are facing now.

Ozawa was born in 1942. After ...more

Japan's New Strategy toward the Mekong Region
written by: Masahiko Ebashi
Mar 10, 2010

In November, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his counterparts from five Mekong region countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) held their first summit in Tokyo. Hatoyama then pledged to provide financial and technical assistance in a wide range of areas, including the ...more

We Need Both Hatoyama's Decision and Obama's Patience
written by: Tsuneo "Nabe" Watanabe
Feb 11, 2010

Alliance managers in both Japan and the United States are worried about "alliance drift" again. There are two causes for concern: the impasse over the relocation of the US' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa and US doubt about the liberal Hatoyama administration's commitment to the bilateral military ...more

Improved Cross-Strait Relations Confusing to the Japanese
written by: Yasuhiro Matsuda
Dec 31, 2009

The relationship between China and Taiwan has been rapidly improving since the China-friendly administration of President Ma Ying-jeou was inaugurated in Taiwan in May 2008. In contrast, the Ma administration's relations with Japan have always been fraught with concerns on the part of Japan, including ...more

Japan's Nuclear Diplomacy Should Take a Clearer Stand against Iran
written by: Ryoji Tateyama
Oct 15, 2009

Confusion in Iran seems to have abated somewhat now that more than three months have passed since Iran's presidential election. Yet three decades after the Iranian revolution, the Islamic regime appears to be suffering institutional fatigue.

The most remarkable change in post-revolutionary ...more

The New DPJ Government: Hope for Democratic Foreign Policy Making
written by: Jun Iio
Oct 09, 2009

A time of confusion will be unavoidable in Japanese politics, for the recent change of government was aimed at transforming Japan's power structure. By reducing the opacity of intra-government coordination, however, the Japanese policy-making process can be made more transparent. On the diplomatic ...more

Confusion is currency of the day
written by: Axel Merk
Oct 02, 2009

The US dollar has been getting a beating from all sides, and its woes may be far from over. Recent developments in Japan, China, Germany and the United Kingdom, not to speak of domestic developments in the US, point to a rocky road ahead. Today's focus is on Japan and, more specifically, how a country ...more

Cautious welcome for Japan's Asia drive
written by: Jian Junbo
Sep 25, 2009

SHANGHAI - It seems Japan's foreign policy is at a turning point as Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) takes over as the nation's new prime minister. In accordance with the DPJ's platform in election campaigns, the new ruling party is likely to attach less importance to the United ...more

"What is achievable in Afghanistan? - Japan and Europe should talk straight to the US -"
written by: Yoko Iwama
Sep 15, 2009

We are again at a crossroads requiring us to redefine global foreign policy priorities, just as we were in the years 1947-1950. What are the central and most significant threats to the continuing survival and prosperity of our societies, and what is the right way of dealing with them? In those years, ...more

Japan's next chapter in space begins
written by: Peter Brown
Sep 09, 2009

Japan's soon-to-be prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), has a lot of space-related issues to deal with over the coming months, though North Korea and domestic affairs - including the economy and government bureaucracy - will likely dominate his first few months ...more

Lessons from the Uighurs' Revolt
written by: Keiko Chino
Sep 14, 2009

G8/G7 summits held in Italy are prone to accidents despite the relatively low interest of international society: Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira died shortly before the 1980 Venice Summit, prompting Japan to send an acting prime minister, and the 1994 Naples Summit was held just after the ...more

Something completely different in Japan
written by: Axel Berkofsky
Sep 02, 2009

That's (finally) it. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is out of power in Japan, having governed the country since 1955 with a short interruption in 1993-1994.

Japan's electorate ended Japan's de-facto "one-party democracy", voting the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), led by 62-year-old ...more