The regular session of the National Diet, which had been hard-pressed to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, came to a close on June 17....
One need not be a cynic to think the Japanese government’s preferred approach to problems is to ignore them, while hoping they go away...
It is a little-known story how the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) played a remarkable role in dispatching disaster relief assistance amid the rapid spread of...
Japanese defense initiatives can seem like Rorschach tests — meaning very different things to different people. Take Tokyo’s recent announcement that it would buy...
According to Vladimir Lenin, “There are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen.” As Japan moves into the second year of the Reiwa...
Shinzo Abe became Japan’s longest-serving top political leader in the nation’s post-war history on November 20, having served for a total of 2,887 days. What...
Many around the world were shocked at the fire at Shuri Castle in Okinawa on the morning of October 31 and are at a loss...
U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent musings that maybe America should exit the ‘unfair’ U.S.-Japan defense treaty surprised even his supporters. His opponents predictably blew a...
In this valentine to Japanese-American maritime relations, author Agawa Naoyuki traces the process by which bitter enemies during World War II developed into friends....
As explained in author Sheila A. Smith’s introduction of her new book, several generations of Japanese leaders have grappled with how to ensure their...
I arrived in Japan in the summer of 1990, otherwise known as Heisei 2 nen, intending to be here one year. Twenty-nine years later, I remain...
Looking forward into 2019 we can ask: what will the New Year bring Japan? Domestically, a new emperor will ascend the throne with...